Rhonda Patrick· PhD
Dementia & Alzheimer's disease risk
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We can't find evidence that holds up here. Proponents are reasoning from mechanism or analogy rather than direct human data, and the most credible skeptics raise objections we can't dismiss.
Dementia & Alzheimer's disease risk
Every Sunday: the week’s new conflicts and verdict changes — and nothing else.
Native comments, Twitter mentions, and Reddit threads about this claim — surfaced together so the conversation isn't fragmented across platforms.
Bookmarking — the dossier-vs-overview split is the right call. Most of the time I want overview; sometimes I want receipts.
Would love a "what would change this verdict" RSS feed. Sign me up if it exists.
"To me, it's clear that if you care very much about your brain that more than 2 drinks per week on a consistent basis, probably not a good idea."
it's just oh so clear that it's not good for people and that they're doing at least some degree of harm
if you care very much about your brain that more than two drinks per week on a consistent basis probably not a good idea
however among adults consuming more than 14 units per week each seven unit per week increase in alcohol consumption was associated with a 177% increase in dementia risk
this suggests that while moderate drinking might offer some protective effects excessive alcohol use certainly outweighs these benefits and poses substantial risks unfortunately some of the studies did not account for the sick quitter bias that we talked about earlier remember that the sit quitter effect occurs when studies include both former Drinkers and lifetime abstainers in the non-drinking group which can artificially increase the risk for adverse Health outcomes in the abstainers compared to light to moderate drinkers this is especially important for brain health because the lasting effects of former heavy alcohol use on the brain may not be completely reversible after someone stops drinking although there is some evidence of a partial recovery of brain white matter in former heavy alcohol users after a period of abstinence however even studies that do account for the sick quitter effect have found a beneficial association between light to moderate drinking and the risk for dementia in middle-aged and older populations whereas heavy drinking is often associated with a greater risk so a study of adults between 35 and 55 years old found that abstinence from alcohol in midlife was associated with a 40% greater risk of dementia when compared to light to moderate alcohol consumption this is of 1 to 14 units per week an association that was still significant after taking former Drinkers and abstainers into account drinking more than 14 units of alcohol per week was not associated with a greater risk of dementia however among adults consuming more than 14 units per week each seven unit per week increase in alcohol consumption was associated with a 177% increase in dementia risk
moderate tohey or excessive drinking does not have greater protective benefits and may Plateau or even potentially lead to negative outcomes