According to a new study published in the European Heart Journal, a daily alcoholic drink could lower the risk of heart failure in men and women. The social drinker is doing more good for their heart than heavy drinkers and teetotallers. So, well, cheers to that.
The research, conducted by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, tracked the heart health of 14,629 people over the course of 24 years and found that the risk of heart failure in men went down 20% in the male participants who drank one drink a day (and it could be any standard drink) and 16% for women.
The new findings add to a whole host of other health benefits to your glass of plonk, such as a 2009 study that found that it improved libido, fought the common cold and lowered the chance of diabetes.
It also makes you much wittier and coquettishly attractive, though this hasn’t been backed by science, but of course is universally known to be true.
However as Dr. Scott D. Solomon, a professor of medicine at Harvard and lead author of the study is quick to note that the findings aren’t an excuse for guzzling.
“People who drink a little bit, up to moderately, may derive some protective benefit, especially men,” he said.
“But once you get above one drink a day for women or two for men, your risk of other types of problems goes up.”
