By Lauren F Friedman, Business Insider
drink for health
New evidence suggests that a drink a day could help keep the doctor away — when it comes to cold and flu season, that is.
While plenty of research has touted the benefits of resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine, a small study published Dec. 18 in the journal Vaccine suggests that alcohol itself might have some immune-boosting effects — at least in moderation.
Since the immune system fights off invaders like the cold and flu, a drink here and there might just increase the odds you’ll stay healthy through the holidays.
Researchers vaccinated twelve rhesus macaque monkeys against smallpox and measured how much their immune systems rallied in response to the vaccine, a standard test of ability to fight disease and infection. Then they let the monkeys hang out for 22 hours a day with a choice of pure water or an ethanol and water solution about as alcoholic as a Bud Light.
The monkeys’ immune responses were tested again after seven months.
During that time some monkeys drank a lot and some were more modest in their boozing behavior — just like humans.
The researchers found that heavy drinking had impaired immune response, while — to their surprise — moderate drinking had improved it. That means the moderate drinkers fared better than the teetotaling controls.
Read the full article by Lauren F Friedman from Business Insider.
