July 07: Even as the Draft Report in the US for Food Guidelines due to be published later this year suggests that both men and women should drink only one glass of wine daily instead of two, a US Health and Retirement Study conducted at the University of Georgia and published last week in JAMA Network Open recommends that moderate wine consumption could boost brain power, writes Subhash Arora
Dr Li Changwei, an epidemiologist from the University of Georgia, in Athens near Atlanta, the Lead author of the study says, ‘‘Several studies have found that low to moderate alcohol consumption is associated with better cardiovascular functions, fewer cardiac episodes and longer chance of survival compared with abstainers and heavy drinkers. While the mechanisms are not very clear, a recent study found that alcohol consumption increases the risk of hypertension and stroke regardless of dose, which decreases the likelihood of this potential mechanism’.
The study conducted among nearly 20,000 people of average 62-year age, 60% being women, who provided information about their health and economic status and who were tested biennially from 1997 till 2008 had each volunteer tested in relation to the study. Low or moderate drinkers were found to experience less cognitive decline than abstainers. Interestingly, this was found to hold for whites and not black people; reasons are not clear, according to Medical Express. The range of drinking considered low to moderate was defined at less than 8 drinks for women and 15 drinks per week for men per week. Drinking more frequently reduces benefit to the brain and even becomes more harmful, assert the researchers.
The role of alcohol drinking in cognitive function may be a balance of its beneficial and harmful effects on the cardiovascular system. The study found only an association and could not establish that moderate drinking directly caused the preservation of thinking and memory.
However, Li suggested that public health campaigns are still needed to reduce alcohol drinking in middle-aged or older U.S. adults, particularly among men.
Subhash Arora
DelWine continues to recommend that men should drink moderately; drink better and drink less. We recommend 2 glasses of wine a day for men and a glass for women with a break of one or two days in the week. We also feel all studies on wine must declares source of grants to be published alongside because it establishes the motive and bias behind such study and whether the Sponsor is for or against wine as a health product-editor
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