By Micah Hanks

A new study appearing today at the Web MD site suggests there is a link between heavy drinking and people who consume lesser wholesome foods. Specifically, diets consisting of heavier alcohol intake appear to lack consistent (and recommended) amounts of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and milk, according to researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Cancer Institute, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Interviews performed by these agencies among 8,155 men and 7,715 women in the U.S. sought to learn about their individual drinking and dietary habits. The findings, reported in the April 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, suggest dangerous dietary habits are certainly more consistent among the more regular drinkers. Immediately, one must consider whether other factors, some of which are less obvious, might be contributing to such statistics; if so, what are they, and how might they influence trends that exist between alcohol consumption and the quality of foods being eaten by these individuals?

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By Christopher McCollum

Greetings, Cultured ones! It’s been awhile since my last post, and for that, I am regretful. However, I am getting back into the swing of things, and will start it off right with an article for health conscious ladies around the world.

A recently concluded study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, conducted by Doctors associated with Divisions of Preventive Medicine and Aging, and Harvard School of Public Health has shown a correlation between moderate drinking and body shape. The results of the study come from a nearly 13 year study in which 19,220 women aged 39 or older were kept up with about once a year, with weight and alcohol consumption being provided by the participants.

What the researchers noticed at the conclusion of the study, is that women who imbibed light to moderate amounts of  alcohol were found to have little to no weight gain, and a much decreased likelihood of becoming obese. Other mitigating factors were not included in the results, such as activity levels, diet, and family history. These test results are very interesting, and further studies should go into these women to see if the alcohol intake had any direct affect on them, or if it is just a coincidence.

It seems fairly unlikely, given all that we know about alcohol and calories, that these results actually have anything to do with alcohol, and instead it is pretty easy to assume that it just happens to be a facet of the already active lives of many women. A very interesting thing to know is the type of alcohol that these women in the study were imbibing in; Beer and it’s empty calories, or Red Wine and it’s already well known health benefits.

Perhaps a likely scenario is more of a social one than a health one, as cocktails and wine are imbibed at events by women who are already image conscious within their social circles. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to say. Until another study is done that provides more details about the alcohol aspect, we can do nothing but speculate. However, it must be heartening to us to learn that we are not guaranteed to gain weight from alcohol’s empty calories, as some would lead us to believe.

The city of Arab, Alabama, recently got an unexpected surprise: research by the city’s police chief, Mike Blackwood, found that alcohol related offenses have not risen since 2008, when the town decided to begin allowing sale of spirits. But that’s not all, according to a recent statement from Blackwood that appeared in the Cullman Times online. “We’ve seen about a 6 percent decrease in alcohol-related crimes,” he adds, and though he warns that it’s still fairly early in the game to draw conclusions, “so far the alcohol-related crime is down.”

Additionally, Blackwood says that statistics he collected from other towns in the region who decided to lift bans on the sale of alcohol reported similar drops in violent crime related to alcohol consumption. But perhaps the most interesting facet of Blackwood’s findings has to do with how the number of people drinking and driving through the area has dropped as well.

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