Alcoholic Beverages |
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A new study claims that moderate drinkers live longer than non drinkers
but this study did not isolate drinking behavior from other behaviors
known to affect health (like not smoking, exercising and eating healthy).
So what it really appeared to suggest is that if you exercise, eat healthy
and don't smoke, a bit of drinking may not shorten your life. The so called French paradox (wherein the French eat a high fat diet and drink wine daily) has been explained in two ways, both of which have been ignored by the American press (which is very sensitive to the powerful liquor lobby). First, one of the French scientists stated that the cases of heart disease in France had been grossly under reported. And second, an American scientist pointed out that since it is expensive to own a car and drive in France, many French still walked most places they needed to go. That is, whereas the average American walked about 1500 steps in a day, the average French person walks about 10,000 steps a day, definitely a factor which would result in less heart disease.
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