For Heart Health, One Drink A Day, Yes One

Still more evidence of the health benefits of moderate drinking: The New York Times reports that a study just published in the European Heart Journal found that moderate drinkers have a lower risk of heart failure than either heavy drinkers or abstainers. The study, which followed 14,629 people for 24 years, starting at an average age of 54, revealed that, when compared with abstainers, men who drank up to a drink a day — a glass of wine, a 12-ounce beer or a shot of liquor — had a 20 percent reduced risk of heart failure. Women had 16 percent reduced risk. And yes, that health benefit dropped as people drank more.