Want to live past 90? Well, drink up folks and put down the Shake Weight! A new study suggests that those who drink alcohol on a daily basis live longer than those who don’t.
They found that drinking alcohol was even more effective in prolonging life than exercise.
Is that not the greatest news you’ve ever heard or what?! Well, guess what? It gets better! Those who were found to be heavier also lived longer than their thinner counterparts.
Dr. Claudia Kawas, a neurology specialist the University of California, has been working on this research for 15 years, according to The Independent.
“I have no explanation for it, but I do firmly believe that modest drinking improves longevity,” Kawas said at the at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference.
The study, which is titled The 90+ Study, was first started in 2003 and sought to find out why some people live to age 90 and older while others don’t.
“We found if in 1981 you were using alcohol, compared to people your same age who weren’t using alcohol, you lived longer,” Kawas said.
More than 1,700 senior citizens participated and had their daily habits were examined to see how their lifestyle affected their health.
The study found that those who drink two glasses of wine or beer a day were 18 percent less likely to die sooner than their non-imbibing counterparts.
The study also found that those who were weighed more and were considered “slightly overweight” but not obese had a three percent less chance of dying an earlier death.
“It’s not bad to be skinny when you’re young but it’s very bad to be skinny when you’re old,” Kawas explained.
Other things that were found to help prolong life were exercise and engaging in a hobby.
Those who spent two hours a day on a hobby were 21 percent less likely to die prematurely. Having 15 to 45 minutes of exercise a day also reduced premature death by 11 percent.
Here are some bullet point findings directly from the study:
- People who drank a moderate amount of alcohol or coffee lived longer than those who didn’t
- People who were overweight in their 70s lived longer than those who were considered to be a normal weight or underweight
- Over 40% of people older than 90 years of age suffered from dementia while almost 80% are disabled, both conditions are are more common in women than men
- About half of people with dementia over age 90 didn’t have sufficient neuropathology in their brain to explain their cognitive loss
- People aged 90 and older with an APOE2 gene are less likely to have clinical Alzheimer’s dementia but are much more likely to have Alzheimer’s neuropathology in their brains
The study didn’t rule out that genetics could be a factor but we love any reason to have a good time and enjoy the good things in life like alcohol, food, physical activity, and a fun hobby!
However, Dr. Mikhail Varshavski says the study is more about correlation than causation.
He says the fact that these people were living past 90 could mean that they were just having a good time and happier which is why they lived longer rather than having alcohol being the cause for their longer lives.
He also said studies like this can be flawed since people are being asked to recall how much they’ve drunk over the last however many years and that the data relies on their memory rather than actual measured data.
“I will not make a universal recommendation to my patients to start drinking,” he told FOX News.
You can hear more from Varshavski in the video below.
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