Is it true that abstaining from alcohol may lead to a shorter life?

He’s asking if not drinking will shorten your life.

Dee, did you read the question thoroughly? Your telling me; if I don’t drink, that it may lead to cancer. & i should do it heavily?

I suppose a heavy drinker would be more used to being an alcoholic and their life would be lived whilst under the influence, so that may in turn make it so that they are able to do things that others who usually don’t drink but have gotten drunk, may not be able to do. I don’t think that a heavy drinker would have a larger life span than the average nondrinker though. Maybe in certain ratios and situations, that could be semi true, like if the study looked at only people killed in alcohol related events, and a low amount of them were heavy drinkers.

OH, I feel stupid!

Alcohol kills germs. Drink every day = INFINITE HEALTHY ;D

Jokes aside, I do have a hard time believing heavy drinkers would live longer, maybe casual, but that would still be stretching my mind.

I would think not, honestly. Although some believe that alcohol in SMALL doses can be a good thing, heavy drinkers put a massive strain on their body when they consume so much alcohol. It’s very unhealthy, and it’s very hard on a person’s organs.

just don’t understand what would give them a higher life span, If a person is constantly putting poison into they’re body. & the nondrinker or even nonsmoker is not?.

Exactly, so why would they assume or say that they would have a longer life span, if it is putting a strain on the body..?

This one doesn’t even take research, basic common sense should answer it. Heavy alcohol consumption causes liver damage, as well as all sorts of other body damage, obviously heavy drinkers are more likely to get into all sorts of accidents (thus shortening their life span), and my guess is that they practice less healthy behaviors in general, thus generally shortening their lives. As for your question, who is ‘they’ who are saying or making these assumptions. My guess is, if your best source is ‘they’, you should probably not be listening to them.

I was reading a “Time life” article.. Thought I would ask a few questions to get some input on the subject…

There is a saying in statistics, “correlation does not equal causation.” Statistically moderate drinkers live longer than heavy drinkers or people who do not drink at all. Moderate drinking correlates with longer life but we do not know if moderate drinking increases lifespan or if moderate drinkers share another common trait that is responsible for living longer.

For long-term lifestyle choices it is virtually impossible to conduct well controlled double blind studies like those to test the safety and efficacy of medications. What we are left with are statistical data that while interesting do not really prove anything.

If you don’t like alcohol or abstain from it for other reasons I wouldn’t start drinking for its supposed health benefits.