How To Live Forever Part 2
Drink more beer. OK, that’s not exactly what it says. But here’s the latest astonishing healthy lifestyle study results, via MSNBC, with a nod to Military.com:
NEW YORK – People who drink regularly seem to exercise more often than teetotalers, and those who average more than a drink or two a day may be the most active, a new study suggests.
Using data from a government health survey of U.S. adults, researchers found that in general, the amount of time people devoted to exercise tended to inch up along with the number of alcoholic drinks they had each month.
Compared with abstainers, those considered heavy drinkers — at least 46 drinks in the past month for women, and 76 or more for men — exercised for an average of 20 minutes more per week.
Meanwhile, moderate drinkers — which included women who had 15 to 45 drinks in a month, and men who had 30 to 75 — got 10 extra minutes of exercise each week.
Both moderate and heavy drinkers were also more likely to report vigorous exercise, like jogging, than either light drinkers or abstainers, the researchers report in the American Journal of Health Promotion.
Compared with non-drinkers, adults in both groups were about 14 percent more likely to say they got some vigorous exercise in a typical week.
Busted! Just call me a 14 percenter.
Not surprisingly, the findings do not mean that drinking is the key to launching an active lifestyle.
“We certainly would not advocate that abstainers should start drinking or light drinkers should start drinking heavily as a way to increase their exercise,” lead researcher Dr. Michael T. French, of the University of Miami, told Reuters Health in an e-mail.
No, but it’s an interesting idea. I feel a book coming on. “Drink and Be Healthy.” Maybe an exercise video. “The Beer Workout.”
But, he added, the fact that people who drink, at varying levels, are all generally more active than non-drinkers is a finding “worth exploring further.”
One potential reason for the link, French noted, is that some regular drinkers use exercise as a way to counteract the calories from alcohol. It’s also possible that drinking at “responsible” levels is a maker of a generally healthy lifestyle, the researcher said.
For its part, relatively heavy drinking might be part of a “sensation-seeking” lifestyle for some people, French and his colleagues speculate.
Some heavier drinkers may, for example, be the types who tend toward more-adventurous outdoor activities like skiing or rock climbing. Others may play team sports, which often includes a trip to the bar after a game.
Guilty again! Technically, I weigh in at “moderate” rather than a “heavy.” But as an ambulatory sack of protoplasm and nerves servicing some form of consciousness, I freely admit I have devoted 49 years now to seeking sensations. Beer, skiing and rock-climbing, jumping off things, and other more-adventurous outdoor activities,* as well as adventurous indoor activities such as close physical association with other sacks of protoplasm, have at various times figured strongly among my sensation pursuits.** Hey, here’s a book title. “Live Like There’s No Tomorrow, And Be Healthy.”
Issues worth further exploration in this important area of beer studies might include long-term mental health benefits. When Death shows up with the final bar tab, who looks back on life with greater satisfaction? Bloodless, abstinent, unadventurous non-sensation seekers, or frosty-mug-upending, rock-climbing crazy bastards?
* Riding in vehicles in third-world countries has to rate near the top of any list of more-adventurous outdoor activities, with or without the added sensation of high explosives. You will want a drink.
** Don’t be like me. Always seek sensations responsibly.
(Care to comment? Registration is shut down, due to persistent spammers. Use the “contact” link to assure me you are a real human being interested in commenting on the topics at hand, include the screenname and temporary password of your choice, and I’ll create a logon for you. Bloodless, abstinent, unadventurous non-sensation seekers, or frosty-mug-upending, rock-climbing crazy bastards all welcome. Just keep it clean and make an effort to be accurate.)
Topics: ancient mysteries, beer, explosives, impending doom!, sex, sports
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:31 am Comments (6) on Friday, September 4, 2009
6 Responses to “How To Live Forever Part 2”
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September 4th, 2009 at 10:03 am
I am fascinated by the idea that some egghead actually decided that you go from social drinker to stewbum with your 76th drink of the month.
September 4th, 2009 at 10:55 am
[...] like Jules Crittenden, never mind your puny Earth logic! Drink beer! Get fit! DRINK BEER! GET [...]
September 4th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I’ll drink to that.
September 4th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
[...] the key to long living: exercise and alcohol consumpti0n: People who drink regularly seem to exercise more often than teetotalers, and those who average [...]
September 5th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
[...] Wanna live forever? Watch college football, drink beer, and read Jules crittenden! [...]
September 5th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Not to be a party pooper (well, yes, to be a party pooper) it seems that when we were younger, we drank more and exercised more. Perhaps if they had sorted this a bit more by age, it wouldn’t show such disparities.