Hey Bartender: One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Or make it a fine Bordeaux, if that’s more your bent. It’s for your health, after all, according to the latest from the folks tasked with updating the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 2010. One of those guidelines focuses on alcohol and is stirring up quite the debate.
Which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The guidelines faced a backlash of criticism when they were tweaked in 2005 and included a tacit acknowledgment that moderate consumption of alcohol “is associated with a lower risk for coronary heart disease in some individuals.”
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee ups the ante, declaring that strong evidence indicates that “the lowest mortality risk for men and women [occurs] at the average level of one to two drinks per day, [and] is likely due to the protective effects of moderate alcohol consumption on CHD [coronary heart disease], diabetes and ischemic stroke as summarized in this chapter.”
Drink beer – live longer. And that’s not all. According to the DGAC, “Moderate evidence suggests that compared to non-drinkers, individuals who drink moderately have a slower cognitive decline with age.”
Drink beer – live longer and stay smarter. Cheers!
Bottom line from the draft (no pun intended) guidelines being considered:
“The DGAC recommends that if alcohol is consumed, it should be consumed in moderation, and only by adults. Moderate alcohol consumption is defined as average daily consumption of up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men and no more than three drinks in any single day for women and no more than four drinks in any single day for men. One drink is defined as 12 fl. oz. of regular beer, 5 fl. oz. of wine, or 1.5 fl. oz. of distilled spirits.”
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