How Often Do You Drink?

There have been plenty of studies that show that a little alcohol, in moderation, is better for your health than no alcohol at all. Most of the evidence comes from studies in men, and relatively little is known about drinking patterns and the risk of heart disease in women. This has now been remedied by a recent Danish study reported in the British Medical Journal.

Compared with participants who drank rarely, women who drank once a week or more often had a reduction in risk of heart disease to around 65%, meaning that for every 100 women who drank rarely and developed heart disease, there were only 65 such cases among those who drank more often.

Things were different in men - there was a “dose-dependent” reduction in risk with drinking. Men who drank on only one day a week had 93% risk, while those drinking daily had a 59% risk, compared with those who drank rarely (i.e. less often than one drink a week).

Just because moderate drinking has some health benefits, don’t forget the problems of heavy drinking: liver disease, increased cancer risk, road accidents, dementia, and broken homes. As the study investigators pointed out, “overall mortality is higher among individuals with a high alcohol intake compared with light consumers.”