News Cut: April 12, 2011 Archive

Happy hour could save your life

Posted at 5:00 PM on April 12, 2011 by Michael Olson (2 Comments)
Filed under: Health

It's 5:00 and many worker-bees are heading to the pub to gather with friends and co-workers to raise a glass. Here's some fodder for your barroom banter:

The ills of alcohol are well known. However, study after study indicates that people who drink in moderation live longer and are happier. The studies point to alcohol's magical power to; increase your "good cholesterol," thin your blood of stroke-inducing clots and help your body absorb glucose.

These studies haven't helped to resolve why a drink or two a day can be good for you.

The inquisitive Canadians at the National Post apparently weren't pleased with these findings alone.

Further away from the hard science is some interesting speculation from Stephen Braun, the author of Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine:

...alcohol as a muscle relaxant. "The heart is a muscle and there are muscles around the blood vessels; so if you relax those muscles, you're going to lower the blood pressure," he says. "It's plausible."

How about alcohol as a mind relaxant or a stress reliever?

"You have to take into account the mind-body connection here," he says. "It does help people relax in more of a mental way. If you are relaxing your mind and that could lower your cortisol levels; it could have other physiological effects that come with relaxation that are good for you."

That being said, it still might be more beneficial to perform yoga than swig a bottle of beer. "Have a beer and do yoga and it'll probably be better," Braun says with a laugh.

Even better: have a beer, do yoga and invite some friends. People with more social connections are generally healthier and people tend to drink socially. So having a drink or two with friends is good for the soul and good for the body. The operative words are "a drink or two."