Boozing and longevity, myth or fact?

[MintyAraminta]

I've been reading about some related ideas and came across some google results that claimed there were studies that proved moderate drinking was healthier than abstinence.
Other studies claimed no such thing.

I did notice that the studies which stated drinkers lived longer were coming from the rags (Mail/Mirror/Sun, etc).
Which made me think mmmm,,,,,research possibly funded by drinks companies, lol.

However, when my dad was diagnosed with angina many years ago his cardiologist, upon hearing he didn't drink, advised him to try one small whiskey in the evenings. He never did, but lived to a good old age.

I myself am a rare drinker, the last time i indulged was on a city trip a month ago with a single pint and chips. I have very little experience with drink problems, although someone I knew slightly died in her 40's from alcoholism.

What do you think? Is there any real value in the idea that moderate drinking would make one live longer? There is the stuff about it reducing stress, but surely that could be alleviated by lifestyle/social changes, not just booze. Maybe booze is a red herring here..
And if you were quite stressed, you might have to drink really regularly to even cancel it out.

I do notice that drink can actually increase stress and anxiety, so don't know what to think.

I worked very, very briefly in a hospital mortuary.

The boss said 'you can always tell the drinkers - heart and arteries clear as a bell. Liver like fois gras, though.

So drinking actually keeps arteries healthy? I didn't know that!

ooh interesting op, here to find out what others say

Long before Google I understood that moderate drinkers had a longer life expectancy than non-drinkers. My FIL really is one of those advised by his GP to drink a glass of red wine most nights (hereditary heart disease).

The WHO have now said there is no safe amount of alcohol that does not affect health. It affects every single cell in the body. I definitely think those moderate drinking is good for you claims are misleading. When pushed I think they confirmed 'moderate drinking ' as a drink a month or something which is worlds apart from what I would have considered moderate drinking in my drinking days

Surely you don't believe that 😂

Red wine contains reservatrol which is thought to be good for heart health. However to get the amount needed to see a benefit you would need to drink litres and litres of wine which would obviously negate any health benefit

Is it much consolation if they've died from cirrhosis and suffered wernicke-korsakoff's though?

Lol i did phrase that badly - my grandmother died of congestive heart/artery issues and only ever drank a thimble of sherry at xmas. Wondering if she ought to have enjoyed a bottle of wine per day!

On a serious note though, I wonder, since booze is so big a thing in our culture, whether the tabloids produce these 'studies' or frame them in a certain way to make their readers feel better! "life is hard, and we all deserve a little drink or two" (which often translates to far more than 2 drinks).

So what is moderate drinking? I think the NHS describes it in units, so something like 7 shots of whiskey per week, or such. Or 1.5 bottle of red wine.

I dare say we all perceive it somewhat differently depending upon our experiences and bodies.

Sooo who's going to test this out and get back to us!?

I imagine it’s more about the profile of moderate drinker rather than anything to do with the alcohol having benefits. If you drink in moderation then you’ll probably the same with other stuff too e.g. you’re not overindulging in junk food. Maybe you’re only a social drinker so you’re active and going out a lot. That sort of thing.

That's interesting, thanks.

The reason is mostly a statistical quirk. If you're still drinking into old age, you're probably pretty healthy and for example don't have cancer - not the other way around. People in poor health may be more likely not to drink as it would exacerbate their existing health conditions.

I’m 66 and have had a drink of some sort on most days for the past 50 years.
I was told by a heart consultant to drink a glass of red wine a day about 40 years ago, to bring down my cholesterol and it worked.
Look at the life spans of the elderly in Greece, Spain, Italy and France.
Many live to 100+
I'm not taking any medication and swim for up to 2 hours a day.
So as far as I’m concerned I’ll continue to follow the doctors advice.

Also some of the non drinkers in those studies are non drinkers because they are in poor health or have previous alcohol issues. This skews the result.

Sounds like you have a good attitude!
I have also heard similar, but have never been sure what the actual amount is supposed to be.

I have recently been excited to discover that avocado's have a similar effect!

We're a society of big drinkers so I think we latch on to these suspect studies that drinking has health benefits but we know its bullshit right? We are literally drinking poison when we drink alcohol. It's been classified as a group 1 carcinogen and latest available data indicates that half of all alcohol-attributable cancers are caused by “light” and “moderate” alcohol consumption. I think most people drink to get pissed/tipsy not for the 'health benefits' but it makes us feel a bit better when we do so to tell ourselves that there can be positive effects

Interesting about previous alcohol issues, that would certainly make sense.

I watched a few documentaries last year about longevity in small communities (japan, spain, etc) and thought that their lifestyles in general were the contributing factor as opposed to any single behaviour. Western researchers are fixated on the diet, but I think it might only play a small part.

What stood out to me, much more than the moderate drinking and the olive oil was the sense of peace, community, and the absence of work stress, endless media consumption and corporate interference - so their lives are rather untouched by having to have the best house, car, schools, etc.

My 97 yo DMIL is on the sherry (and her Ipad!) by 10 a.m each day without fail, and a vodka in the afternoons…

We also used to deliver whisky to an aged Belgian relative whose cardiac consultant had advised him to have a glass a day…

Gosh yes, I have been reading about the liver and pancreas, which led me to googling booze!

And these things remind me of everyone's great uncle who smokes like a chimney at 101 yrs old.

Genetics, luck, who knows what. Perhaps there's no fixed boundary, just a common one, hence 'most' heavy smokers become unwell at some stage ?

I knew an older couple who drank and smoked more than anyone I'd ever come across. He died of throat cancer a decade ago, she developed COPD, but is still at it at 87!

Total myth.

There's probably a big difference between small scale home made wine in an Italian farmhouse where 98 year old grandma enjoys a small glass at dinner time with the family and the bottled wine which is, generally, mass produced and drank in much larger quantities at an evening out with friends at the local bistro pub once a week.
Quality and quantity.
Add genetics and lifestyle to the mix.

Wasn't there also the thing about women having once lived longer than men but now the gap is closing?

It seems many replies are mixed - some happy with the frequent glass of wine for heart health and others who would recommend avoiding altogether.

I think the NHS and other health bodies just know the 'average' person in the UK will drink to some extent, so offer advice accordingly. Suggesting we drink in moderation is probably more helpful than urging people to abstain as it isn't realistic, and also accepting that our society is too complicated, with our cultural associations of booze=happiness!

If you took drink away, a lot of minds would change, structures might begin to begin to disintegrate (work to life balance), and we'd all be queuing up for the moonshine!

No level of alcohol is ‘healthy’. We drink it because we like it and it makes us feel good.

We cherry pick studies that attribute positive effects from the things we like - I can quote you 4 papers supporting consumption of dark chocolate, for example.

I am at least as much a wine-addled sot as the best of them, but even I accept alcohol is bad for me and I take responsibility for my choices.