Moderate Drinking May Shrink Your Brain by a Percent. Is It Worth It?

[mystery-ak]

Moderate Drinking May Shrink Your Brain by a Percent. Is It Worth It?
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By Ross Pomeroy - RCP Staff
August 25, 2020

A new study published to the journal Scientific Reports suggests that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with slightly decreased brain volume.

Scientists have long known that heavy alcohol use shrinks the brain, but it's not clear whether or not moderate drinking has a similar effect.

Researchers from the University of Helsinki in Finland explored the possible link within a sample of 353 Finnish men and women aged 39 to 45. On average, the subject group reported moderate alcohol consumption, indicated by an AUDIT-C score of 3.92. Such a score is roughly equivalent to drinking two to four times a month, having between three and four drinks a session, and occasionally imbibing more than six drinks in a day every couple months or so. Subjects' brain volumes were measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The researchers uncovered a dose-dependent link within the study group. For every one point increase in the AUDIT-C score (indicating heavier drinking), brain volume decreased by roughly 0.2 percent. This link held in men even when controlling for smoking, but it did not hold for women, barely missing statistical significance.

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https://www.realclearscience.com/quick_and_clear_science/2020/08/25/moderate_drinking_may_shrink_your_brain_by_a_percent_is_it_worth_it.html

[Wingnut]

This study is bogus Everyone know drinking makes you smarter.  It is called the Buffalo Effect.

Well ya see it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.

In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.

[GtHawk]

Is what worth it, the moderate drinking or the shrinking of the brain? Looking at Pelosi we should all be afraid of heavy drinking.

[mountaineer]

Is what worth it, the moderate drinking or the shrinking of the brain? Looking at Pelosi we should all be afraid of heavy drinking.

Her brain must be the size of a pea.

[skeeter]

This study is bogus Everyone know drinking makes you smarter.  It is called the Buffalo Effect.

Well ya see it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.

In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.

Profound.

And profoundly reassuring.

[berdie]

In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.

Thank you!! I've wondered for years why not only I but most of the people I know got so much more intelligent after a couple of glasses of wine or cans of beer. Not necessarily more coherent...just smarter. It all makes sense.