Drink a specified amount of alcohol every day can heighten one’s chances of living until 90, a new study has claimed.
Before now, there have been widely varying research-backed claims about alcohol consumption, including its role in hypertension, stroke, liver disease, diabetes, and breast cancer relapses.
However, a new research published in the journal Age and Ageing is suggesting that alcohol in moderation might be better for a long and healthy life than abstaining from it completely.
The team at the Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands tracked more than 5,000 men and women born between 1916 and 1917 using data from the Netherlands cohort study.
In doing so, the researchers quizzed the study’s participants on their drinking habits in 1986 when they were in their sixties and eventually followed them up until they attained the age of 90.
The findings from the study showed that 34 percent of the women and 16 percent men survived to that age, with those who drank 5–15 g/d of alcohol having “the highest probability of reaching 90.”
With the alcohol consumed being roughly equivalent to a glass of wine, a pub measure of a spirit, or half a pint of beer, drinking more than 15 g alcohol was found to be detrimental.
“We found alcohol intake was positively associated with the probability of reaching 90 years of age in both men and women,” Piet van den Brandt, one of the researchers, said, according to Daily Mail.
“Wine was associated with women reaching 90 but not with men. Instead, intake of gin, brandy and whisky increased their longevity.
“This should, however, not be used by anyone who does not currently drink alcohol as motivation to start drinking.”
An earlier study had contrarily claimed that there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption as the harm will always outweigh the benefits and apply to all consumers equally. (The Cable Lifestyle)
