A drink may help high blood pressure risk | Science&Health | Reuters.co.uk — No matter what you’ve got wrong with you, you are told to avoid alcohol. Why? This sort of data advising the opposite keeps cropping up.

Men with high blood pressure are usually advised to avoid alcohol, but U.S. and Dutch researchers said on Tuesday that a drink or two every day may reduce their chances of a heart attack.

The study of 11,000 men supports other research that shows small-to-moderate amounts of alcohol can lower the risk of heart disease, by increasing the levels of high density lipoprotein, or “good” cholesterol, and by making blood less likely to clot.

Drinkers in general have a bigger risk of high blood pressure, and heavy drinking raises the risk of early death overall, including from heart disease. But many studies have shown that moderate drinkers may be healthier.



  1. Isn’t it true that the French diet is full of rich and fatty food but they actually have a lower rate of heart disease than North Americans. I’ve heard this is because they also drink a glass or two of wine a day.

  2. Overworked554 says:

    I’ll drink to that! 🙂

  3. David says:

    Please be right.

  4. Mark says:

    Damn, there goes THAT New Years resolution.

  5. Frank IBC says:

    Howard Harawitz –

    There are actually two French cuisines. The northern cuisine, heavy in meat and butter, is what most Americans know. However, the cuisine of the south of France is much more Mediterranean – less meat, olive oil instead of butter. The healthy diet of the south tends to cancel out the less healthy diet of the north, statistically.

  6. Jägermeister says:

    #1

    It’s because they drink wine with their meals. Wine got antioxidants that takes out some of the harmful effects of fat food. And btw… you don’t need to drink wine to get the same effect. Eat fresh cherries, wild blueberries or walnuts after your meal, and you’ll get a good dose of antioxidants.

    [To the editors: I understand that you want to keep the Web site free from spam, but the crapola filter needs to be reviewed. If a poster – like myself – have been submitting 100s of post without spam, why would the crapola filter delay my posting if I happen to add four links to my post? Please make the filters smarter.]

  7. Jean B says:

    #1 #5 and #6 – The red wine theory is nice for all wine lovers.

    But the most recent analyses of the French vs American diet and health status shows the the French advantage is mostly related to 2 factors:

    1- Much wider variety of food types. fruit,vegetables, nuts,tripe,brain, liver , name it, they eat it !

    2- More rational portion sizes – compare the typical meal served in a restaurant in France vs the US, and it is not rocket science figuring out who will be leaner and healthier.

    But I stick to my daily glass of red, just to be on the safe side !.

  8. James Hill says:

    #7 – If the filter stops you from posting so much crap, it will be a fine investment.

    Now… go join HJ in the corner.

  9. Nekkes says:

    #8 I certainly agree. The portion sizes in the US are insane! (plus the amount of salt and fat used to make the jumbo size meals).

  10. Jägermeister says:

    #9

    You should be worried when they put in a filter that checks for illogical reasoning. 😉


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