Or is it just that healthy people drink more?

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Moderate-drinking-may-help-older-men/2007/03/06/1172943416748.html

Older men who drink moderate amounts of alcohol may function better physically than either those who abstain completely or those who abuse alcohol, a new study suggests.

Moderate drinkers tend to be healthier in general than teetotalers or problem drinkers, Dr Peggy Cawthon of California Pacific Medical Centre in San Francisco and colleagues note. There is also evidence that moderate drinking may reduce inflammation.

Cawthon and colleagues compared functional limitations, physical performance and drinking history for 5,962 men aged 65 or older who were classified into five categories. Men who consumed five or more drinks on most days were classified as having a history of sustained excessive drinking, while those who responded positively to a questionnaire used to diagnose alcoholism were classified as problem drinkers.

Moderate drinkers were those who consumed between seven and 20 drinks per week and heavy drinkers were men who consumed 21 or more drinks weekly. Abstainers made up the final group.

Moderate drinkers scored about 3-5 per cent better on tests of physical function than the abstainers, the researchers found, while scores for heavy drinkers were about the same as those for the abstainers.

The abstainers were the most likely to report physical limitations to activities of daily living such as walking, climbing stairs, and doing heavy housework. The heavy alcohol users were only slightly less likely than abstainers to have these limitations.

Low-moderate users, meaning men who drank between seven and 14 drinks a week, were the least likely to have functional limitations, and were at 38 per cent lower risk of having these problems than abstainers.

The researchers call for more detailed studies to determine how alcohol use over time affects how functional status changes with age.

Yeeeeeeeeha.

(In moderation of course). 

Then how come the severity of the hangover appears to depend on the 'quality' of the brew?

freediver wrote on Mar 9^th, 2007 at 5:53pm:


As always, things are complex. There are more chemicals at work than just this one, and the studies are as yet inconclusive so I will grant it is a theory, although a concerning one. For example, cheap wine is often aged quickly by adding a nice chemical called ethylene glycol... yep, anti-freeze. So I think cheap booze has plenty more nasties than the good stuff is what it boils down to.

The chemical I'm talking about is called acetaldehyde. Its not isolated to alcohol either, they have found it in tobacco smoke, exhaust fumes, coffee, yoghurt and more. It gives things a fruity taste. The article stub is here: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg19325901.700-whats-your-poison.html but you need to be a subscriber to read it I'm afraid. An interesting point they raise however is that it exists in your mouth as a by-product of bacteria, but the great thing about this is they demonstrate that good oral hygene can stave off mouth and throat cancer (provided you don't smoke!). The gist of this article is that they are trying to come up with a drug that can protect you from hangovers! So its not all doom and gloom

Anyway... enough of my rambling!

Quote:

TOTALLY

Are you a brewer noodle? The missus and I brew all our own beer, very good stuff 

Are you a brewer noodle? The missus and I brew all our own beer, very good stuff   "
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funny zoso..you funny little girl you..   dont you mean the hubby and you?

Quote:

Gotta love a good strong drop

Ausgirl, what on earth are you on about? girl?

Homebrew only tastes bad when brewed poorly. You do it for long enough and get the hang of it, tastes very good indeed.

When we have money we drink Boags Draught or Coopers. Northern state beers are not quite what I call 'beer'

Coopers red label for me.
had an imported one from new zealand,  "Celtic" was the flavour, can't remember the brand.
Was possibly better than Coopers !!!  Not seen it since though.

pure blonde is ok.