Alcohol's Surprise Double Benefit

It's common knowledge that moderate intake (one glass a day) of alcohol, especially red wine, is good for the heart, the nerves and can help one to relax. Red wine has antioxidants called polyphenols that help destroy free radicals in the body, reduce heart attack risk.

Now there is more good news: drinking moderate amounts of alcohol over a long period of time can enhance the formation of new nerve cells in the adult brain. Result: strong mind in a strong body. Researchers at Karolinska institute, Stockholm, Sweden, conducted a study in mice and found that the new cells developed in the adult mouse brain, and what's more, they were normal. There was no evidence of neuronal atrophy.

New nerve cells are continually formed in the adult brain. Their development may be governed by several factors, including stress, depression, general health, drug use, and physical activity. It is possible, say the researchers that moderate amounts of red wine produce an ataractic effect – a drug or agent that slows the activity of a vital organ is said to have an ataractic effect. Tranquilizers are ataractics, and can relieve tension without impeding mental acuity.

In a separate, but similar, study, researchers at wake forest University Baptist Medical Center determined that older women who drink a moderate amount of alcohol each day may be doing just that: keeping their minds sharp. Older women who drank one to two drinks per day performed better on tests for cognitive function (language, memory, concentration, and abstract reasoning) and dementia than did women who abstained.

There are several theories about why this is so. The wake forest researchers thought that alcohol might reduce the development of blood clots that decrease blood flow to the brain and interfere (the good cholesterol), thus reducing the risk of narrowing in the brain's blood vessels. Alcohol might also decease the formation of plaque (implicated in Alzheimer's disease) in the brain.

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