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There’s nothing like sharing a romantic bottle of wine during a date night.
Now, research suggests that couples who drink together may also live longer.
The scientists examined data from more than 4,500 married or cohabiting couples, who were interviewed every two years for two decades.
And they found that couples tend to live longer if they both drink alcohol.
Dr. Kira Birditt, a research professor at the University of Michigan, said a theory called “drinking partnerships,” in which couples who have similar drinking patterns tend to have better marriages, was the inspiration behind the study.
Research suggests couples who drink together may also live longer (file photo)
The results also showed that light drinking predicted better survival rates among individuals and their partners compared to heavy drinking (file image)
“The objective of this study was to analyze alcohol consumption in couples and its implications on mortality,” he said.
“And we found, interestingly, that couples in which both indicated drinking alcohol in the last three months lived longer than other couples in which both indicated not drinking or had discordant drinking patterns in which one drank and the other did not.” “.
When two people have similar drinking behaviors, it may be a reflection of the compatibility between the couples in their lifestyles, intimacy and relationship satisfaction, the researchers said.
“We’ve also found in other studies that couples who drink together tend to have better relationship quality, and it could be because intimacy increases,” Dr. Birditt said.
But while the findings may seem like a recommendation to drink more with your spouse, Dr. Birditt cautioned against that interpretation.
That’s because the study defined “drinking” very broadly, examining whether or not a participant had drunk in the past three months.
The results also showed that light drinking predicted better survival rates among individuals and their partners compared to heavy drinking.
Dr Birditt said more research focusing on couples who drink – looking at their daily lives, whether they drink together and what they do when they drink – could help explain the link.
The study, published in the journal The Gerontologist, concluded: “This study advances the field by showing that survival varies depending on one’s own and one’s partner’s alcohol consumption.”