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back to article Moderate boozing good for your heart: Official

A study published in the British Medical Journal shows that moderate drinking can help prevent heart disease and stroke. The BBC summarises that the review of 30 years of research "showed a 14 per cent to 25 per cent reduction in heart disease in moderate drinkers compared with people who had never drunk alcohol". …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Won't someone think of the children?

    Re: "If you don't drink, this is not a reason to start. Similar results can be achieved by being physically active and eating a balanced and healthy diet."

    While I have been fortunate enough to already follow the moderate boozing health plan (well, I define it as moderate - I never hide the bottle when I'm drinking in the office), what about the children that will never get the opportunities that moderate boozing has provided previous generations with?

    Won't someone please think of the children?

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    1. Patrick R
      Reply Icon
      Terminator

      It's about today's children ...

      that will never get the opportunities of "being physically active and eating a balanced and healthy diet". ...They now have a hope.

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  2. lglethal Silver badge
    Joke

    But wait Doc...

    ... Think how much healthier those people who dont drink and who are physically active and eating a balanced and healthy diet can be when they take up drinking moderately! & considering how expensive a pint is getting these days, all that extra drinking will be helping the economy!

    So come on all you selfish, non-optimally-healthy, not-helping-the-economy non-drinkers - do your part for the country and your health!!! See you down the pub!!! ;)

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    good for your heart

    Drinking moderately may improve your heart health but drinking in moderation may cause you to see how dreadful everything is.

    1 0
    1. Velv
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      Two and a Half Men

      After drinking excessively, with said drink come back on Alan later in the bathroom, Charlie comments to Alan's ex-wife:

      "you know what the smell is - 'Epiphany', for Men!"

      Isn't it amazing how clearly the world could be fixed with a good few drinks.

      We should do this for the next G20 summit - get all the world leaders ratarsed, and lock them in a room until they fix it :)

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      1. Alistair Wall
        Reply Icon

        We should do this for the next G20 summit

        <a href="http://xkcd.com/617/>or perhaps not.</a>

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  4. Yesnomaybe
    Pint

    Easy choice.

    "Similar results can be achieved by being physically active and eating a balanced and healthy diet."

    So I can run....or drink.

    Run/Drink?...run/drink....hmmm...

    Drink.

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    1. Arthur Jackson
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      The "100" Club

      Run 100 miles and drink 100 Pints of beer in 100 consecutive hours - it has been done ;-)

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  5. dotdavid
    Pint

    Similar, but harder

    "Similar results can be achieved by being physically active and eating a balanced and healthy diet.""

    Ah but "drinking moderately" is far easier than faffing around with all that balanced healthy physical stuff. Cheers!

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  6. Tim Worstal

    Define "moderate"

    In order to be as unhealthy as a teetotaller you need to be drinking in the 50-60 units a week range.

    That's a heck of a lot more than the recommended limits.....

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Sounds like a challenge to me

      brb, pub

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    2. Tony Green
      Reply Icon

      Precisely

      The "official" limits were plucked out of the air with no actual science behind them. And worse still, they halved the number they originally thought of on the basis that "everybody will double whatever we say".

      And unlike the "official" limits, the figures quoted by Tim come from proper scientific research. By no less a person than Professor Richard Doll, the man who found the link between smoking and lung cancer.

      1 0
  7. Annihilator
    Happy

    @Ms Bee

    Question: we now know what moderate boozing does for your health. But what does boozy moderating do for your health?

    Inquiring minds etc.. but suspect I know what it does for the health of commentards..

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  8. Captain Scarlet
    IT Angle

    Bleh

    Why both listening to people who tell you what to eat and drink.

    They always say things are bad for you and then suddenly good for you, eat and drink what you want and ignore the bilge.

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  9. MJI Silver badge
    Pint

    Brilliant

    This is about what I drink anyway

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  10. Rodrigo Valenzuela
    Pint

    no tittle

    'if you don't drink, this is not a reason to start'

    That may be, but it is also one reason less to stop.

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  11. spegru
    Badgers

    One thing I have always wondered

    about these surveys, is where they find the people who have never drunk..... and even if they have found them in say, arab countries, what are the other dietary & environmental differences

    1 0
  12. frank ly
    Stop

    Causality Fallacy?

    I have wondered about this conclusion, which has been reported quite a few times over the years, regarding moderate drinking and cardiovascular health, etc.

    Could it be that people who do not drink alcohol have other factors in their life that increase their risk of heart problems or stroke?

    e.g. known pre-existing illness requiring them to avoid alcohol, unknown pre-existing illness that makes drinking alcohol an unpleasant experience (either immediately or the morning after), being an uptight and miserable grouch who is lining themselves up for a heart attack or stroke eventually, etc.

    Did the 'research' properly take all this into account?

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    1. MJI Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      I think it improves circulation

      Also relaxes you.

      Less stress.

      Easier to pump blood in relaxed blood vessels.

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  13. Dances With Sheep
    FAIL

    Why indeed

    > Why listening to people who tell you what to eat and drink.

    Ummmm....

    Because they are doctors and know more about health than we do.

    Of course, if you are too thick to tell the difference between useful scientific advice on health (which you are free to ignore) and "OMG, they are gonna make us all eat sprouts" then I suggest reading the Daily Fail where you will find other people who share your misunderstanding of science.

    Yeah I'm gonna get pissed & stoned this Friday. But I wont kid myself it's healthy unlike some fuckwits out there. (HINT: moderate drinking is healthy..... not necking 8 pints of ale and toking a few ceiling scrapers.)

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  14. Roger Greenwood
    Pint

    Alternative Conclusion to these surveys

    Is that living a healthy lifestyle, moderate exercise etc doesn't actually help you live longer - it just feels like it. Cheers.

    2 0
  15. Tony Green
    Happy

    Looks good for my lifestyle

    I'm physically active, eat a healthy diet AND drink plenty of Real Ale. Am I EVER going to die?

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  16. Mage Silver badge

    So unless

    The computer is pedal powered I need a Drink?

    0 0
  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No fan of the 'official' guidelines

    but can report that drinking more than that when you are prone to atrial fibrillation can make you feel really rather crap.

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    1. John H Woods Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      I am reminded of an ancient punch cartoon...

      ... showing two old geezers in their high-sided chairs surveying the not terribly interesting proceedings at the old folks home where they live. Caption: "If we hadn't given up smoking and drinking, we'd have missed all this!"

      BTW it's more useful to think of a unit as 10ml of alcohol rather than 8g.

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  18. EvilGav 1

    Moderate ?

    Who's moderate ? My opinion of moderate is very, very different to everyone elses (as in I think of 4 or 5 pints as "a couple" and 7 or 8 a "quiet night").

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