American Heart Association Revives Theory Light Drinking May Be Good for You

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/health/alcohol-heart-disease-cancer.html

7•bookofjoe•1h ago

Comments

bookofjoe•1h ago

DetectDefect•1h ago

The western diet has become so horrible and disease-inducing, that alcohol displacing some those calories has a net positive effect - truly an impressive "accomplishment".

jerlam•1h ago

There was a questionable claim going around that beer was healthier than soda.

I don't really believe it especially when you take into account results like car crashes, but there is a figment of truth in it.

amanaplanacanal•56m ago

If you remove automobiles, I wouldn't be totally surprised if sugary soft drinks turned out to be worse than beer. Probably neither one is going to be good for you.

thisislife2•40m ago

Beer may indeed be "healthier" than soda as the fermentation process used to make it does create microbial cells that may be beneficial for your gut health (https://fermentation.wsu.edu/alcohol-fermentation-products/b...). It's the alcohol content in it that makes it "unhealthy" for us, just as it is the excessive sugar in the soda that's really bad for us. (And, ofcourse, it also depends on how much of both you actually consume).

legitster•1h ago

My takeaway is that whatever effect there is must be so small as to be meaningless. The issue has been so thoroughly studied for so many decades. Even the cancer risks associated with moderate alcohol barely exceed the confidence interval - we're just collecting noise along the way.

khelavastr•1h ago

What they mean is that light dual GABA agonism/glutamate(nmda) antagonism is helpful.

Wait for a study to compare alcohol with ethyl ether (pure gaba agonist/nmda antagonist).

quickthrowman•4m ago

If that’s the case, 0.25mg of alprazolam seems like a safer way to induce that than ethanol.

wildrhythms•34m ago

Coincidence?

August 13, 2025 U.S. Drinking Rate at New Low as Alcohol Concerns Surge

>WASHINGTON, D.C. — The percentage of U.S. adults who say they consume alcohol has fallen to 54%, the lowest by one percentage point in Gallup’s nearly 90-year trend. This coincides with a growing belief among Americans that moderate alcohol consumption is bad for one’s health, now the majority view for the first time.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/693362/drinking-rate-new-low-al...

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