The so Fun, so Easy Way to Fight Off Illness

By Ava Feuer, REDBOOK.

We're not saying that an all-night bender is going to protect you from the hacking cough going around your office… but maybe we sort of are.

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We've known for some time that moderate alcohol consumption is good for our hearts and overall health, and reduces our risk of premature death, but new research shows regularly sipping a few cocktails can also help our bodies fight off infection. The study, done on rhesus macaques, monkeys with immune systems that resemble those of humans, found heavy drinkers responded poorly to a vaccine, sober ones responded okay, and moderate drinkers responded better. It's not clear exactly why this result occurred, and figuring that out is among the next steps.

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And now, cheers to science!

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