Self-control in moderation

As an appreciator of food and drink, I often find myself reading articles on studies relating to what we eat and imbibe. Every week or two there seems to be some interesting study that suggests what we eat might or might not be healthy for us. Percentages of the likely increase or decrease in survival rates based on eating and drinking behaviors assault us in every aspect of media that we interact with. 

Most recently the news was buzzing with a study that linked moderate drinking with a decrease in strokes for women. You can read the Huffington Post’s version of it here, the CBS version of the same story here. Good news! Right? It’s what we all want to hear. Of course, each article had to include a warning about drinking too much or the obligatory alternative to drinking in order to decrease stroke risk such as eating grapefruits or exercising more, or reducing your trans-fat intake. . .

Mmmm. Beer and meat.

A similar long term study on the effect of eating red meat daily was also released. You can read the article here. Turns out, if you eat red meat every day, you are at higher risk for death. Who could have guessed that eating an abundance of bacon, ground beef, hot dogs, salami, and sausage would be bad for you? 

The issue with both of these studies is that they may have more to say about personal habits than about the foods and drinks themselves. What mainstream media don't often tell you is that these “links”, or “associations”, or “correlations” are not the same as causation. If one thing causes another, there is a direct effect of one variable on another. 

Correlations are different. They show that there is a relationship between two variables (they change with respect to each other), but the nature of the relationship is not always clear. Associations are even more nebulous. If two things are associated, they may occur next to each other, but they don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other. Scientists know this and they use these words intentionally to show the strength and significance of the relationships between different variables in a study. While these words might be reported in media articles, like the ones listed above, the writers of these articles don’t always seem to grasp the significance of them. They often treat all of these words with the same gravity, assuming that if two things are “linked” then one of them must cause the other. This is not scientific and not true.

In the study linking lower stroke with moderate drinking, a question remains. Is it the alcohol that is more likely to lead to less strokes in women, or is it the moderate lifestyle? There seems to be a correlation between drinking moderately and lower stroke likelihood, but what is the nature of that connection? One who refuses to drink is not considered moderate with respect to the issue of drinking and one who binges or drinks heavily is also not moderate. It could be argued that one who drinks moderately has more self control than one who abstains completely or one who drinks excessively. Is it possible that self control is the variable that lends more health benefits rather than the effects of alcohol itself. Could it be a life lived in moderation that promotes longevity (moderate drinking being one of zillions of moderate behaviors), and not so much the single beer or glass of wine that was imbibed each evening?

Some emerging studies suggest that a person’s propensity towards self-control may have significant genetic factor. In a 2009 article in the journal Criminal Justice and Behavior entitled “Genetic and Environmental Influences on Levels of Self-Control and Delinquent Peer Affiliation,” researchers suggested that genetics played a larger role in adolescent drug use and contact with drug using friends, while environment played a lesser (and inconsistent) role. The thought that some people are born with more or less self-control is not an egalitarian idea, but seems to have some basis in research.

In the red meat study, the same question can be asked. Is it red meat that is unhealthy, or is it a lack of moderation in eating red meat that is unhealthy? I think we all know that eating more fruits and vegetables and not drinking heavily are healthy choices, but is this information going to help those who struggle with balance or will it only be utilized by those who are predisposed to having excellent self-control in the first place?

The next time you read an article about how pomegranate juice will clean out the free radicals in your body, vitamin C will prevent colds, or how dark chocolate can cure cancer, and feel the impulse to rush to your health food store to stock up on vast quantities of the latest, greatest, miracle food, you might want to take a moment, drink A beer and practice a little bit of self control (in moderation, of course). You might live longer.