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Re:How to stop the drug wars by pg on Sunday March 08, 2009 @11:35PM (#507886)
Alcohol (in small quantities, like 1 drink a day) seems to be associated with lower risk of heart disease, for men.
Re:How to stop the drug wars by ivankirigin on Sunday March 08, 2009 @11:41PM (#507891)
A recent study showed the benefits of red wine were linked to breaking down some of the worse components in red meat. It just happens consumption of both are so correlated that it looked like red wine in moderation was really healthy. The healthiest choice would be to drink tea and avoid red meat.

But what kind of a pansy wants to do that?!

Re:How to stop the drug wars by pg on Monday March 09, 2009 @12:25AM (#507919)
I actually read a study saying that mere alcohol had benefits, regardless of the form.

Where is rms when you need him?

Re:How to stop the drug wars by rms on Monday March 09, 2009 @12:46AM (#507932)
That does seem to be a common meme. Here's an unsourced article claiming various benefits. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21778634/

The American Heart Association, however, recommends against starting to drink to be healthier. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4422 While light alcohol consumption does have small benefits, you could make a much, much bigger difference in your overall health by exercising and following a healthy diet. One drink a day probably does have marginal benefits, but from a public health perspective I can see why organizations don't actually recommend it -- people in the aggregate would think it is more meaningful as a recommendation than it actually is and use it as an excuse to drink to excess.

One thing to keep your eye on is Sirtris Pharmaceuticals's (now a subsidiary of GSK) amped-up resveratrol (the good stuff in red wine) derivative. The idea is to get the benefit of drinking 1000 glasses of red wine a day without actually killing yourself. It will be approved for treating diabetes but will be of interest to absolutely everyone that can afford it. http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0743693420080...

Re:How to stop the drug wars by chris11 on Monday March 09, 2009 @05:39PM (#509109)
I've always been under the impression that you can get the health benefits from wine without drinking alcohol. Resveratrol is found naturally in foods like grapes and peanuts. So you won't be missing out on any health benefits if you don't drink.

Resveratrol Concentrations:http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/resvera...

Re:How to stop the drug wars by gacek on Monday March 09, 2009 @12:42AM (#507931)
I would love to read some study that would investigate the connection between one joint a day with heart disease.
Re:How to stop the drug wars by rms on Monday March 09, 2009 @12:57AM (#507937)
Most of the studies about this kind of thing get messed up because they are studying it with smoked marijuana. Let's assume that such a study uses vaporized or oral cannabis. I would be surprised to see reduced heart disease as a result of cannabis consumption but I would expect to see reduced cancer of some forms and lower rates of Alzheimer's.
Re:How to stop the drug wars by arjunb on Monday March 09, 2009 @02:26AM (#508013)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4417261.stm

Seems to indicate that THC stops inflammation of blood vessels by suppressing the immune system's response. Also seems that oral delivery was used vs. smoking.

Re:How to stop the drug wars by ajkirwin on Sunday March 08, 2009 @11:56PM (#507900)
Just red wine and only in some circumstances, pg. There's no medical benefit to vodka, whisky, rum, absinthe, peppermint liquer, beer, jagermeister, goldschlager, etc etc etc.