Tuesday, September 28, 2010

5 Surprising Benefits of Alcohol

Longevity

The news about wine keeps getting better. Dutch researchers say that a half-glass of wine per day might help you live longer--five years longer, in fact. (Remember, though, excessive drinking can lead to health problems that may shorten your life.) Though the researchers note that more study is needed, the theory is that light alcohol consumption--and especially red wine--may contribute to longevity because the "polyphenolic compounds contained in wine have been seen in animals to stop the build up of fatty tissue in the arteries that can result in stroke or heart attack."

5 Surprising Benefits of Alcohol // Couple drinking wine (© Brigitte Sporrer/Cultura/Getty Images)




Improves Heart Health
Japanese researchers believe that light to moderate drinking paired with socialization (enter happy hour) can significantly reduce your risk for heart disease. While the researchers mostly looked at men, it's easy to see why the findings could be true for women too. Most health experts are fine with light drinking--one glass per day (but not every day) for women. And aren't we all happier when we're spending time with friends?

5 Surprising Benefits of Alcohol // Men in ties with martinis (© Roy Hsu/UpperCut Images/Getty Images)



Reduces Inflammation
Those who drink were found to have a significantly reduced risk of developing several arthritic conditions including Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Osteoarthritis (OA), reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and spondylarthropathy, according to Dutch researchers. Researchers aren't exactly certain why alcohol consumption (note, no guidelines were given as to which type of alcohol and how much, but we can safely assume that the scientists are talking about moderate drinking here), but they speculate that alcohol may have inflammation-reducing effects.
5 Surprising Benefits of Alcohol // Hands of knitting woman (© Tetra Images/Photolibrary)



Aids Weight Loss
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston who studied the alcohol consumption of more than 19,000 women over 13 years found that women who drank a "light to moderate amount of alcohol" (defined by no more than two servings a day of wine, beer or liquor--I'll add that some studies have found that any more than one drink per day for females to be excessive, so just file that away) tended to gain less weight than women who didn't drink. The study was recently published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
An explanation, please? "Women who drink moderate amounts of alcohol tend to eat less food, particularly carbohydrates," said cardiologist Lu Wang, lead researcher on the study and an instructor at Brigham and Women's Hospital, who spoke to USA Today.

5 Surprising Benefits of Alcohol // Woman on scale (© Dougal Waters/Getty Images)

 Fights Osteoporosis



A new studyreports that beer is a significant source of dietary silicon. Dietary what? It's an ingredient believed to increase bone mineral density, and researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, Davis, say that beer is loaded with it.
They studied commercial beer production and found that most commercial beer--especially hoppy beer--is a rich source of dietary silicon. Based on these findings, the scientists suggest that moderate beer consumption may actually help fight osteoporosis.

 5 Surprising Benefits of Alcohol // Close up of bone structure (© Geoffrey Stewart/The Medical File/Peter Arnold Images/Photolibrary)

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