Moderate consumption of alcohol benefits your heart - its official. There's even better news for men according to research recently published in the British Medical Journal.
Men who drink alcohol every day have a far lower risk of developing heart disease than those who only drink alcohol once a week. For women a daily drink is no more effective than once a week.
A study carried out by the Centre for Alcohol Research in Denmark found that the risk of heart disease declined with increased frequency of drinking. Those who drank once a week had a 7% reduced risk while those who drank daily cut their risk by 41%.
Women who drunk alcohol on at least one day a week had a 36% reduced risk compared to those women who drank less frequency or not at all. The results from women who drunk alcohol more frequently showed no detrimental variation from those consuming once a week.
The research, which compared the impact of alcohol on heart disease in a group of over 50,000 men and women, suggests that it is the amount of alcohol consumed that is crucial for women, whereas it is the frequency of drinking that counts for men.
All the participants drinking habits were monitored for an average of six years. Factors such as smoking, age and diet were also taken in consideration.
Medical research has long indicated the benefits of red wine when consumed in moderation in countering obesity and heart disease.
Red wine - or more precisely the antioxidants in it - counteracts the negative effect of free radicals, those imperfect atoms that wander round our bodies potentially causing the destructive oxidation that in turn can lead to various diseases.
Scientists have now found that resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant found in many red wines, can assist in repairing joint damage caused by osteoarthritis.
Different research recently published in the New Scientist magazine has claimed that those same antioxidants can protect against hearing loss caused by loud noise. The presence of resveratrol helps form a protective barrier around the delicate hairs in the inner ear.
Red wine is generally recognised as being more beneficial from a medical aspect than white in offering health benefits; though white has cardio-protective elements also. The antioxidants in wine are largely contained in the grape skins which are usually retained more and for longer in red wine vinification.
Yet another study has found that red wine is good for your teeth. While it may cause discolouration, Canadian research has indicated red wine can also help stave off gum disease.
Scientists have found that the polyphenols, chemicals which give red wine its colour, help reduce the effects of periodontitis, which damages the gums and bones around the teeth.
Other research has found red wine may help ward off lung cancer while UK doctors have recommended red wine to heart-attack patients after evidence emerged of its benefits to the cardiovascular system.
A 10 year study in Boston, of 4400 men and women aged 65 and over, found a link between alcohol intake and the likelihood of heart disease.
Those who had between one and six drinks a week were 7% less likely to have a problem than long-term abstainers.
For those who had seven to thirteen drinks a week, the risk dropped by 20%, and for those having fourteen or more drinks, the risk was reduced by approx 40%.
These studies are not a licence to treat alcohol consumption in a wild or reckless manner. There is damning evidence of the effects of alcohol abuse. Great pleasure can be derived from the consumption of alcohol, particularly wine. Government guidelines indicating units of consumption per week should be taken seriously.
Pat Blake is a wine importer and distributor and a Director of Patrick Blake Group, Derrylin and Blake's of 'The Hollow' Enniskillen.
