January 17, 1920. A day to remember, a day to forget, but mostly a day that made America dry. At 12:01 A.M. America entered its age of Prohibition. Alcohol was no longer sold anywhere legally and everyone relied on bootleggers to keep the nectar flowing. Flash forward to 2014 (Happy New Year!!!), alcohol has become a very vibrant part of our culture and lifestyle. With drunken people mostly kept in check by laws, we now are able to enjoy our alcohol to whatever extent we wish.
But is that such a good thing? Maybe there should be a limit or maybe we should cut out alcohol from our diets?
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Not completely of course; in fact it may be wise to keep a little bit of it in your diet. A recent study finds that by consuming moderate amounts of alcohol, like a glass of wine with dinner, you can boost your body’s immune system. The research suggests that moderate drinking may increase cardiovascular health as well as boosting immune functions to help fight off infections. Moderate consumption is considered around 2 drinks per day for men, and 1 drink for women.
The study found that heavy drinkers had diminished responses to a vaccine that was administered. As it turns out, those that consumed moderate amounts of alcohol also boasted an enhanced response to the administered vaccine in the study.
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The author of the study, Ilhem Messaoudi, says:
If you have a family history of alcohol abuse, or are at risk, or have been an abuser in the past, we are not recommending you go out and drink to improve your immune system, but for the average person who has, say, a glass of wine with dinner, it does seem in general to improve health and cardiovascular function. And now we can add the immune system to that list.
Not such a bad idea seeing that there is a lot of sickness going around lately.
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So go ahead! Have that glass of wine with dinner! Drink that ice cold brew on a hot summer day! Enjoy that baileys and coffee or sweet port with dessert! Your body approves, just as long as you don’t over do it! Cheers!
Research:
YouTube: ABBA – Happy New Year
Study: Moderate Alcohol Consumption Boosts Body’s Immune System
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