Do Heavy Drinkers Actually Live Longer?

After an August article in TIME Magazine on heavy drinkers outliving non-drinkers, news outlets have heavily covered the subject. I for one never bought into the “drinking is good for you” mindset, so the story took me by surprise.

I can understand how a drink every once in a while can help reduce stress and may help a little in the long run, but the TIME piece focused on heavy drinking. Furthermore, the way the piece was written leads me to believe it was more for justification to drink; almost to clear the author’s conscious.

There was a sentence that started to make sense of the glamorized findings though:

One important reason is that alcohol lubricates so many social interactions, and social interactions are vital for maintaining mental and physical health.

Dirty Tractor published a July post on the effect social interaction has on mortality rates (Friends and Family Equal 50% Less Chance of Death?) which ties in with the results the story was written around. What it comes down to is this: A social life helps you live longer; and whether it is at bars, parties, clubs, family gatherings and more, drinking does seem to bring people together.

What is the lesson here though - on a blog that often discussed liver disease?

Quite simply: Be sociable. Here’s an article published in a magazine trying to show drunks live longer than teetotalers, but it’s not because of some mysterious health benefits from alcohol, but the health benefits from the indirect effect it has by bringing people together.

So, for people who are living sober after recovering from alcohol addiction: Be sociable. For people who are battling illness: Be sociable. For family members dealing with a loved one’s sickness: Be sociable… You get the idea.