Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds

Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds

news.yahoo.com

One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink actually tend to die sooner than those who do

The most shocking part? Abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers

found that over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who had never been drinkers, second-highest for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 30-8-2010 by dolphinfan]

Facinating that what we have been hammered with in the media for decades is proving to be false and that abstaining totally from alcohol is worse than being a heavy drinker when all things are considered.

As someone who partakes, this makes sense to me, as most of the tightest wound folks I have ever met abstain and look like a heart attack waiting to happen, while most drunks are pretty loose and content with life.

What groups have fostered this notion? The treatment industry, religous groups and other moral majority types, that's who. Those who make money from treatment and those who don't like the whole drinking scene.

Not to suggest that folks who need help should not get help, they should. I have also had medical professionals tell me that stopping for a few beers in a comfortable social environment is in many cases more effective than medication/therapy for mild depression, especially in men. It is commonly known in the therapy profession as "Cheers therapy".

I also know that the notion that most folks who have a drinking problem, despite what the church/AA crowd will tell you can move to a life of moderate consumption.

The whole stigma surrounding alcohol is nonsense. It is especially true in the States.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

guess all that jim beam and rot gut alchol is burnin up all those bad bugs in people !!! ill drink to that !!

reply to post by dolphinfan

Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds

Not if they drink and drive. Sadly they often take others down with them.

I always knew drinking bourbon and smoking corn pipes was keeping those old timers alive over 100 years...

Being a heavy drinker is not living well. I have seen the suffering. Yes, things last longer when pickled. But who wants to live in a jar? Cars last much longer when not driven, especially if you fill them with bad fuel.

reply to post by dolphinfan


Who conducted this study? Was it a "MR J Daniels"

Seriously though... i do question its validity as a serious study. All of the people i know who drink heavily have had various health problems as a direct result of heavy drinking.

However, i do believe that there are health benefits for moderate drinkers.

I guess is depends on what one defines as moderate or heavy

Im partial to cider and i am convinced that i never get ill because of all the vitamin C that you get in apples!

I think that there are varying degrees of heavy drinking and if you are necking two bottles of vodka a day then im sure that would not be conducive to a long and healthy life.

ohh to be one of the test people for this study !!! " saintsjunky ..go over there and drink bud light and jim beam till you puke purple..ohh here your check " !!! ....ahh the life

Well, Whisky is a shortened form of a Gaellic word that means "Water of Life". So of course Whisky is good, they wouldn't it that if it wasn't true.

I guess it's because people who drink alcohol enjoy life and are not so much concerned about their health, thinking 20 hours a day about what is healthy and what is not, when they die and so on.
I bet it is the same with food, just eat and enjoy and not thinking about what could be unhealthy.
Worryin's a waste of my #ing time, should be for everyone.

I think i need a nice glass of whiskey now

I don't think everyone has adequately read what this is saying. While yes, a heavy drinker will outlive a tea totaler it doesn't mean that heavy drinking is the best course of action.

Doctors often tout the health benefits of light alcohol consumption.

www.medicalnewstoday.com...
aje.oxfordjournals.org...

I don't think the OP article is suggesting that everyone start going to their local frat house for an all night binge drinking marathon on a daily basis.

That old adage "everything in moderation" is often the best solution.

I also herd that if you consume more Tabasco or other hot sauces you tend to stay more healthy.