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Recovery in the News
Drink More Alcohol, Live Longer?
Miri Marshall
KFox 14 News
Septemeber 5, 2010
EL PASO , Texas -- It's Labor Day weekend, and some people will get together over a little food and alcohol. A new study out may encourage some people to keep pouring.
In the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, a study noted that people who drink moderately outlive those who don't drink.
Alcohol experts like Ben Bass, executive director of Recovery Alliance of El Paso, said he’s not buying it.
"Being healthy never comes out of a bottle," Bass said.
A team of six psychologists, one from the University of Texas at Austin, followed 1,824 people for 20 years. After ruling out other variables such as physical activity, researchers found 69 percent of people who didn't drink died and 60 percent of heavy drinkers died, but only 41 percent of moderate drinkers died.
Moderate drinking is defined as three drinks a day. The article noted red wine can improve circulation.
"If you want the benefits of red wine, drink grape juice, it's got the same stuff," Bass said.
The article, originally published in Time magazine, stated red wine can improve cardiovascular health.
"If you want cardiovascular health, exercise two or three times a week," Bass said.
The article noted another benefit of drinking is sociability.
"Sociability is definitely achievable without booze," Bass said.
Bass said he's worried about people who are predisposed to getting addicted to alcohol who may read come across this information.
"It would be awful if someone who is in successful recovery read this article and decided to drink three drinks a day, because it could certainly kill them," Bass said.
Researchers noted that alcohol is still dangerous despite the findings.