INTERESTING TIMES

According to the recent study published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Research, epidemiological research suggests that moderate to high alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced overall mortality risk compared to non- and light drinkers.

Their study included over 1,800 people, aged 55 to 65 when the study began. Sixty-nine percent of the participants were men. The subjects were followed for 20 years.

Surprisingly, the group with the lowest mortality rate was moderate drinkers, who had one to three alcoholic drinks per day, followed by heavy drinkers, and then light drinkers, while non-drinkers had the highest mortality rate of them all.

Part of the theory as to why this is so has to do with the modern increase in methanol in food (and cigs), and the physiology by which ethanol helps us to process methanol. Methanol (wood alcohol) is a toxin. Mercola (the first source) offers a good rundown on a variety of possible factors, as well as some warranted warnings about the risks involved in alcohol consumption. Also it is worth noting here that the majority of study participants were male, and females have considerably more difficulty metabolizing ethanol.

SOURCES
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/14/why-do-heavy-drinkers-outlive-nondrinkers.aspx
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01286.x/pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19896282

( abstract of study on ethanol )

I'm beginning to understand what I must do in order to understand a Brons lecture or powerpoint. If I don't already know the material, the lectures and powerpoints are nigh unintelligible to me. It is necessary for me to seek other sources. When I do, Lo and Behold! It's simple. It just seems insanely complex in the lecture.
( smooth muscle notes )