Forget the glass a day; more like a bottle a day! A scientist — a real life scientist has concluded that drinking a bottle of wine a day is good for you. Well, not exactly good for you, but not necessarily bad for you, which (we think we might all be able to agree) basically means we should be drinking much, much more wine.
Dr. Kari Poikolainen, former alcohol expert for the World Health Organization, came to the conclusion after examing decades of research studying wine, or more specifically the consumption of wine and its effects. Previously, men were encouraged to have no more than four "units" a day while women were recommended three. Three to four units would make up one large glass of wine, which is nice but not a whole freakin' bottle. However, Dr. Poikolainen believes that 13 units is where it gets iffy, and a bottle is only 10. The good doctor even took a public stand for those of us that might drink a couple glasses of wine with dinner or a book, speaking to the The Daily Mail: "‘The weight of the evidence shows moderate drinking is better than abstaining and heavy drinking is worse than abstaining – however the moderate amounts can be higher than the guidelines say."
Wait a minute. Moderate drinking is better than abstaining? This man is a gold mine of information we've been wanting to hear since forever. How about sausage, egg, and cheeses every morning? That's also not bad for you, right? Joking aside, this is big news, though we're not sure many are going to abruptly increase how much wine they drink on a daily basis... we figure if you're already drinking your wine the way you want, in the amount you want, whether it is doctor-approved or not.
Despite what you'd expect, the entire community isn't high-fiving each other and uncorking bottles of wine to celebrate. Naysayers, such as Julia Manning of 2020Heath, are being a sour sport and arguing that this is indeed a "grand claim" with little to no evidence. She went on to tell the paper, "Alcohol is a toxin, the risks outweigh the benefits." And this wouldn't be the first time a scientist made a "grand claim" to be disproven or ridiculed. But until then, hooray!
Quite frankly, the best thing to come of this debate is undoubtedly a column in the United Kingdom's Express by Leo McKinstrey titled "Now perhaps the health lobby will put a cork in it" where the Brit takes on puranitism. Might be a stretch to consider Dr. Pikolainen's findings as the beginning of a dietary revolution, but to each their own. And at the end of the day, we're equally as excited!
