[ExI] Dangers of coffee and black tea??

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 10:26 PM, Emlyn<emlynoregan at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Dr Chikritzhs: Well we found that the vast majority of studies
> included among the groups of people that they called non-drinkers,
> included people who once were drinkers. And the reason why they're
> ex-drinkers is because they were probably unhealthy.
>
> When you take out those people who have stopped drinking for health reasons,
> it turns it into a linear relationship - so as alcohol consumption
> increases, so does harm. Essentially removing any apparent protective
> effects of alcohol."

### This review:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/116/11/1306

mentions a number of observational studies which found protective
effects of moderate alcohol use even though they ascertained alcohol
consumption in healthy people and followed their mortality and
morbidity patterns over time, thus avoiding the confounding factor
mentioned above. There is also a discussion of a number of plausible
mechanisms for beneficial effects of alcohol.

Personally I hate drinking but since I am serious about my health, I
force myself to drink a glass of weak Riesling wine (about 15g of
alcohol, the only type that doesn't make me gag) every day.

In fact, I am a bit tipsy right now, after my daily dose. Time to sleep.

Rafal