Drinking a couple of glasses of wine each day improves your quality of life, researchers say.
They found that those who drink in moderation had better scores in an index that measures factors including dexterity, emotion, mobility and the ability to understand than those who abstained completely.
U.S. researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine studied 5,404 people at the age of 50, and continued to observe them over a follow-up period.
Those who drink in moderation scored better for dexterity, emotion and mobility, according to research
Most showed a stable pattern of alcohol consumption and ‘persistent moderate drinkers’ were identified.
They found that these regular moderate drinkers – those who consumed no more than 14 drinks a week and no more than three a day for women and four a day for men – scored highest in each section of the Health Utilities Index.
Subsequent changes in quality of life past 50 were similar in all groups, except for those who cut down on drinking from moderate levels – and these showed signs of decline.
The authors write: ‘Overall, this study shows a positive relation between regular moderate alcohol intake and quality of life in middle-aged adults.’
They said it was unclear exactly why continued moderate alcohol consumption seemed to have such a beneficial effect.
Other experts warned that the study did not take into account the reasons for people stopping drinking or cutting down.
Harvey Finkel, from the Boston University Medical Centre, said: ‘As people age, even disregarding medical obstacles, social interactions generally decrease, which leads to both less stimulation to drink and less opportunity to drink.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2164222/Two-glasses-wine-day-middle-aged-adults-makes-life-better.html#ixzz1ypeAtobw
