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So the previous advice was that a drink or two a day actually increased lifespan and prevented artherosclerosis and heart attacks. Now this new report contradicts that. No wonder people are confused.. we are constantly subject to confusing and contradictory information from the medical community.
So the previous advice was that a drink or two a day actually increased lifespan and prevented artherosclerosis and heart attacks. Now this new report contradicts that. No wonder people are confused.. we are constantly subject to confusing and contradictory information from the medical community.
That's the thing with science....it's always evolving and our understanding of things change and most often times 'improve' with every study done.
You have to understand that 'each contradictory report' that your read is probably the result of a study that was done. The inputs, parameters, measurement techniques, demographic, method, etc. of that study may differ from that of another report that came up with a different result/conclusion. so, you need to read the fine line, and understand what those parameters were and what the study was measuring for.
It's not as simple as "1 drink does x or y for everyone, etc."
ps. i'm a non-drinker, so surely i'll live longer than 99% of you all..... ;-)
That's why I ignore studies like this. I just read one about how ONE piece of cured meat (bacon, sausage) a week increases your risk of breast cancer by 20%. And I'm like, really? They got all other factors exactly the same so they were able to just zero in on the one piece of sausage? I highly doubt it.
And I only eat bacon about once a week, so I'm not giving it up.
In other words, no one has a clue so take every one of these "studies" with a grain of salt. Everyone is different and will be affected differently by different things.
This illustrates the fact that medical research is extremely difficult and often full of problems. It is a mistake to believe each new study.
There has been lots of research showing moderate drinking improves health. One problem was that non-drinkers included people who couldn't drink because they were sick, or because they were former alcoholics. So more sick people were probably included under non-drinkers.
And the researchers didn't think about that. Or else maybe they were paid by alcohol companies to make it turn out that way.
A similar problem occurred with research showing it's healthier to be overweight. People who were thin because they were dying of cancer, or otherwise unhealthy, were included. So of course they got the results they got.
There has been an awful lot of research showing moderate alcohol drinking is good for health. Could it all have been wrong? Who knows.
But all the more reason we have to trust ourselves more and medical experts less. Maybe all we can do is notice how we feel from drinking vs not drinking.
And alcohol might have very different effects on different people, so that means we really can't depend too much on research. For anyone with metabolic syndrome, alcohol has the same effects as refined sugar. For those who are healthy and exercise a lot, on the other hand, alcohol might be ok.
All the science pushers keep coming out with new info, they gotta keep their paychecks.
As for drinking I did my share but no longer and don't miss the alcohol. Now my dad drank two beers a couple weeks before he died at about 95....he drank all his life.
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