Great article. Now it's time to go out at the local bar to have a few beers with my friends :)
Why Alcohol Is Good for You
31–40 of 46 posts
Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#32"It’s also essential to note that all of the aforementioned health benefits of alcohol (such as de-stressing and socializing) can also be achieved for free, such as with meditation or by simply being a good friend."
Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#33Correlation does not strictly mean causation. Our statistics professor brought this example once, he explained it that people who don't drink (in a western society) have often problems with their health or are taking medication. Statistics could be often misleading. Another example was that people with bigger feet were more likely to be earn more money. Guess why?
Because taller people tend to earn more money and people with bigger feet tend to be taller?
Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#34"But here’s the really weird data point: Heavy drinkers also live longer than abstainers." Really? Really? I don't believe it. I'd like to look more closely at the data that supports this. And it depends on the definition of "heavy" drinking. If it's a regular one glass a day, sure. If it's a bottle a gin a couple of times a week I would beg to differ. Alcohol is insanely destructive. Whilst no doubt this study is pi…
The full study is available online, and is linked to in the article. Their definition of "heavy drinking" seems to be more than three drinks per day, which seems like a reasonable definition to me.
The problem with that definition is that it still lumps modestly-heavy drinkers (two small beers after work, two glasses of wine with dinner) with really heavy drinkers (guzzle whisky until you pass out every afternoon).
If you plotted "health problems" vs "amount drunk" you'd probably see a fairly flattish curve from zero up to some level, combined with a sudden increase at very high levels of consumption. The "heavy drinking" number you're getting here is going to be a section of the flat curve combined with a section of the sudden increase, so the number you're getting doesn't tell you much.
Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#35These studies that whet the appetite for 'sin secrets' are entertaining, but that's about it. I favor reductionism. Maybe it's not forced brain evolution or African-plain-life recreation. Maybe it's because when you drink you tend to eat less, which is, good.
The only inherent advantage in eating less is getting fewer calories; alcohol has a substantial number of calories itself, so no benefit there.
Also, I think that studies (and my own experience) have shown that alcohol increases the amount you eat anyway.
Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#36Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because men earn more money and tend to have bigger feet than women?
Yes. Or that's at least the professor's theory.
Could it not be because people with bigger feet tend to be taller? (I don't have evidence that big feet -> tall, but I'm pretty sure it's the case)
It's been demonstrated in the past that taller men tend to be more successful.
Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#38if alcohol drinkers are happier people, and happier people live longer...
does that mean people who have a lot of good sex live longer too? I bet they do!
Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#39"But here’s the really weird data point: Heavy drinkers also live longer than abstainers." Really? Really? I don't believe it. I'd like to look more closely at the data that supports this. And it depends on the definition of "heavy" drinking. If it's a regular one glass a day, sure. If it's a bottle a gin a couple of times a week I would beg to differ. Alcohol is insanely destructive. Whilst no doubt this study is pi…
> It's mental that for £20 I can pop into any off-licence, corner shop or supermarket in the land and buy enough alcohol to literally kill myself
If you're concerned about that, boy have you got a lot of other things to start being concerned about. You can kill yourself with pennies worth of water, or £2 of petrol and a match, or jump off a building, or...
My point of course being that while it might be a little unsettling to look at the alcohol aisle and think "enough of that could kill me", there's a million easier, cheaper and faster ways to attain the same thing.
Re: Why Alcohol Is Good for You
#40So the referenced study prompts a basic but hopefully interesting question about statistics and epidemiology which I hope someone could answer. When they controlled for former problem drinking status and medical status (among other factors), there was a major change in abstainers from 200% increased mortality over moderate drinkers to 51%. So it seems like current abstainers included a significantly death-prone cohort who were former problem drinkers and/or in poor health.
Okay, so that makes me wonder what the difference is between controlling for major factors and simply excluding the cohort with factors having that very significant impact on mortality. My question is, at what point should one correct for major factors and at what point is it appropriate to completely segregate the data? What if the size of the group with major factors excluded would be statistically insignificant (i.e. heavy drinkers who have never been problem drinkers)?