Men friends toasting beer glasses at bar. Photo: Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury (Getty)
Researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil have come to the conclusion that moderately drinking alcohol is good for you. It turns out the sauce actually strengthens the heart by “[teaching] cells how to cope with stress.” Introducing some alcohol to the heart “effectively trains the body how to create the enzymes needed to cope with a heart attack.”
Of course, crushing more than a few brews with your boys could have a damning effect on your blood-pumper, making it more vulnerable than if you were sober. So as stated, moderation is key.
Researchers ran tests on mice in which they “interrupted the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the heart for 30 minutes to simulate a heart attack.” The results showed 50 percent of the heart’s cells died in mice that were sober, while only 30 percent were extinguished in those mice that had been exposed to booze.
Then again, maybe the mice were just feeling alone: Loneliness Doubles Your Chances Of Dying From Heart Problems
So just how much alcohol should you be drinking to toughen up your ticker? Researchers say it varies depending on the person. Still, they did throw out the number of two beers (or two glasses of wine) a day for men — the equivalent to that in their tests with the mice. However, that would go against what the UK’s National Health Service recommends. In fact, two beers a day would be double what they advise.
That means the answer lies somewhere between more than Mother Teresa and less than Ozzy Osbourne. Good luck, fellas.
