Up until you're 21, you're told that drinking
alcohol is bad. Then you're suddenly told
that, really, it's drinking alcohol and driving
that's bad. The latter is definitely true. But
the former? Scientists aren't so sure.
Case in point: During a five-year period,
lifetime alcohol abstainers were 19 percent
more likely to die than regular drinkers,
defined as having one or two drinks, three
or more days a week, say Virginia Tech
University researchers.
Those who never touched the bottle were
also roughly 56 percent (!) more likely to
experience coronary heart disease than
regular drinkers, found the scientists, who
crunched data from a government survey of
nearly half a million Americans.
So what power does alcohol hold, besides
making you awesome at karaoke? Past
research has shown that alcohol can raise
good cholesterol, lower bad cholesterol, and
can reduce those blood problems that lead
to clogged arteries. It can even lower your
risk for diabetes.
But don't start pounding half-a-dozen RBVs
every night. (For one thing, mixing energy
drinks and alcohol is a bad idea.) The
Virginia Tech study shows that heavy
drinking, defined as at least three drinks,
three or more days a week, is even worse
for you than abstaining. (Although not by
much, and non-drinkers were more
susceptible to heart disease.)
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