May 28: A recent Study at the University of Vienna indicates that that while drinking alcohol is known to increase the risk of getting cancer, the high levels of antioxidants in red wine, known as polyphenols may have a protective effect and reduce the risk of prostate cancer among men and suggests we eat and drink everything in moderation-including wine in general
Professor Shahrokh Shariat, the man behind the study, thinks that while drinking alcohol is known to increase the risk of getting cancer, the high levels of antioxidants in red wine, known as polyphenols may have a protective effect and reduce the risk of prostate cancer,
The Government in UK suggests that we should drink less than 14 units of alcohol a week (about seven standard glasses of wine) and it would be best if we drank no alcohol at all. Wine and beer have very low levels of alcohol. Detractors claim that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption and that alcohol has any sort of health benefit is an old wives' tale.
Apart from this recent report on prostate cancer, dozens of other studies have consistently shown that moderate drinkers (those who drink 14 units of alcohol a week or less) tend to have fewer heart attacks and a better life expectancy than those who drink a lot or don't drink at all.
The National Institutes of Health in the US, which is responsible for public health research, acknowledges on its website that moderate alcohol consumption (one drink a night for women, two for men) may have beneficial effects on health, including cutting the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. This is a stand different than that of the UK government.
A persistent criticism of studies which claim to show that alcohol has some health benefits is that the group of non-drinkers who are being investigated may include lots of 'sick quitters' – former alcoholics or people who got ill and gave up alcohol. That would skew the apparent benefits of moderate drinking.
In another big recent study, carried out by researchers from University College, London and Cambridge University, they allowed for this factor. They looked at the records of nearly two million adults in the UK who were over 30, free from heart disease and who had provided their GP with details of their drinking habits.
They then looked to see what happened to these people over a longish period of time (about six years). They found that even when they excluded all former heavy drinkers from their study, the moderate drinkers still had the lowest rates of heart disease and lowest risk of overall death.
However, the benefits drop off quite dramatically when you drink above 14 units a week.
The best estimates are that if you consistently drink two units of alcohol a day above the guidelines (having two glasses of wine a night, instead of one), that will knock about a year off your life. Plus it will add an extra 200 calories to the body.
Such studies are uncontrolled, where the researchers with some grant takes a historical data and tries to determine results that make sense. There are so many factors which could affect the study and are not taken into consideration.
Just eat and drink what you want, in moderation-including wine, suggest the author of this Study in general.. DelWine has always recommended two glasses (125 mL) of wine daily with up to 13% alcohol (adjust the quantity accordingly lower for higher alcohol) for men and one glass for women and continues to do so. You are welcome and encouraged to consult your personal physician who should prescribe according to your physical structure.
The only rider we are adding in conjunction with the new 5:2 diet being recommended by American doctors is drink this quantity of wine for 5 days and have 2 days alcohol-free. Despite the findings so showcased, we recommend red, but if you do not like red wine or get headaches with it, or you prefer to drink only white wine, by all means do so.
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