From: Robert Harley (Robert.Harley@inria.fr)
Date: Wed Jan 31 2001 - 10:44:13 PST
Jay Thomas wrote:
>http://junkscience.com/
>"All the junk that's fit to debunk"
Top story is:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/junkscience/index.sml
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American Heart Association Paradox
The American Heart Association this week urged that "health care
professionals downplay the popular but unproven supposition that
drinking red wine can help ward off heart attacks."
But "unproven suppositions" don't stop the AHA from promoting other
foods and beverages as "heart healthy." Some "unproven suppositions,"
as it turns out, are more lucrative and politically correct that
others.
[...]
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Actually this particular supposition has recently been proven to
within reasonable doubt, so it's about time for the naysayers to shut
up. I can't remember a reference (shame on me). The report studied a
large sample including twins to rule out often-alluded-to genetic
factors and concluded that moderate intake of ethanol reduces heart
disease.
The optimal amount ranges from 1 to 3 "units" per day where unit is
about one glass of wine or half a pint of beer. The variability
depends on whether you are a man or a woman (men => more, yippee!) and
on what variety of alcohol dehydrogenase your genes code for.
The advantage can be surprisingly large (at least to me): IIRC among
men, non-drinkers have a 85% higher risk than those who have the "right"
kind of enzyme and drink moderately.
Unfortunately for wine vendors, ethanol is present in cheap plonk just
as much as in fine Bordeaux.
However another item from general knowledge rather than that study, is
that cheap plonk, fruit liqueurs and such like, tend to contain
relatively high levels of methanol (and other junk) that fucks up your
liver over time so quality drinks are better from that point of view.
Whether oak barrel ageing for wine has any health advantage over
aluminium tanks remains a matter of debate...
Of course these results should not be taken as a justification for
heavy drinking since the risk of accidents and cirrhosis dominate then.
Is that all clear? Hic! Occifer, I'm not a think as you drunk I am...
Best,
Rob =:¬)
.-. Robert.Harley@polytechnique.org .-.
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