The "J-shaped" curve – here’s where I have a big problem….

Studies in many countries find that people who consume alcohol in moderation have lower death rates (from all causes) than those at either extreme: abstainers and those who drink to excess. My problem here is that, so far as I know, “Life is 100% fatal.” Thus, there is absolutely no way in which “people who consume alcohol in moderation have lower death rates (from all causes) than those…” Anyway, back to “J-Curve”. In other words, heavy drinkers and abstainers have higher death rates than moderate drinkers. Graphs that plot deaths from heart attacks against amounts of alcohol consumed have a so-called "J-shaped pattern" with a shallow dip in total mortality for modest drinkers. This indicates that people who drink a lot die early, relatively speaking, and -- contrary to expectations -- that those who drink no alcohol also have increased premature death rates. Recent data from U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) found coronary mortality rate of moderate drinkers (who average a daily one to two glasses of wine, beer or spirits) was 50 per cent lower than that of total abstainers and 60 per cent lower than that of heavy drinkers.

So, then, what is moderate drinking – How much is enough:?

The concept of "moderate drinking” varies from one country or population to another, as do amounts of alcohol in beverages. For example, one average North American drink contains 12-14 gm alcohol; in Britain it would have 8.5 gm alcohol per drink, while in German beer halls each glass might contain 20 gm per drink. In general, “experts” consider moderate drinking to be one to two 5-oz. glasses of table wine, two bottles of regular beer or a couple of 1.5-oz. shots of spirits a day for men and less for women, but not every day. Current recommendations for low-risk drinking suggest no more than one to two standard alcoholic drinks a day for women, no more than two a day for men.

Drinking standards vary widely in countries around world

The "drinking norm" is an elusive concept as drinking patterns vary widely among nations and cultural or religious groups, with different "right and wrong" times and places to drink -- for instance, with or without meals, as part of a daily regime or only on special occasions. In some societies, having a "couple of drinks before dinner" is usual, in others it may cause raised eyebrows. In France and Italy, for example people habitually sip wine with meals, but drunkenness is unacceptable. In Canada, "restrained drinking" has been cited as "less than five drinks on one occasion," and drunken behaviour is mildly tolerated. In Finland, drinking is not part of everyday life but is often binge drinking reserved for special occasions, sometimes with many drinks at one go, perhaps explaining country's high incidence of hemorrhagic (bleeding) stroke.

Then we have "The French Paradox"

I lived for four years in France and have observed this “Paradox” in person. The idea that wine might offset coronary heart disease arose from finding that heart attack rates in France are far lower than those in most of Europe and other industrialized nations, despite French diets high in fat, low exercise levels and much tobacco smoking. Epidemiologists suggest that low heart attack rates among French might be due to their high wine consumption, mostly red wine, usually taken with meals. Although French food supply is still relatively healthful," notes one nutritionist, "the gap is narrowing as their eating patterns change from a typical Mediterranean diet (low in saturated fats, rich in minimally processed plant foods) to one higher in animal fats. A rise in French heart attack rates may soon follow." It is my opinion that there is a growing tendency among “health professionals and dietitians" to infer that “a healthy diet is a vegetarian-based diet and contains little or no animal protein,” yet there is no evidence anywhere to prove such a hypothesis.

Author’s note: here we end Part 1. This is necessary due to GoArticles restriction on article length and even though I have edited out two full pages of my original article it remains just a little too long to fit in one article.