At this point, medical experts do not recommend that non-drinkers begin drinking alcohol for better cardiovascular health. Research is still being done to clarify the relationship between alcohol and the heart. However, findings in recent years have suggested that moderate alcohol consumption in middle-aged or older men and women may offer some people a degree of protection against heart disease. Moderate drinking is defined as no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men. One drink is equal to the following: 12 ounces of beer or wine cooler, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor.

Specific heart-related benefits may include:

• Raising HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.
  
  
• Lowering blood pressure.
  
  
• Providing antioxidant effects (helping to prevent artery damage caused, in part, by LDL oxidation).
  
  
• Inhibiting the formation of potentially dangerous blood clots in the coronary arteries. Alcohol may help prevent blood clots by breaking up the body’s natural blood-clotters (platelets) and/or by decreasing the “stickiness” (viscosity) of blood. However, these anti-clotting properties can be dangerous in some people because they increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke from excessive bleeding in the brain.
  
  
• Lowering some people’s risk of sudden cardiac death. Alcohol may help prevent the constriction (narrowing) of coronary arteries, allowing blood to flow more freely.
  
  
• Increasing levels of the hormone DHEA, which has shown cardiovascular protective benefits.

Until the research is clearer, people are urged to avoid excessive drinking and to drink moderate levels of alcohol only after consulting their physician. Preliminary findings suggest a possible ally in the war against heart disease, but alcohol can do more harm than good in some cases.