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As far as I can tell the harmful effects of alcohol are both grossly underestimated and severely overestimated. It’s the strangest contradiction. I think as an
by whiddershins 9y ago
As far as I can tell the harmful effects of alcohol are both grossly underestimated and severely overestimated. It’s the strangest contradiction.
I think as an addictive and potentially life destroying substance that promotes bad behavior our culture has a blind spot, or a kind of denial.
However the research suggesting that alcohol also decreases all cause mortality relative to abstinence, even when consumed heavily, seems pretty strong and not influenced by the factors referred to in this article. The link between alcohol intake and lower obesity also defies intuition.
The research is also hampered by the premise that it’s unethical to do a intervention study that has heavy alcohol use as one of the groups.
The whole thing seems like a misuse of research, to me. The effects of alcohol, both positive and negative, are mostly apparent to anyone who looks around.
Edit:spelling
- gascan 9y agothe harmful effects of alcohol are both grossly underestimated and severely overestimated. It’s the strangest contradiction. Makes me think of "If by whiskey"
- harrisjt 9y agoAs a Wisconsinite, I'm not sure I believe that there is a link between alcohol and lower obesity rates.
- mikenew 9y agoMinor point, but Dr. Jason Fung has a very interesting and, in my opinion, compelling explanation of obesity and weight gain. He argues that the main driver of obesity in the long term is insulin rather than total calories, and because alcohol doesn't significanlty raise insulin it doesn't contribute to obesity, despite the calories. https://youtu.be/YpllomiDMX0 https://youtu.be/YpllomiDMX0
- dcmininni 9y agoAlcohol itself may not raise insulin but what about the rest of your hard apple cider or miller lite?
- mikenew 9y agoMiller Lite has about 12 calories from carbohydrates, so not much. Roughly the same for most red wines. Not sure about cider because I don’t drink it, but in general most of the regularly consumed alcoholic drinks have a lot fewer carbohydrates than you’d think.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoDo you mean to imply that premixed alcoholic beverages aren't regularly consumed? I suppose you mean the wine beer and spirits that people regularly consume with a meal, or some such. But also, there are plenty of people who regularly drink one or more premixed alcoholic beverages.
- mikenew 9y agoI should have said “many”, not “most”. I have no idea what percentage of people consume wine, beer, hard liquor or mixed drinks. Just pointing out that the carbohydrate content of red wine, lighter beers, and straight liquor is not as high as you would think.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
- subcosmos 9y agoBeware of the longevity-promoting dogma that has been pushed by the alcohol industry. Some recent studies have shown that many prior studies have failed to account for the fact that many people who abstain from alcohol are in fact recovered alcoholics with a higher all-cause mortality. If you separate that group out, the health benefits are no longer observed. https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/22/alcohol-longevity-benefit-challenged/ https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/22/alcohol-longevity-benefi... https://www.jsad.com/doi/10.15288/jsad.2016.77.185 https://www.jsad.com/doi/10.15288/jsad.2016.77.185
- scott_s 9y agoIn addition to that, many people who abstain do so for other health reasons. That is, they're not recovering alcoholics, but they have an unrelated health condition which causes them to abstain from alcohol, and that condition has a higher mortality rate than the general population.
- sbinthree 9y agoFurther the main study showing longevity benefits of red wine didn't control for wealth. Rich people live long and drink red wine, but they are not necessarily related.
- aaron695 9y agoAs you saying the studies didn't take this into account? It would be the first thing they do along with other obvious factors, so if you have evidence it needs a link.
- mtgx 9y agoWhatever longevity benefits alcohol would seem to have, they can probably be replicated with much safer foods, like say eating garlic or broccoli every day.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoI keep thinking about this when I see the 'cured meats cause cancer' headlines. Do they? I avoid them anyway, but what I wonder is: have the studied controlled for the possibility that people who tend to consume more bacon probably tend to consume more fried food in general and also fewer fruits and vegetables? I've been meaning to look in to this, but perhaps somewhere can point me in the right direction or already knows???