One of the most contentious issues in the vast literature about alcohol consumption has been the consistent finding that those who don't drink tend to die sooner than those who do. The standard Alcoholics Anonymous explanation for this finding is that many of those who show up as abstainers in such research are actually former hard-core drunks who had already incurred health problems associated with drinking。
But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that - for reasons that aren't entirely clear - abstaining from alcohol does tend to increase one's risk of dying, even when you exclude former problem drinkers. The most shocking part is abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers。
Moderate drinking, which is defined as one to three drinks per day, is associated with the lowest mortality rates in alcohol studies. Moderate alcohol use (especially when the beverage of choice is red wine) is thought to improve heart health。
But why would abstaining from alcohol lead to a shorter life? Even after controlling for nearly all imaginable variables - socioeconomic status, level of physical activity, number of close friends, quality of social support and so on - the researchers (a six-member team led by psychologist Charles Holahan of the University of Texas at Austin) found that over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who were not current drinkers, regardless of whether they used to be alcoholics, second highest for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers。
One important reason is that alcohol lubricates so many social interactions, and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health。
The authors of the new paper are careful to note that even if drinking is associated with longer life, it can be dangerous: it can impair your memory severely and it can lead to nonlethal falls and other mishaps (like, say, cheating on your spouse in a drunken haze) that can screw up your life. So the new study provides the strongest evidence yet that moderate drinking is not only fun but good for you。
美國《時代》周刊8月30日文章：為何酒鬼比不喝酒者活得長？
關于飲酒一直是人類文明長河中最具爭議的話題之一，之前人們發(fā)現(xiàn)不喝酒的人反而壽命更短。對此戒酒無名會的官方解釋是，那些參與此類實驗的所謂滴酒不沾的人在戒酒以前都是酒鬼，身體早就因為酒精患上了種種不治之癥。
然而，最新一期《酒精中毒臨床與實驗研究》刊登的文章指出，盡管原因不明，不喝酒確實會導致死亡率升高，即使不算那些之前喝酒后來戒酒的人。最讓人震驚的是文章稱不喝酒的人比酗酒的人早死的幾率要高。
研究顯示，適量飲酒，如每日飲酒一到三杯，可降低死亡率。適當飲酒(特別是紅酒)有利于增進心臟健康。
但為什么滴酒不沾的人反倒活得短呢？即便拋開所有想得到的可變因素，如社會經(jīng)濟地位、身體狀況、好友數(shù)目、社會支持等，研究人員(由德克薩斯大學心理學家查理斯-霍拉漢帶領的六人研究小組)歷時20年的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，不管他們以前有沒有飲過酒，滴酒不沾的人死亡率是最高的，第二高時酗酒者，死亡率最低的是適度飲酒者。
一個重要的原因是，飲酒有助于人際交往，而人際交往時保持身心健康的重要因素。
報告的作者也小心翼翼地指出，即使飲酒有助于長壽，其也是有危險之處的：它可以嚴重損害你的記憶能力、導致種種不良結果和意外發(fā)生(例如酒后出軌)，從而毀掉你的生活。對于適度飲酒不僅有情趣而且有益健康，該研究提供了證據(jù)。
