Bluemountains, yes, you may be quite correct regarding the goood shape of your late grandmother in her golden years as sensible consumption of alcohol is associated with better memory and cognition as well as better physical health in the old age. It is also associated with less Parkinsons and, plainly, lower risk of dying in any given year.

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Hea...110565592.html

This link also shows what I suspected to be true: the defiinition of moderate drinking varie from country to country, see the graph. The only consisten thing is that women should drink far less than men, but the recommendations in absolute figures differr.

It is true that alcoholics should not drink but not because alcohol is intrinsically. A bad thing but because alcoholics may be unable to limit themselves to moderate drinking. I certainly am not an alcoholic and in fact I have never in my life been drunk so it makes sense for me to reap the many benefits alcohol offers. I am also fortunate enoough to prefer the taste of the most beneficial form of alcohol, which is red wine.

In regards to how moderate consumption is beneficial but high levels of consumption are toxic and harmful, well, Lithium is exactly like that, too, and I was hospitalized in spring 2012 for Lithium toxicity, but now that my dose has been reduced, I am doing just fine. The alcohol consumption in moderation is more pleasurable than Lithium consumption for most people though...

The most intriguing finding, see the link above, is that sensible consumption of alcohol is associated with less stress and... depression. How is that possible if alcohol is considered a CNS depressant? I have not read the actual research that supports this finding yet, but I can tell that in thosse few months that I have been trying to have red wine at least everry other day, I have had zero depression so at least it does not depress me for sure, and my intake of ADs has been low during all that time.