According to researchers at The University of Newcastle in Callaghan in Australia, older women who drink one to two glasses of spirits on a daily basis are more likely to survive and remain in good health than women who do not drink.
The findings are based on more than 12,000 women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.
The findings, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, also found that nondrinkers had lower mental health and social functioning scores on standard tests than did drinkers.
However, these findings are for women who regularly consumer one or two alcoholic beverages per day. There was no evidence to suggest that nondrinkers should take up drinking. A recent study found that nondrinkers who began to drink received no health benefits, but heavy drinkers who cut down improved their outcomes.
While most of the beverages that were reported in this study, included wine, further studies are needed to determine if the alcohol, the wine or another factor are responsible for the observed health benefits.
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