Your very good health

By Nicola Shepherd

THE next time you nurse a hangover, remember alcohol can make you more intelligent.

Scientists at Japan's National Institute for Longevity have found that men and women who drink between two and four glasses of wine or Sake per day have a higher IQ.

They say alcohol, in the right quantities, can protect some functions of the brain against the ageing process.

Hiroshi Shimikata, head of the Epidemiology Research Division at the Tokyo Institute says, 'the positive effects of wine and sake on IQ may stem from substances in the beverage such as polyphenol, which is said to slow the ageing process and the hardening of the arteries.'

Japan has the highest proportion of old people in the world.

Looking for proof

Well, Winston Churchill drank his morning sherry,

Press Association

beer with lunch, whiskey and soda at tea-time and champagne, brandy and port with the evening meal. He died aged 90 - wit and intellect in tact.

The Queen Mother - now 100 - covets her glass of red wine. Remember how she ticked off the Archbishop of Canterbury at her birthday party last year, because he picked up her glass by mistake.

The Japanese research sample was small, around 2,000 individuals drawn from the same region, and gin, beer and other spirits were not included in the survey.

And scientists do warn excessive consumption reverses all the health benefits of moderate consumption. Health recommendations remain the same at three to four units of alcohol per day for men and two to three for women.

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