Moderate Drinking & Health - Does It Help, Harm Or What?

2022-03-12 02:45:32 By : Mr. Kevin Zhang

A person could get whiplash trying to keep up with all the research on the pros and cons of moderate drinking.

Drinking one to two alcoholic drinks each day is not great for your brain. University of Pennsylvania researchers found drinking an average of one to two alcoholic drinks each day can be associated with not only negative changes in the gray and white matter of the brain, but also a reduction in brain volume. The National Institute on Aging says our brains naturally shrink over time, but this new study suggests alcohol consumption can accelerate size reduction

So what happens when your brain shrinks?  Your hat fits better?  No, and this is no laughing matter because you could experience a more rapid decline in memory, and decision-making.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on record about limiting daily drinks to two drinks for men and one drink for women so how does that square with the brain-shrink study?  It doesn't.  So who do you believe?

To be fair there were some limitations to the study and it could prove "causation" as science calls it but the researchers stand by there results.

the idea that moderate drinking promotes health appears no longer defensible. For pretty much any level of drinking, a reduction is likely to yield health benefits.

That's it for now...until the next study shows something else and runs counter to this one!  It's the weekend, drink responsibly - whatever that means today.