Healthy Alcohol Consumption
Here’s yet another article about the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption as told by David J. Hanson, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the State University of New York at Potsdam. To summarize, moderate drinkers have fewer heart attacks and strokes; have less hypertension, peripheral artery disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and common colds; and have lower risk for a myriad of other conditions. Moderate drinking also appears to improve health by improving blood lipids raising HDL and lowering LDL, lowering risk of blood clots and increasing the process of dissolving blood clots, decreasing heart spasm and increasing coronary blood flow, reducing blood pressure and insulin, and increasing estrogen.
Of course, people who drink too much have higher risk for all diseases, so moderation is key here.
As for what’s the healthiest brew, Charles Bamworth, chairman of the Food Science Department at UC-Davis believes that beer is healthier than red wine. Of course, keep in mind that he’s an Anheuser-Busch-endowed professor.
