Every few years there is a study on alcoholic beverages that suggests in its conclusions little more than miraculous or striking effects. These days a couple of articles are circulating through the networks: one on the capacity of wine to improve performance and another on the possible improvement that alcohol has over memory.

Behind these news there is usually a misinterpretation or flashy headlines about scientific studies. It is also common that behind this is the alcohol industry, which finances studies in order that, even minimally, the results indicate or suggest positive effects of alcohol on health. They are usually poorly designed studies, with little subjects or performed in mice . Results that can not be extrapolated to the population and their health.

The flaws in the study suggest that drinking wine is the same as exercising

In this study , the first thing is that it is done in rats and not in humans . The second is that rats do not drink wine, but are given resveratrol, the famous antioxidant present in red grapes. Many media directly associate reveratrol with wine, confusing the reader, who thinks that the study is done with wine.

If the amount of reveratrol in the study were taken as wine, a person would need to drink just over 200 liters of wine to get the amount of reveratrol that supposedly made the rat improve its performance.

And last and most important, of the four study groups, the two that obtained the best results were the group of rats that exercised and did not take resveratrol and the group that exercised and took resveratrol. But the results are practically the same, suggesting that what really improves performance was the training and not that resveratrol was taken. Little by little it is seen that a glass of wine a day is not as healthy as we thought .

The flaws in the study suggest that drinking alcohol improves memory

As usual, the biggest mistake is in the treatment given by some blogs, newspapers or magazines (whether digital or on paper) to this study. Especially by the headlines, who are very amarillistas but already one when reading the article realizes that it is not as they paint it.

In this study , the number of people participating in it is somewhat scarce (88). In the study a simple test is done on the retention of words before drinking alcohol or without drinking it. The first thing that should be considered is whether this test truly measures the ability to memorize .

And another question, what is the memory capacity that supposedly increases drinking alcohol? Of course, the side effects of drinking alcohol far exceed that supposed improvement in memory , something that the researchers themselves already warn.

The problem is often how traditional media interpret and title news based on these articles. Look at this digital magazine: ” Drinking alcohol could improve memory “. Although within the article it is specified that the consumption of alcohol is negative, many people will stay in the owner and will obviate the verb “could”, leaving the headline in: “Drinking alcohol improves memory.”

Drinking alcohol does not improve anything in our health or our capabilities, it is only a toxic that negatively affects the body and whose abuse distorts our ability to perceive things. Of course, nothing better than water to drink at meals.