Why Drinking Is Good For You

 

 

Good news!  Drinking alcohol can actually be good for you!  Really – science says so!  Bad news – this is only true if it’s done in moderation. 

Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  In it, there is evidence to suggest that alcohol is associated with living and remaining mentally alert longer.  Who knew?  The catch, as stated above, is this whole moderation thingy – which they describe as no more than two drinks a day. 

The following is an excerpt from an article in The Wall Street Journal about these new guidelines; to read the entire piece, please click the link below:

 

A Toast to Your Health

Researchers at the Harvard Health Professionals study team, which has tracked the health of doctors and nurses for decades, have consistently found that the health benefits associated with moderate drinking are real. They measure all forms of health behavior in addition to drinking (e.g., smoking, diet, weight, exercise, concurrent health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease) and have uniformly found the benefits of alcohol to persist within each category.

 

What do you think?  Can moderate drinking really be considered part of a healthy lifestyle or is such a concept completely out of the question?  Is there such a thing as moderate drinking?  What do you think of the definition of moderate drinking?  Is two drinks a day too many or too few to be considered moderate?  Post a comment below if you have any thoughts on this topic.