The group of abstainers must be clearly defined

Hermann T. Meyer   (2006-03-07 16:49)  Private

Up till now it should be very clear, that earlier studies on alcohol and heartproblems had been interpreted uncorrectly, therefore we have to assume that with this study on obesity and alcohol a wrong message should be sent out on purpose. The facts are still the same: To compare abstainers with alcohol consumers cannot be correct, as long as the group of abstainers is not clearly defined. A valid comparison is only possible with a group of lifelong abstainers. Because most of the abstainers today have given up alcohol consumption for some health reason: Diabetes, heart-, liver-, kidneyproblems, obesity, cancer, etc..

Competing interests

None declared

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Answers are often common sense aspects of research

stefan deutsch   (2006-01-16 10:56)  The Human Development Company

I believe that the reason people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have less inclination for obesity then either the tee-totallers or heavy drinkers is because - they probably live their lives in MODERATION.

Which means they eat in moderation, work in moderation - produce less stress in their lives - and don't need to resort to over-eating.

Instead of looking for some chemical component that can be measured - look at lifestyle.

Competing interests

It just struck me how we are always searching for the difficult explanations. It is part of our infatuation with "science" and numbers.

My interests lie in approaching all aspects of knowledge in a holistic manner.

Believing that moderate drinking can lead to weight loss will inspire some researcher to skew a study and produce those results.

My fear would be that someone will then write a book suggesting that moderate drinking help weight loss.

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