JAMA Network Open: Disrupting Cognition, a 10-year follow-up study has shown that moderate drinking protects brain function and improves cognitive ability.

Alcoholic beverages are one of the most important drinks, with nearly 2 billion consumers worldwide, and many studies have shown that alcoholism can lead to cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases, and even the occurrence of certain cancers.
For people who drink and blush (mainly in Asia), they carry a mutation in the ALDH2 gene that causes a large build-up of the alcohol metabolite, acetaldehyde, which causes the body to respond to toxins, namely redness and inflammation of the skin.
even if they drank only a small amount of alcohol, their risk of stomach cancer increased significantly.
Details: People who drink redness have a significant increased risk of stomach cancer, and they all have the same genetic mutation in addition to the health effects of alcohol consumption, while some studies focus on the role of alcohol consumption in cognitive impairment and the development of Alzheimer's disease, but these findings contradict each other, with some studies reporting that small or moderate drinking is good for brain cognitive function and others finding that drinking alcohol has little effect on brain cognitive function.
recently, researchers at the University of Georgia School of Public Health published a research paper in the JOURNAL JAMA Network Open entitled: Association of Low to Moderate Alcohol Drinking With Cognitive Functions From Middle to Older Age Among US Adults.
study looked at the relationship between drinking in middle-aged and older adults and changes in cognitive function over time, and showed that small or moderate amounts of alcohol consumption protected brain function in older adults.
studies have shown that regular, moderate drinking has a protective effect on brain health, however, most of these studies are not designed to distinguish the effects of alcohol on cognitive abilities, nor do they measure the effects of alcohol over a long period of time.
the study, the team designed a way to track cognitive changes over a 10-year period using data from nationally representative health and retirement participants.
19887 participants completed a survey of their health and lifestyle every two years, including questions about drinking habits.
to moderate drinking is defined as less than eight drinks a week for women and less than 15 drinks a week for men.
same time, the participants' cognitive function was measured in a series of tests, including their overall mental state, word memory, and vocabulary, and their results were combined into a total cognitive score.
team observed that the participants' cognitive score did not change consistently over time, with some consistently getting high score and others declining gradually.
found that those who drank one or two glasses a day tended to perform better and score higher on cognitive tests over time than non-drinkers.
more importantly, the results were rigorous and reliable, and even controlling for other known cognitively important factors, such as age, smoking or education, showed that light drinking was associated with high cognitive ability.
note that white participants who drank small or moderate amounts of alcohol showed a lower annual rate of overall cognitive decline, compared with a weaker link among black participants.
, lead author Ruiyuan Zhang said: "Our study shows that drinking small or moderate amounts of alcohol protects the cognitive abilities of middle-aged and older adults, but it's hard to say that the effect is causal.
, if some people don't drink, we don't encourage them to drink to prevent cognitive decline.
, the study showed that small or moderate alcohol consumption was associated with better cognitive scores, and that the association was more pronounced among white participants than among black participants.
team said it would further study the mechanisms that link alcohol consumption and cognition in middle-aged and older adults.
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