There's a Japanese proverb that says the reverse side also has a reverse side, and sometimes

it feels appropriate in medicine.

If you're a drinker, we hate to be the ones to break some sobering news to you, but

a major new study says no amount of alcohol is good for your overall health.

Exercise or alcohol.

When it comes to living a long life, booze may actually help you live longer than hitting

the treadmill.

Let's see, some of international researchers found the increased risks to cancer and

heart disease from eating red meat are small and uncertain.

Eating a cheeseburger could be as bad for you as smoking cigarettes.

When people hear conflicting headlines, it makes it hard to trust anything that doctors

say.

What do we really know after all?

Would you eliminate meat from your diet?

Does exercise help you live longer?

Is it safe to consume moderate amounts of alcohol?

These are actually deceptively difficult questions, in part because it can be hard to

do the kind of solid research that's required to answer them well.

Well, what if there was a better way to get some answers?

From the Freakonomics Radio Network, this is Freakonomics MD.

I'm Bob Ujena.

I'm a medical doctor and an economist.

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