We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Paying homage to Bacchus

More support comes from the medical profession that regular, moderate intakes of red wine is good for health. (Via this blog).

This makes me happy.

17 comments to Paying homage to Bacchus

  • knirirr

    Hopefully someone will find some evidence that regular, moderate intakes of Talisker is good for health as well.

  • the other rob

    Didn’t a moderate intake of red wine give you cancer, last week? It’s bad enough politicians mistaking sound-bite for reality, but now the frigging medics are doing it.

  • Andrew Duffin

    In the linked article it says “Those who took the red wine extract increased their reaction time”.

    INcreased.

    I bet they did.

  • They really can’t make up their minds can they. Its good for you one week and bad for you the next.

    Personally, I tend to ignore crap like this and do what I like regardless. Why should I care whether some boffin has decided that something I enjoy doing is bad for me (or vice versa)? Its my decision to take the risk or not.

    Life is a terminal disease, the government should do everything in their power to prevent it. 😛

  • Kevyn Bodman

    Drink red wine, Talisker, Voll Damm or anything you want. Do it for pleasure, not because of any supposed health benefits.
    We are all going to die, let’s enjoy life before death.

  • RAB

    Then on the other hand, there was some twat on the radio this morning saying that children under 15 should never be allowed to drink alcohol.
    They just make it up as they go along!

  • Studies that claim you’re n% more likely to get disease X are almost always bunk because not many people get disease X in the first place. Studies that look at overall mortality sound more believable to me. DK linked to a Telegraph article from a couple of years ago:

    Subsequent studies found evidence which suggested that the safety limits should be raised, but they were ignored by a succession of health ministers.

    One found that men drinking between 21 and 30 units of alcohol a week had the lowest mortality rate in Britain. Another concluded that a man would have to drink 63 units a week, or a bottle of wine a day, to face the same risk of death as a teetotaller.

    Meanwhile, UkGov has come out with advice that parents shouldn’t let their kids drink until 15. Radio 1 this morning interviewed a 13-year-old with much more sense than any politician, who said: “At house parties, the girl in the corner, crying, in a puddle of her own sick, is always the one with the strict parents who didn’t let her drink.”

  • permanentexpat

    Simply try to avoid hangovers…they are really not good for you 8-((

  • knirirr

    Drink red wine, Talisker, Voll Damm or anything you want.

    Indeed. Still, it always seems to be about wine.

  • Brian

    The red fury of the fumes of wine dashed in vain against the stolid walls of the sons of beer.

  • Nuke Gray!

    Interestingly enough, red wine may not be against Islam, as I initially thought. The Surahs do warn against intoxication, which need not be the same as moderate drinking. I was going to use this as another reason to ignore Mohammedanism, but I’ll have to abstain from that.

  • knirirr

    Thanks for the link, Noel C. Unfortunately it didn’t work (some sort of cookie problem) so would you mind another go at posting it?

  • Bod

    Knirirr,

    In case NoelC’s been on the ale all this while, try this:

    Reactive Oxygen Scavenging Activity of Matured Whiskey and Its Active Polyphenols

  • Laird

    Bod, am I reading that abstract (I’m not about to pay for the whole article) correctly? Is it saying that single-malts have free-radical scavenging qualities, and that the older the whisky the greater that property?

    If so, it’s good news indeed. I’ll drink to that! But how is it that the authors of the abstract don’t know that there is no “e” in “whisky”?

  • Bod

    Well, me lad, depends whether they’re referring to Irish or Scotch.

    I’m no organic chemist, but that’s how it reads to me, and it’s the same kind of rationale I’ve seen advanced for the beneficial effects of prune juice and pomegranate.

    Pom or Glenlivet … hmmm … tough choice.

  • Laird

    I know which one I’d choose!

    Since the abstract only referenced Scotch whiskys (Speyside, Highland and Islay) and the Japanese product (I didn’t even know there was such a thing, but since the authors are all Japanese I suppose they had to include the home brew), Irish whiskey doesn’t enter into the discussion.