Wine & Health, feb/mar 2005 --
A toast to older women!

Older women may stay mentally younger with a drink a day, so says a recent study.

In a fun twist on the old "apple a day" saying, a January study in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that having a drink a day may slow brain aging in older women.

It doesn't seem to matter what kind of drink - beer, wine and liquor all seem to do the trick, keeping the brain younger and slowing mental decline. With the premise of determining the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on cognitive function, researchers evaluated approximately 12,000 women ages 70-81 years old over a six year period. The results showed that moderate drinkers, defined as 15.0 grams of alcohol per day (about one drink) had better cognitive scores than nondrinkers.

References (including the full article): New England Journal of Medicine