Heart Attack Victims Cut Risk With 2 Drinks, Harvard Study Says
I used to have 1 or 2 drinks in the lounge and in the business class, they are free I reasoned so why not. After a while I stopped drinking almost completely, I should not drink just because they are free I reasoned again. I should listen to my body and my body did not ask for any alcohol.
However, I read this article ‘Moderate Drinking May Help Men Live Longer After Heart Attack‘ some time ago and it made me think. It applies to people who have had heart attacks but other research showed moderate drinking can prevent heart attacks. So I reasoned again, I should start drinking moderately, even if my body doesn’t tell me to, after all I don’t feel like eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day but I should do it according to the recommendations. Also, I do not feel like drinking 2l of water every day but again I have to.
And I started drinking at each opportunity in the lounge and business class, moderately of course, and only red wine. I am not an wine connoisseur* but the best wine I have ever had was on an Air Canada flight, ‘Badiola’ an Italian wine.
*I am more of a water connoisseur, sometimes I say in a restaurant: “This water is an insult to my palate. Are you sure it is glacier water, never touched by pollution?”
Twitter @curbexcitement
Men who have two drinks a day after surviving a first heart attack have a lower risk of death from heart disease than non-drinkers, Harvard researchers said, adding to evidence that moderate alcohol use may be healthy.
Men who survived a heart attack and who drank two alcoholic drinks a day had a 42 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and 14 percent lower risk of death from any cause during the study compared with non-drinkers, according to a study led by Jennifer Pai, an assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The study followed 1,818 men for as many as 20 years from the time of their first heart attack.
Moderate alcohol intake has been associated with increased levels of HDL, or so-called good cholesterol, improved insulin sensitivity and other effects that reduce heart attack risk. Photographer: Michael Turek/Gallery Stock
The results, published today in the European Heart Journal, add to other studies that have observed the positive effects of moderate drinking. People who have one drink or fewer each day are 14 percent to 25 percent less likely to develop heart disease compared with those who don’t imbibe, Canadian researchers said last year. Until now, data on whether it can also help heart attack survivors have been limited and conflicting, according to Pai.
Recommended Guidelines
“The findings of our study support the European Society of Cardiology recommended guidelines for long-term management of acute coronary syndromes that moderate alcohol consumption of 10 to 30 grams per day in men should not be discouraged and may be beneficial for long-term prognosis after a heart attack,” Pai said in a statement.
Participants who drank between 10 and 29.9 grams (1.1 ounces) of alcohol content were categorized as moderate drinkers. A bottle or can of beer contains 12.8 grams, while a 4-ounce glass of wine has 11 grams of alcohol. Men who drank the most, 30 grams or more a day, had a risk of death from any cause that was similar to that of non-drinkers.
In previous studies, moderate alcohol intake has been associated with increased levels of HDL, or so-called good cholesterol, improved insulin sensitivity and other effects that reduce heart attack risk, Pai said in the study.
Europeans consume more alcohol, about double the global average at 12.5 liters (3.3 gallons) of alcohol content a year, than in any other part of the world, the World Health Organization said yesterday. That amounts to 27 grams of alcohol per day. Consumption is highest in central-eastern and eastern Europe at 14.5 liters a year.
http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=663120
first hit on google
You should be aware that these studies are based on heart attack patients who suffer an incident, and then do nothing to change diet or lifestyle.
The number one way to prevent future episodes, and even reverse heart disease in many patients, is to adopt a plant-based diet based predominantly around Fruits, Vegetables, Legumes, Nuts, and Seeds. Animal products can still be allowed, but in very reduced portions.
One way to increase your fruit and vegetable intake would be to focus on weight, and not “servings”. If you try to take in 1/2 pound of fruits, and 1/2 pound of vegetables a day (trust me, it’s much less volume than it sounds like), and then increase to 1 pound each (again, it’s not actually that much, don’t worry). This is a proven first step that will provide more nutrition to your body, and help toward reducing health issues, even if the rest of your diet is unchanged.
So even if you do not want to give up the unhealthy food that causes heart disease, simply adding additional nutrition in the form of fruits and vegetables can assist in fighting these diseases.
Why not give it a try for 2 weeks?
This research brought to you by your friends at Anheuser-Busch.
“Moderate Drinking Might Help Men Live Longer After Heart Attack”
and the key word in these kind of studies is “might”