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People have long believed alcohol can be beneficial. That idea goes back to ancient Greek healers. But the debate continues over whether alcohol really offers health benefits.
A Little Alcohol Won’t Hurt a Healthy Person
Professor of neuropsychopharmacology David Nutt has devoted an entire book to drinking and health. In his book “Drink or Not to Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health” (2021), he writes that a daily glass of wine keeps the risk of death related to moderate drinking under 1%.
Recent studies back up the British expert’s view. According to researchers, consuming a small amount of alcohol not only appears to do no harm for healthy people but may also help reduce the risk of heart problems.
This applies only to healthy people. For someone with serious kidney or liver disease, alcohol is definitely not a good idea.
The Health Benefits of Small Alcohol Doses
In a scientific study, researchers examined brain scans of 754 people. They also reviewed data from more than 50,000 Americans. The work became the first to point to long-term neurobiological effects of alcohol.
Researchers say occasional alcohol consumption lowers stress signals connected to heart attacks and strokes — cheers.
Experts found that women who drank up to one alcoholic drink per day and men who drank up to two had a lower risk of cardiovascular problems compared with those who drank more or abstained entirely. Previous studies hinted at a protective effect; now scientists think they have a physiological explanation.
Researchers found that regular consumption of small amounts of alcohol produces a long-term reduction in stress signaling in the brain linked to heart attacks and strokes. That creates a lasting neurobiological effect. Experts hope this finding could lead to treatments that mimic alcohol’s protective effects on the heart without the negative consequences, like increased cancer, diabetes, and obesity risk.
How Does Alcohol Protect the Heart?
Brain imaging in the study showed that people who drink moderately have reduced stress-signal transmission in the amygdala, the brain region responsible for the stress response. By reviewing the cardiovascular history of the participants, researchers found fewer cases of heart attacks and strokes.
Cardiologist Ahmed Tawakol, the study’s lead author, told the Daily Mail, “We found that changes in the brains of those who drink light to moderate alcohol explain a significant portion of the heart’s protective effects.”
Moderate alcohol consumption in people who are more prone to stress reactions had nearly double the heart-protective effect compared with others. That positive outcome faded when people drank more.
Those who consumed more than the recommended 14 servings per week faced an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and overall brain activity decreased. The study’s authors say it makes sense to search for new interventions that lower stress activity in the brain.
Good, But Not All Good
Professor of metabolic medicine Naveed Sattar cautions that the results should not be seen as a green light to drink, even in moderation. He points out that alcohol still contributes to a significant number of deaths from cardiovascular disease.
Moderate alcohol consumption may reduce stress and anxiety, which can lower the risk of dying from heart disease. However, the World Heart Federation (WHF) reports that more than 2.4 million people died from alcohol-related causes worldwide in 2019.
The risks depend on how often and how much a person drinks. Remember that alcohol can be addictive. In practice, those risks often outweigh the benefits.
Sattar emphasizes that focusing on one small finding can create a misleading impression. The idea that light or moderate drinking improves heart health can hide the fact that healthier people are simply less likely to suffer heart problems. So the question of whether alcohol belongs in a healthy lifestyle remains only partly answered.
