For some of us, I am not pointing fingers, when we drink we discover abilities that we didn’t know we had. For instance, I know people who have never performed anything in their entire life, but after a couple of drinks become singing, dancing masters of karaoke. Or people who are really shy who become vivacious social butterflies after a few glasses of wine. If you’ve been around people who consume alcohol, you have seen the good and the bad changes that people can go through while under the influence. As it turns out, alcohol is actually surprisingly good for your brain when consumed in MODERATION.
Moderation being the key there. So how does alcohol boost your brain?
Improves Cognitive Function
Researchers in Norway did a 7-year-long study that that followed the drinking habits of over 5,000 people. What they found was that people who drank wine at least 4 times over a 2-week period of time scored higher on cognitive tests. Now, again, the researcher found that people who drank in MODERATION were the ones that scored higher. In fact, women who didn’t drink at all scored significantly lower scores than those who did.
Lowers Alzheimer’s Risk
Another study showed that men and women who had an average of 8-14 drinks a week (1-2 a day) had a major reduction in the chances of developing Alzheimer’s. One of the authors of the study, Dr. Kaycee Sink, said, “As of yet, we still have no cure for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, so it is important to look for things that might help people prevent the disease. Moderate alcohol intake has been linked to lower risk of heart attacks, stroke, dementia, and death in middle-aged adults, but there is still controversy about alcohol intake in older adults.”
Lowers Depression Risk
Although alcohol is usually tied to depression as a way that depressed people cope, research has shown that MODERATE wine drinking can actually help prevent symptoms of depression. What is interesting is that the same protective benefits that MODERATE drinking has on preventing heart disease are also linked to preventing depression. Professor Miguel A. Martínez-González says, “Lower amounts of alcohol intake might exert protection in a similar way to what has been observed for coronary heart disease. In fact, it is believed that depression and coronary heart disease share some common disease mechanisms.”
Improves Memory
Although heavy drinking is associated with memory loss and blackouts, MODERATE drinking can boost your memory. One study showed that people over 60 who drank MODERATELY had better long-term memory recall of life events. Another recent study has shown that drinking champagne has a distinct effect on spacial memory.