Overweight alcohol drinkers live longer than skinny people - study

barasa velma

February 22, 2018 1:08 PM

New study suggests being overweight may have its perks?

According to the study, overweight alcohol drinkers are more likely to live longer as compared to skinny people or people that live healthier lifestyles.

How the study was conducted

The study was conducted by the University of California and findings revealed that people who had a bit of extra weight were more likely to live well into their 90s.Being overweight has a negative effect until people hit 80 years old. After that there is a 3 percent reduction in the chances of dying.

“Underweight people had a 50 per cent increase in mortality. It’s not bad to be skinny when you’re young but it’s very bad to be skinny when you’re old," said geriatric neurologist Professor Claudia Kawas from the University of California.

14,000 people's lifestyles, between the ages of 55 and 100, were studied since 2003. 1600 out of those 14,000 still alive were tracked down and interviewed on their lifestyle habits.

Those that consumed alcohol moderately - roughly two beers or two glasses of wine in a week to one daily drink - on average lived longer than those that abstained from drinking alcohol.

This however does not mean that being overweight is a good thing."As you age, your body tries to put weight on. This is different to saying obesity is a good thing, but maybe as you get to 60 or 70 physiologically it's a good thing to gain weight.

The best mortality experience is to gain between five and 10 pounds per decade," Proffessor Kawas said.

Other factors such as exercising and eating healthy are not to be completely ignored however when it comes to longevity.

Prof Kawas said: “We found of course that exercise, as little as 15 minutes a day, gave greater longevity."

She did insist that it does not have to be a hard work out at the gym but a simple 45 minute walk would suffice.