Drinking In Moderation: Health Benefits?

A new poll found that drinking in moderation may be beneficial to your health.

FOX’s Alex Hein reports:

A new Gallup poll finds that moderate drinkers are less likely to be depressed than those who abstain from alcohol.

Thirteen percent of moderate drinkers reported having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives, compared with 19% of non drinkers and 17% of heavy drinkers.

In addition, just 7% of moderate drinkers said they are currently depressed or are being treated for the condition, compared with 11% of nondrinkers and 8% of heavy drinkers.

The poll also found that moderate drinkers were slightly more likely than both nondrinkers and heavy drinkers to report experiencing positive emotions on any given day, and slightly less likely to report experiencing negative emotions.

Alcoholics are generally miserable partly because of the changes in the brain that drinking causes.

Some of the happiness associated with moderate drinking may result from the social interactions around it.

For more on this story, check foxnewshealth.com.

Housecall for Health, I’m Alex Hein, FOX News.