Last Call: Drink to Your Health

By Geoffrey Anderson Jr.


"It's 5 o' clock somewhere."

If you're a happy hour regular, you know that saying all too well. After a stressful week (or day) at work, hitting the local watering hole for two-for-one specials helps get your mind off the office and…well, everything else. You have to be careful, though: Getting too happy will eventually get you a beer belly, too.

Yet, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke, overdoing it might actually be good for your heart -- at least for us guys. A recent study out of Osaka University in Japan found that men who drank four or more alcoholic beverages daily had a 19 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease. Women, on the other hand, quadrupled their risk.

Even though your heart might thank you, your brain won't. Both sexes increased their chances of getting strokes -- men by 48 percent and women by 92 percent. Suddenly, a long stay at Margaritaville doesn't seem all that appealing.

But, you can chalk up another benefit for moderate imbibing: University of North Carolina researchers have found a link between alcohol abstinence and depression. The researchers studied mice that drank alcohol for 28 days voluntarily. Two weeks after the mice stopped boozing, depression-like symptoms were evident.

So when 5 p.m. strikes on that long-awaited Friday afternoon, where will you be? I'll be knocking back a beer or two, but you won't find me at last call.

What do you think of the research? Tried it out yourself and noticed a difference? Share your thoughts below by posting a comment.