Low amounts of alcohol may hurt health

[The Straight Story]

Low amounts of alcohol may hurt health

LUND, Sweden, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Even low amounts of alcohol consumption may be bad for health, Swedish researchers said.

Study leader Johan Jarl of Lund University in Sweden found with the exception of people age 80 and older, men who consumed up to five units of alcohol a day and women who consumed up to 2.5 units a day cost the health service more than those who did not drink.

The researchers said their study, published in the journal Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, challenged the conventional wisdom that low-alcohol consumption was good for health and caused fewer sick days and higher wages.

"In this study, however, we found that, when including also those diseases where low-consumption increases the risk of morbidity and mortality, low-to-moderate alcohol intake actually has a net negative health impact," Jarl said in a statement. "It is therefore doubtful if the common explanation of health as the link between alcohol consumption and increased wages is valid in its existing form."

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/11/23/Low-amounts-of-alcohol-may-hurt-health/UPI-86391259021639/

[varelse]

1. Five drinks a day is a "low amount" of alcohol?

I was told no more than 1-2 drinks per week was an acceptable range for women.

[Bonn1997]

4. I think "units" is not the same as "drinks" but I'm not exactly sure what the conversion formula is

[enlightenment]

15. It is an unbelievably STUPID measurement.

A unit = 10 ml of pure alcohol, so you have to do some pretty complicated damned math to figure out how many units a pint of lager versus a pint of ale versus a glass of wine versus . . .

Dumbest damned thing - I'm sure everyone is going to carry around a calculator and conversion tables when they go out to the pub. They had a conversion calculator up on a UK site for awhile, but I can't find it now.

Essentially, it works out to: women should have no more than 1 pint of beer - men can have 2 pints.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_of_alcohol

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

17. If it's the same as the UK...

...then one unit is equivalent to a small shot of spirits. So a beer might have anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 units, depending on its potency.

[The Gunslinger]

21. Yes. Yes it is.

[cherokeeprogressive]

2. I read your subject line bass ackward.

I took the subject line to imply that if my BAC gets too low, I could suffer.

Eh, I don't want to live forever anyway.

I raise my wine glass to you in the hope that you're in Heaven half an hour before the Devil knows you're dead...

[a la izquierda]

13. An Irish toast

May you have food and raiment...
A soft pillow for your bed...
May you be 40 years in heaven
Before the Devil knows you're dead.

[cherokeeprogressive]

19. XLNT! Thanks. I'm going to use it. n/t

[flvegan]

3. So then...large amounts is the way to go? Got it.

[The Straight Story]

6. Yep, and am already testing that right now

:rofl:

[flvegan]

I need to step my game up!

Embrace health!

[petronius]

16. Wasn't there a study released a couple of days ago saying that large amount of alcohol

provide the same health benefits as small amounts? In fact, I think that study came from Sweden, too. And now we hear that small amounts are bad... :shrug:

I'll just believe whatever makes me happy - I'll feel like I'm doing the right thing when I don't drink, and like I'm doing the right thing when I do guzzle. :beer:

[flvegan]

18. Well, they've been saying for a long, long time that a small amount is good

So, if we take that into consideration, ignore the latest info, and go with the study you reference that large amounts are as good as small, then we should sip or imbibe as we feel like.

I can do that.

[SallyMander]

22. That's exactly how i read that headline

Is something wrong with me??? :beer:

[flvegan]

24. Hells no!

:hi:

[Canuckistanian]

5. There you go*

I've been saying this for years. But they didn't listen. Oh, no.

(*WARNING: Excessive alcohol consumption may cause harm.)

[xchrom]

7. ? -- i'm starting to get confused re: health.

i just want a good enjoyable life for as long as i can have that.

that doesn't include slowly degenrating over the years -- or a long life with little pleasure.

[HughMoran]

8. UNITS??? LIFESTILE???

This study is horseshit.

[tabasco]

9. Beer is good for you.

Nobody gonna tell me different.

[Fuzz]

10. I'm screwed.

[Sanity Claws]

11. That sounds like a lot of alcohol to me

How much is a unit of alcohol?
Anyway, I don't think drinking even a small amount of alcohol everyday is a good idea.

[dysfunctional press]

12. i haven't had any alcohol in o ver a decade...

due to my chronic pain meds.

[Cleita]

14. The Swedes drink fast.

The Swedish establishment doesn't like it. I had a Danish friend who lived in a coastal town opposite Sweden. She said the street were full of drunken Swedes every weekend that the ferry would dump out. They would come to Denmark to drink because their government tried to keep them from doing so. Well after drinking some Aquavit with Scandanavians of different nationalities (at one party in my younger days) I understand that their boozing tradition is different from the Mediterranean one of moderation that I grew up with. The skol means chugalug. I wouldn't doubt that the Swedish establishment is still trying to keep the closet Viking from erupting out of their citizens. I say this with love to all the Scandanavians I met in Southern California who introduced me to their fine cuisine and their culture. But for all the social democratic society that they have built up, they seem to be very conservative about the issue of booze.

[SPedigrees]

20. Scandinavians may have a differing interpretation of "low amounts" when it comes to alcohol.

[undeterred]

23. So now I'm not drinking enough?

Damn, I can't do anything right.