Moderate Wine Drinking is good for Men

photo by Christian Siekmeier

OK so this seems to be old news, but there is a new study out as reported in the Guardian saying that men, in particular, who drink red wine outlive their "teetotaller" counter parts by 5 years .

"The researchers concluded that drinking up to 20 grams a day could extend men's lifespan by up to two years over those who avoided alcohol.

They also found that men who drank only wine, and less than half a glass a day, lived for about two and a half years longer than those who drank beer or spirits, and almost five years more than teetotallers?"

1 ounce is 28.35 grams so what I want to know is who drinks less then an ounce of wine? WHO? If you know of someone who does please write me I'd like to meet this person. It's like you you are taking it as medicine in a dosage. The article also states:

"Long-term wine consumers had about five years longer life expectancy at age 50 compared with non-alcohol users. Of these five years, about two years can be attributed to an effect of alcohol intake. The remaining three years can be attributed to an effect of wine consumption."

Again I wonder if the men interviewed really only drank one glass or less a day? I don't think I've ever met anyone (oh maybe Neil) who could just drink a glass of wine, most people are up for splitting a bottle between two people which means two and a half-ish glasses. And again a glass is 4-8 ounces not less then an ounce.

Of course the article had to end on a sobering note from the spokesperson for Alcohol concern:

"Some evidence shows that very moderate alcohol intake can be beneficial, but this must be weighed up against the serious harms caused by drinking more than moderate amounts. For example, in men, drinking more than half a glass a day, there's a drop in life expectancy.

"And individual risk must be taken into account. Research earlier this year found that drinking a small glass of wine per day increases the risk of cancer in women. The notion that we can somehow use alcohol for health benefit is a dangerous one. Swapping a healthy lifestyle for half a glass of wine a day would be counter-productive."

It's confusing to me that he refers to a "half a glass" when the study refers to 20 grams which according to my sources (Wiki-answers) is less then an ounce, no where near my idea of half a glass, but maybe in Britain they think differently? Bottom line seems to me that in all things moderation and maybe people who drink every now and again just have more fun then teetotallers and that explains it? Or maybe that's just the observation of someone who likes to drink wine and thinks longevity is over rated?

In the end it's all about quality of life.

Cheers!