Timeline for Is alcohol beneficial in small amounts?
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| May 23, 2021 at 15:33 | comment | added | Matthew Christopher Bartsh | In the body of the question you (sort of) narrow it down by writing "It's widely believed that consuming small amounts of alcohol has many health benefits." But still one has to weight all the health benefits and the health "harms", and there are presumably an infinite number of each, even if we know about only a few of them. How does one weight the mental health effects of small amounts of alcohol? I suspect that reading and thinking is good for the mind, and so a small amount of alcohol every day, if it reduces reading and thinking, which I think it would, could be bad for the mind. | |
| May 23, 2021 at 10:59 | comment | added | Matthew Christopher Bartsh | It's a good question, and I upvoted it. OTOH I think it's much harder to answer than it seems at first glance. Do you mean beneficial on the whole? That would mean looking at all the effects it has on everybody, and weighting them according a value system. Thus the increased risk of cancer would need to be weighted according to how harmful cancer is evaluated to be, likewise the fun had while drinking would have to be weighted, and the increase in social capital, and reduction in time spent reading (speaking from personal experience only). Then these things would need to be weighed up. Surely? | |
| May 23, 2021 at 10:18 | comment | added | Matthew Christopher Bartsh | @AndrewGrimm You wrote "I think this was in Ben Goldacre's book bad medicine, but I can't say for sure." Ben Goldacre penned Bad Science, and also Bad Pharma, but no "Bad Medicine" it seems after searching for it. | |
| Jun 17, 2020 at 9:41 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Aug 26, 2018 at 20:57 | vote | accept | Patches | ||
| Aug 25, 2018 at 13:55 | answer | added | LangLаngС | timeline score: 8 | |
| Aug 24, 2018 at 14:43 | answer | added | user11643 | timeline score: 6 | |
| Jul 22, 2013 at 19:56 | answer | added | Jonathan Graehl | timeline score: 10 | |
| Mar 13, 2012 at 22:13 | answer | added | Dave Hillier | timeline score: 13 | |
| Apr 6, 2011 at 10:40 | history | edited | Patches | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
remove 'truly' per discussion on Meta
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| Mar 30, 2011 at 22:38 | history | bounty ended | CommunityBot | ||
| Mar 26, 2011 at 22:20 | vote | accept | Patches | ||
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| Mar 24, 2011 at 0:13 | answer | added | Oliver_C | timeline score: 20 | |
| Mar 23, 2011 at 22:06 | history | bounty started | CommunityBot | ||
| Mar 21, 2011 at 21:56 | comment | added | Sklivvz | Not good enough for a proper answer but there have been multiple studies in Italy about red wine. The result: 1 glass of red wine while eating significantly reduces heart disease and cancer. Apparently it's not only caused by the moderate quantity of alcohol but also to the tannins present in red wine (a similar effect was not found in white wine). | |
| Mar 21, 2011 at 18:22 | comment | added | Mad Scientist♦ | The study you cited states a survival effect for moderate drinkers compared to abstainers and heavy drinkers, it does not state that heavy drinking is good for you. The results seem to be somewhat distorted by the article. | |
| Mar 21, 2011 at 18:20 | answer | added | DJClayworth | timeline score: 62 | |
| Mar 21, 2011 at 9:33 | comment | added | user unknown | What is the distinction between heavy drinkers and moderate drinkers? | |
| Mar 21, 2011 at 5:36 | comment | added | Lie Ryan | There is a problem with the study, in that since it only follows people above age 55, then it discounted the cases for those who have already died because of drinking related incidents (e.g. drink driving, falling from 10th floor, alcohol-related diseases, etc) before that age. One argument is that people who drinks faces much tougher "natural selection", and people who drinks and survives up to 55 are those who passed. It takes much more effort to protect your body while your brain is intoxicated, and people who drinks and manages to survive to 55 are likely those who are smart enough to | |
| Mar 21, 2011 at 3:32 | comment | added | Golden Cuy | One argument against it is that those who don't drink include those who've been told not to on medical grounds. I think this was in Ben Goldacre's book bad medicine, but I can't say for sure. | |
| Mar 21, 2011 at 1:41 | history | edited | Patches | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
added 186 characters in body; edited title
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| Mar 21, 2011 at 1:33 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackSkeptic/status/49644724360986624 | ||
| Mar 21, 2011 at 1:03 | history | asked | Patches | CC BY-SA 2.5 |