Likes Likes:  0
Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Drinking And The Sexes

  1. #1

    Post imported post

    RAISE YOUR GLASSES

    Back in college, I'm sure I was considered a cheap date -- I'd be tipsy after one glass of wine or just a few sips of a margarita! But lower tolerance isn't the only difference between men and women when it comes to alcohol. A new study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research points to some other interesting sex-specific consequences of drinking.

    RESEARCH RESULTS

    The negative impact: On one hand, the research shows that women are more sensitive to alcohol's negative effects -- they report worse physical and mental health functioning than men after drinking the same amount. "That's because women have lower ratios of water to fat," explains lead author Carla A. Green, PhD, MPH, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. "Alcohol is dissolved in body water. Because women have less, they end up with a higher blood alcohol concentration." This means that women not only tend to get intoxicated faster, they also suffer greater incidence of high blood pressure, liver disease, breast cancer and behavioral problems.

    THE UPSIDE

    On the other hand, and what surprised researchers most, was that women also were more sensitive to alcohol's positive effects. Among the 2,600 women and 3,069 men surveyed, women who drank at light to moderate levels (one to two drinks two or three times weekly) reported better physical health and functioning than men with similar drinking habits. "They seem to have reduced coronary heart disease, reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes and an increased sense of well-being," says Dr. Green. "These benefits were proportionately smaller among men." Moderate-drinking women also reported better health than women who drank more heavily and women who didn't drink at all.

    The reasons still are not well understood, according to Dr. Green, but differences in alcohol metabolism and body composition are one possible explanation. The other possible explanation has to do simply with number-crunching: "Because we don't have causal evidence, it's possible that when women are in bad health, they're more likely to quit drinking and end up in the abstainer group," Dr. Green says, which would boost the health statistics of the moderate women drinkers by default. Research does show that women are more willing to change their drinking patterns in response to news about their health.

    Either way, Dr. Green is clear on the finding that "women are more sensitive to the negative effects of alcohol and may be more sensitive to the positive." She wouldn't recommend that women take up drinking if they don't already -- because of the health risks associated with it -- but if they're going to imbibe, it should be no more than one drink per day. (For men, the limit should be two drinks per day.) The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) define a drink as a 12-ounce bottle of beer (less than one pint), a five-ounce glass of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.

    The bottom line? Everything in moderation -- and don't always trust the numbers in a study. This is good to keep in mind as you head out to celebrate the holidays.

    Be well,


    Carole Jackson



  2.  
  3. #2

    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA
    Posts
    1,283

    Post imported post

    I heartily endorse alcohol and its positive effects on women. :^

  4.  
  5. #3

    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Fulton, TX USA
    Posts
    2,336

    Post imported post

    Mike wrote:
    I heartily endorse alcohol and its positive effects on women. :^
    Yeeeks !--- No icon to fit here...........



  6.  
  7. #4

    Post imported post

    Mike wrote:
    I heartily endorse alcohol and its positive effects on women. :^

    :h Meaning... ? Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker?

    However comma there is a certain person who could drive me to drink.:x

  8.  
  9. #5

    Post imported post

    grandma wrote:
    Mike wrote:
    I heartily endorse alcohol and its positive effects on women. :^
    Yeeeks !--- No icon to fit here...........

    style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #f8f8f8"

  10.  

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
S&P500 (C Fund) (delayed)
Drinking And The Sexes
(Stockcharts.com Real-time)
DWCPF (S Fund) (delayed)
Drinking And The Sexes
(Stockcharts.com Real-time)
EFA (I Fund) (delayed)
Drinking And The Sexes
(Stockcharts.com Real-time)
BND (F Fund) (delayed)
Drinking And The Sexes
(Stockcharts.com Real-time)

Yahoo Finance Realtime TSP Fund Tracking Index Quotes