Why you should keep tabs on your drinking

It’s that time of year again, when people gather with friends and family to celebrate the holiday season. The festivities often feature wine, champagne, and and other alcoholic beverages. But before you raise your glass, make sure you’re aware of just how much alcohol you’re actually consuming — and how it may affect your heart. For the most part, moderate drinking — defined as one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men — is considered safe. But there are some caveats. Defining “one” drink “We ask people about numbers of drinks, but you have to be careful about what they really mean by that,” says cardiologist Dr. Stephen Wiviott, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. For some people, “one drink” may be 6 ounces of whiskey, which is actually four drinks, he notes. One standard drink contains roughly 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is found in: 12 ounces of regular beer (about 5% alcohol) 5 ounces of wine (about 12% alcohol) 5 ounces of distilled spirits, such as whiskey, rum, and vodka (about 40% alcohol) Despite popular belief, the evidence that alcohol is good for your heart is fairly weak and based solely on what researchers call observational data. “We observe that people who drink moderately have lower rates of heart disease and death from heart disease, but that doesn’t prove cause and effect,” says Dr. Wiviott. For example, light-to-moderate drinkers tend to be educated and relatively wealthy, and the...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Healthy Eating Heart Health Source Type: blogs