The lowdown on boozing it up

Hooch, libation, demon drink, wobbly pop, cup of cheer, hard stuff, pint, no matter what you call it, we Canadians love to have a couple of drinks now and then.

When it comes to the latest advice on drinking and health there are two definite sides to this fence.

Always an optimist and probably because of my Irish roots, let's go with the good news first — researchers on the heart health side have found out that drinking in moderation may reduce your chances of developing heart disease.

Before you go tearing off to your local watering hole for a medicinal cup of cheer check out what moderation actually means.

For men drinking in moderation means two drinks a day. For women, it's only one drink a day, and no matter what your gender — no stockpiling allowed. So, you can't save up your week's worth of drinks for the big blitz on Friday night, unless it's your birthday and you were born on a Leap Year. There happens to be a very fine line between your heart saying thanks for the booze and your liver trying to kill you.

Being the mother of a teenager I now understand why my parents had Happy Hour at 4:30 pm. With three teenagers in the house I'm surprised they didn't drink all night. Here comes the curve ball, and there's always a curve ball. Women: you need to make sure that you've had a least 7 to 10 servings of folate-rich fruits, vegetables and legumes everyday before you even get the one crummy drink. Which in dietician-speak means make sure that you eat 7 to 10 combined servings of dark leafy greens, like romaine or spinach, or green veggies, like asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, fruits, like oranges and strawberries, and chickpeas, black beans, lentils, and peanuts in your day or no drinkie-pooh for you. Without this B vitamin, which helps prevent DNA changes that may lead to cancer, women elevate their chances of developing breast cancer.

Just in case you forgot, that was the good news part.

Now, for the bad news.

In November 2007 a comprehensive study released by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund, in other words the BIG GUNS, stated that drinking any kind or any amount of alcohol raises your risks of developing many kinds of cancers. That was any alcohol consumption. Yup, they meant zero, zippo, not-a drink to pass your lips consumption. Teetotalers now cheer.

We all have an Uncle VJ, Marvin or old Auntie Latisha in our families who drank like a fish and lived to be 87 years old. And we all think, "I'm never going to get cancer, it's not going to happen to me." Well someone's getting it, and the older I get the more I realize you never know what's coming down the old health road.

There are more contributing factors than drinking that can affect whether you do or don't develop cancer in your lifetime. Here are the ones we know so far: how you cope with stress, how much you do or don't exercise, what you eat, how much you eat, if you're a smoker, where you live, and your genetic makeup.

I drink occasionally and I always make it a good one, either a pomegranate martini, a fabulous Irish whiskey, a great red wine, or a Guinness on the days that I've had enough folate in my diet, which is most days, but I don't drink most days. I'm one of those people who drink four drinks a month or what others would call a cheap date.

I do exercise every day — there is cancer and heart disease on both sides of my family, so who knows if I'll avoid it, I'm doing the best I can to lead a healthy happy lifestyle.  To that end I'm working on positively coping with stress, which means I try not to scream at people who cut me off in traffic, let stupid thoughtless remarks wash over me, and I try to remember how horrible being a teenager really was.

So do the math, weigh in on the facts, make an intelligent decision, and then you get to live with the consequences.

Of course all of these virtuous rules can fly out the window if any of the following apply to you:

1. Your spouse has an affair
2. The Leafs win the Stanley Cup
3. The ice cap melts, and I'm not talking about Tim Horton's famous coffee beverage

If any of these occur, go pour yourself a stiffy.