Read article Can alcohol be good for you?
You may have heard that some types of alcohol can be good for you. Many people believe that drinking can be good for the heart, or that red wine can protect against cancer. Is this true?
Alcohol and heart disease
Drinking small amounts of alcohol has been shown to offer some protection for people at risk of heart disease, which normally applies to people over the age of 40. However, drinking more alcohol doesn't reduce the risk further - in fact it can increase the risk of stroke and high blood pressure as well as other conditions.
Increasing the amount of alcohol you drink in order to improve your health is unlikely to work.
Red wine
Red wine contains high levels of a chemical called resveratrol, which has some anti-cancer effects in laboratory cells. But this is a far cry from saying that drinking red wine can protect people from cancer. For a start, red wine contains many other chemicals, which may not be so beneficial, including alcohol itself.
Based on studies done so far, there is no strong evidence that drinking red wine could protect against cancer.
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