Lots of people were upset by a recent NY Times article that said alcohol isn't healthy. I'm sorry to report that this is not news: the reason you thought a glass of red wine was good for your heart is because of the booze industry buying bad science skepchick.org/2023/01/sorry-to

@rebeccawatson

I did get the impression that red wine in moderation was good for you as it has anti oxidants. Like anything, it is good in moderation, but too much is not good for our health.

@zleap Nope. It's good in that it trains your body to deal with alcohol. Like one of the Roman emperors, I forget which one, who took a daily dose of arsenic to train his body to deal with possible attempts of food poisoning with arsenic.

@zleap I'm not sure. If only I could remember who this particular emperor was! But perhaps it was standard practice.

@Magdeleen @zleap It's been said in many contexts. It has also been said that once you've acquired arsenic tolerance you get indigestion or worse if you abruptly stop taking it. I don't know if that's true and I can't find a source off the cuff.

It seems the first well-known arsenic microdoser was en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithrida… of Pontus, Anatolia, 135–63 BC.

@clacke Thank you, he was also mentioned by another tooter (if that's the word) here. Look for it, comes with cool picture and fun fact!

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