Is Alcohol Good For You?

Another study that also emphasizes the importance of the drinking pattern is presented in reference 3. In this study, both men and women were studied: about 27,000 Danish men, and 30,000 Danish women, aged 55 to 65 years. They find that for the same average consumption of alcohol, frequent drinking reduces mortality compared to infrequent drinking. In other words, the pattern of drinking is as important as the quantity. This conclusion is consistent with references 1 and 2, that claim that drinking frequency is important - weekend binge drinking will not improve one's cardiac health!

Reference 4 provides a possible reason for the heart-protection properties of alcohol. This meta-study (a study that combines many previous studies) shows that changes in the various cholesterol components and other factors that impact heart disease, are improved through regular drinking. They estimate that drinking 30 g (1 ounce) of alcohol a day, impacts coronary risk factors so that the heart disease risk is reduced by 25%.

A later recent study (reference 5) has just been published in the British Medical Journal. This study involves a cohort of 28,000 Danish women, and 25,000 Danish men, all aged 50 to 65, free of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. They were tracked for about 6 years. The results are somewhat different for men and women... Women who drink alcohol on at-least one day a week had a lower risk of coronary heart disease compared to women who drank less frequently - a Risk Ratio of 0.64 (36% risk reduction) with a Margin of Error between 0.5 to 0.8. Women who drink more frequently do not seem to have added protection. For men, the more frequent drinkers have more protection - men who drink daily have a Risk Ratio of 0.6, with a Margin of Error between 0.5 and 0.7.

There are two new meta-studies (combined exising studies) published in 2011. Reference 6 demonstrates that moderate alcohol consumption increases HDL (the "good" cholesterol) by about 0.4 mg/dL as well as improving other cardiovascular biomarkers. Reference 7 addresses clinical outcomes more directly. For cardiovascular disease mortality, there is a risk reduction of 0.75 (with a margin of error between 0.70 to 0.80) as a result of adding the results from 21 studies. There is no benefit, however, to stroke reduction.

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