My New Year’s resolution is to live a healthier lifestyle, go to the gym, blah blah blah. I am not pretending that I am going to give up all my vices, one of which is a few drinks after work or with dinner or whatever.
Now, all things equal (and forgetting which goes best with fish or which with red meat, for example), how would you rank the following drinks in order of health/nutritional value? Assuming I guess, 4-5 drinks per night.
1)Red Wine
2)White Wine
3)Vodka-fruit juice (normally grapefruit & cranberry)
4)Heineken
5)cognac and other hard liquor
Why? What factors - calories, nutrition, various studies (ie. red wine benefits), etc.?
My guess would be, the stronger the level of alcohol, the “unhealthier the drink”, assuming straight alcohol with no mixes (for example a screwdriver would contain vitamin C).
Studies have shown that a glass of red wine a day will help eliminate heart problems, so that’s probably the “healthiest” alcohol.
I should tell you that on the most popular standardized measures of drinking, 5 drinks at a sitting is considered a “binge.” (They are a little vague about what is considered a “sitting”, though.)
That said, I would assume that wine would have the fewest calories and vodka with juice would have the most. The most recent studies I’ve seen stated that all types of alcohol had more or less the same benefits, but that the harm outweighed the benefit if you had more than one or two drinks a day. Also, there isn’t much health benefit at all to someone under about age 50.
So it seems that there’s no reason to give up drinking, but you might want to think about the amounts if you really want to make a change.
The stories I’ve heard about alcohol’s benefits all said that 1-2 drinks a day is the healthiest. Four or five is going back down the slope of healthiness.
IMO, of the drinks you listed, red wine is the healthiest. The tannens and other things that give it its redness are what give it an edge over white wine.
I’d say white wine and beer are tied for second. Their alcohol content is the same as the stronger drinks, but they don’t irritate your throat or stomach as much.
The mixed vodka drink and cognac are at the bottom, therefore.
The Canadians. They walk among us. William Shatner. Michael J. Fox. Monty Hall. Mike Meyers. Alex Trebek. All of them Canadians. All of them here.
One of the most recent issues of Consumer Reports has the latest on alochol. (December 1999 – “Seven half-truths about drinking, exposed.”) In a nutshell: “moderate drinkers have a 20-40% lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease and significantly reduced risk of stroke.” … “Benefits outweigh the risks when women have no more than one drink a day, men no moe than two a day.” … “All forms of alcohol appear to to offer comperable HDL-raising and clot-reducing actions.” … and finally from Dr. Eric Rimm, alcohol researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health: “When we account for diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors, the difference between wine and other types of alcohol disappears.”
In other words, drink whatever you like, but not enough to have any fun, lol.
The article is recent enough to still be in libraries, etc…but you might be able to find it at www.consumerreports.org
cheers!
Marge: “You know, Homer, it’s very easy to criticize.”
Homer: “Fun, too!”
Um, the healthiest choice between 4-5 and nothing at all would be nothing at all.
The info about the health effects of wine and such:
can be acheived with supplements (yes they are out there, specifically with the agents in wine that are healthy)
is for amounts that are NEVER actually consumed - people consume none, or a lot more than these studies recommend. We’re talking about a glass of wine - PERIOD - a day, never any more.
If you really have to have an unwind, I recommend reefer. People in California swear by it as it doesn’t affect the skin (dehydration) and has 0 calories. I really don’t recommend any reefer at all, but it’s better than booze.
But take it from somebody who’s been there, ain’t nuthin healthy about 4-5 a night…this is not meant to be a flame, but a sincere recommendation, and the going to the gym and other resolutions will come a lot easier too.
Somewhat related… IIRC, there was a study based on autopsies from the old Fed’l Center at Kentucky; the livers most damaged were those of regular rum or bourbon aficionados, something to do with types of esters and level of filtration. Of course, that’s old news - distilling arts have hopefully improved the last fifty years.