Drinking up to seven glasses of wine a week ‘cuts the risk developing depression by more than a THIRD’

A few glasses of wine each week could ward off depression, according to a new study.
Spanish scientists have found that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, particularly wine, can be linked with a lower risk of depression.

Those who consumed two to seven small glasses of wine weekly were 32 per cent less likely to suffer from depression compared with people who never drank alcohol.

The study looked at 5,505 men and women aged 55 to 80 in Spain, who were involved in a research trial evaluating the effects of the Mediterranean diet on heart disease risk.
None of them had depression at the start of the study and all were light-to-moderate.

During a follow-up period of up to seven years, 443 people reported that they were diagnosed with depression.

Researchers said that light to moderate drinkers, who drank 5 to 15 grams of alcohol daily on average, had a lower risk of depression compared with people who didn’t.

The findings, published in the BMC Medicine journal, contradict previous studies which have linked alcohol to an increased risk of depression.

Lead author Dr Miguel Martinez-Gonzalez from the University of Navarra in Pamplona said the contradictory results may be because the result did not include people who previously had depression or a drinking problem.

‘Moderate consumption of wine may reduce the incidence of depression, while heavy drinkers seem to be at higher risk,’ concluded the study.

An alternative explanation, added the study, is that people who drank moderately also had better overall health which lowered the risk of depression.

Written by Ellie Zolfagharifard and published on the Daily Mail, September 2, 2013.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www. law. cornell. edu/uscode/17/107. shtml