Red Wine for Healthy People

I suspect that if we had to pick one rule for everyone to follow, "avoid alcohol completely" would be a prettty good darn good one for the reasons that dr. love explains in her testimony on the subject.

But we don't need just one rule for everybody. So the question is: is some type and amount of alcohol actually beneficial to some types of people? I'd bet one "yes" answer is red wine in moderation for healthy people.

The New England Centenary Study run out of Boston University has studied hundreds of centenarians in that part of the country. On their site they have a Life Expectancy Calculator:

The calculator was designed to translate what we have learned from studies of centenarians and other longevity research into a practical and empowering tool for individuals to estimate their longevity potential. To use the calculator, go to Living to 100.com! This site has been named twice as one of USA Today's Hottest Sites.

I followed that "Living to 100.com" link and just answered their 40 questions. The calculator predicts I'll live to 96 (barring my wife hitting me over the head with a cast iron frying pan). 

In the explanation to the calculator results, it says that moderate wine consumption can be beneficial. This is, again, based on their study of hundreds of centenarians. (Of course, it said some other stuff I disagreed with -- e.g. sunscreen).

Does that mean you should keep drinking your wine or beer? I say sure, so long as you are optimally healthy, with no signs of any diseases of aging whatsoever. The odds of that being true for you is probably quite small. So I suppose I just spent too much time getting around to agreeing, for the most part, with dr. love.