As Alcohol Awareness Month is wrapping up, it’s worth recognizing the benefits alcohol can offer other than a good time.
Though excessive or binge drinking is unequivocally bad for your health, moderate drinking has been shown to offer some advantages to health, creativity and even problem-solving skills.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with health science, the results are inconclusive and often conflicting, with consuming moderate amounts of alcohol putting drinkers at higher risk for some diseases and producing other surprising results.
A recent experiment conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago found test subjects who consumed two drinks were significantly better at solving word-association brainteasers than their sober counterparts.
The brainteasers consisted of a set of three words, for example “tug,” “gravy” and “show.” Subjects were tasked with finding a word to combine these three ideas, in this case, “boat.”
The tipsy test takers successfully solved more of these puzzles in less time than sober subjects. The tipsy group also tended to determine its answers according to a flash of insight rather than a deliberative process.
Jennifer Wiley, lead author of the study, believes this boost in problem-solving ability stems from reducing the brain’s working memory capacity, or “the ability to remember one thing while you’re thinking about something else.”
Wiley believes alcohol allowed participants to consider a wider range of possible solutions rather than honing in on the specific details of the problem.
Numerous studies have found regular but moderate consumption of alcohol can reduce risk for heart attacks and heart disease, especially in men. Observational studies have found moderate drinking can also reduce the risk of diabetes, but currently the American Diabetes Association does not recommend drinking to prevent diabetes.
Doctors are quick to inform non-drinkers they should not start drinking for health reasons, as even moderate drinking carries a significant risk of accidental injury and even some health risks for individuals, particularly women.
Excessive alcohol consumption of more than two drinks a day has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer in women by more than 50 percent. Even enjoying a drink a few times a week can slightly raise that risk.
But many doctors believe this slight increase in breast cancer risk is overshadowed by the decreased number of heart attacks among moderate drinkers.
Research from the University of Missouri has found consuming alcohol can actually increase a drinker’s expression of racial bias.
As crazy as it may sound, another recent experiment found viewing alcoholic imagery can produce racist attitudes even without consuming any alcohol.
Subjects were shown several ads for either alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages then given a split-second view of a white or black face followed by a flash of either a gun or a hand tool.
Subjects exposed to alcoholic advertisements were more likely to mistake a tool for a gun after seeing a black face than their colleagues who looked at non-alcoholic ads.
These reactions do not necessarily make the viewer racist, but they do suggest the consumption or even the thought of alcohol makes people more likely to react according to stereotypes.
No one has offered a convincing explanation for this phenomenon, but alcohol consumption has a tendency to reduce inhibitions, allowing subconscious views to come forward. Simply thinking about alcohol seems to have a similar effect.
The constantly evolving nature of health science can be exasperating at times, with research finding risks and benefits to every substance and behavior.
Readers should remember science is based on collaboration, and it often takes a frustratingly long time for a consensus to be reached.
Individual studies may differ on the exact risks and benefits of alcohol consumption, but they agree not to overdo it.
 
Andrew Shockey is a 21-year-old biological engineering junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Ashockey.
 
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Contact Andrew Shockey at [email protected]