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“Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

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Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#11

Post by randlet »

_m8fo wrote: post #5

I've never drank before, so I'm a terrible person to comment about this: but what exactly is the supposed benefit of drinking? I go to dinner parties, clubs, etc. and it seems that alcohol is everywhere. People mention that its social lubricant, but I just don't get it. I've had great times with groups that don't drink any alcohol: sometimes we just eat great food, play games, etc. I've had similar experiences with m…

Alcoholic drinks taste great (some), but the important bit is alcohol makes you feel really good. Temporarily.

It also helps people who struggle with small talk, or interacting with others in general, to relax and loosen up.

Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#12

Post by Swizec »

_m8fo wrote: post #5

I've never drank before, so I'm a terrible person to comment about this: but what exactly is the supposed benefit of drinking? I go to dinner parties, clubs, etc. and it seems that alcohol is everywhere. People mention that its social lubricant, but I just don't get it. I've had great times with groups that don't drink any alcohol: sometimes we just eat great food, play games, etc. I've had similar experiences with m…

Can confirm. Being the only nondrinket at a party sucks. Everyone becomes a strange kind of boring where the stupidest things entertain them and you just can't see it.

Happens to me a lot because I don't like wine and beer and it seems that in the US people really really don't like to drink spirits socially. Or even to mix their own cocktails.

Sometimes I miss parties with my slavic friends where we go through bottles of gin and vodka and such things. Def don't miss the next day hangover tho :D

And yes it IS a social lubricant. Lowers inhibitions.

Edit: on second thought, maybe avoiding spirits at parties isn't a US thing. Maybe I'm just getting older and people around me no longer enjoy getting smashed

Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#13

Post by projektfu »

mortenjorck wrote: post #2

The headline looks like another entry in the endless "x is good for you / x is bad for you" genre of science journalism, but the article is actually a valuable object lesson in the complexities of trying to control for variables in any study. It's also a timely reminder of how socioeconomic factors remain one of the biggest predictors of health outcomes.

It is, but it's a good read because it reminds you to avoid the reductionist "eat this, don't eat that" thinking. Just because you find a little less cardiovascular disease or something, it doesn't mean that the overall effects on health are positive, and your correlation might be specious anyway.

Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#14

Post by whyileft »

_m8fo wrote: post #5

I've never drank before, so I'm a terrible person to comment about this: but what exactly is the supposed benefit of drinking? I go to dinner parties, clubs, etc. and it seems that alcohol is everywhere. People mention that its social lubricant, but I just don't get it. I've had great times with groups that don't drink any alcohol: sometimes we just eat great food, play games, etc. I've had similar experiences with m…

Things feel more fun when you're drunk with other people. Having a drink or two isn't. In that case its just kind of relaxing. Takes the edge off if you are feeling anxious or stressed about the earlier work day for example.

Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#16

Post by city41 »

_m8fo wrote: post #5

I've never drank before, so I'm a terrible person to comment about this: but what exactly is the supposed benefit of drinking? I go to dinner parties, clubs, etc. and it seems that alcohol is everywhere. People mention that its social lubricant, but I just don't get it. I've had great times with groups that don't drink any alcohol: sometimes we just eat great food, play games, etc. I've had similar experiences with m…

Red wine has long been believed to be good for the heart, whether that's true or not is very debatable. As for the believed benefits of moderate drinking, many believe moderate drinking reduces stress. Reduced stress leads to better health.

Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#17

Post by jasonkostempski »

Swizec wrote: post #12
_m8fo wrote: post #5

I've never drank before, so I'm a terrible person to comment about this: but what exactly is the supposed benefit of drinking? I go to dinner parties, clubs, etc. and it seems that alcohol is everywhere. People mention that its social lubricant, but I just don't get it. I've had great times with groups that don't drink any alcohol: sometimes we just eat great food, play games, etc. I've had similar experiences with m…

Can confirm. Being the only nondrinket at a party sucks. Everyone becomes a strange kind of boring where the stupidest things entertain them and you just can't see it. Happens to me a lot because I don't like wine and beer and it seems that in the US people really really don't like to drink spirits socially. Or even to mix their own cocktails. Sometimes I miss parties with my slavic friends where we go through bottle…

Not sure where you got the idea that in the US people really really don't like to drink spirits socially. I'm sure it's different around the country but that's not the case anywhere I've been.

Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#18

Post by mattmanser »

This feels like it was written by a temperance researchers who is manipulating his result. I understand drinking's a problem for a subset of our population and results in early deaths, but they've clearly identified it's the subset of heavy drinker but constantly preach to the people who aren't in that subset.

In this instance, he lied twice.

First the article content doesn't support the title's claim at all.

In idiomatic english, something being "not so good for you" implies it's bad for you. For example the synonyms "not so good" on thesaurus.com are "bad" & "poor".

That errant "so", obviously deliberately chosen, is a lie.

They didn't find that at all. They're actually found moderate drinking has no discernible consequence on health and only heavy drinkers are at risk.

But even that is a lie, that they admit themselves. There's this gem:

In women, moderate alcohol use was still linked with a health benefit, but given the few women drinking moderately (4%) this effect was questionable.

So the researcher has actually decide to ignore his own results! Either it's mathematically significant or not significant. You can't just discard results that don't agree with your temperance stance.

Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#19

Post by dmurray »

OK, so moderate drinking is not good for you, it's just that being wealthier and better educated makes people more likely to be moderate drinkers.

So, hopefully the causal explanation is that drinking moderately makes you smarter and richer, and eventually healthier.

Re: “Health benefits” of moderate drinking disappear when controlling for wealth

#20

Post by uppercasenut »

_m8fo wrote: post #5

I've never drank before, so I'm a terrible person to comment about this: but what exactly is the supposed benefit of drinking? I go to dinner parties, clubs, etc. and it seems that alcohol is everywhere. People mention that its social lubricant, but I just don't get it. I've had great times with groups that don't drink any alcohol: sometimes we just eat great food, play games, etc. I've had similar experiences with m…

Just another thing that may do us harm but many of us find pleasure in it. It removes some of your problems for a few hours, make you more social etc.

Someone may wonder why people eat meat, sleep only 5 hours a day, smoke pot etc etc.

A lot of medical literature suggests that drinking 1-2 "drinks" a day has benefits for most people. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-he...

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