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Comment by hartator | Hacker News Reader

In France, we have a strong belief that one glass of wine per day is something sane and you should actually do it. There is no scientific study behind it and every other tests seem in fact to tend to show that alcohol is harmful for the body. But because it makes everyone happy to believe so (myself included!), we root for it.

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>There is no scientific study behind it

Actually there are tons of studies behind it. Whether they are accurate or not (as lots of studies contradict each other and are reported before peer review), it's another matter, but popular foods and drinks like wine, coffee, sugar, etc have tons of research done into them. E.g:

http://www.uni-mainz.de/presse/17801_ENG_HTML.php

http://www.coloradocancerblogs.org/study-red-wine-prevents-c...

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/18104/20141018/red-wine-ca...

http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/AlcoholAndHealth.html cites 188 sources generally in favor of moderate drinking.

There was a recent large study, mentioned in the article, that said that drinking up to 6 drinks a day was healthier than being teetotal. It got a lot of publicity. And it's probably not true, so it's good that articles like this one are appearing.

Do these studies ever control for the socialization factor that may relate to alcohol consumption? It seems having good social connectedness is good for you psychically, maybe even physically, so if you socialize with your friends, family, colleagues over drinks regularly, that may be helping more than drinking itself.

Conversely, if you are a recluse, perhaps taking up drinking on your own won't be too beneficial, if at all.

For me this is the biggest thing I enjoy about alcohol - it is primarily consumed at social occasions. Convincing some old colleagues to grab a beer on a patio is much easier than convincing them to meet up otherwise. Not everyone drinks at the meetups, but most do.

Was it this one?

http://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/truth-wont-admit-dr...

Meanwhile, you shun antidepressants, and stimulants (Adderall, Ritalin, etc.). Just because alcohol has been discovered 10000 years ago, doesn't mean it's better than modern pharma. It's the same thing with coffee and cigarettes...

Tobacco was discovered probably just as long ago, but I don't see anyone blinded into thinking it is healthy by its antiquity.

Most smokers say it calms them down. Nicotine does indeed have calming effects and improves focus. Which is why E-cigs are way healthier than normal cigarettes.

How could a Bordeaux be bad ... ?

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