Health

Is drinking alcohol actually good for you?

A new study finds that people who drink in moderation are less likely to have a stroke or heart attack.

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Photo: Stocksy/Boris Jovanovic
Published Mar 24, 2017

Written by 

Emily Laurence

There’s no confirmed evidence that having a hangover is actually healthy (sorry to ruin your Saturday morning plans), but according to a new study published in The BMJ, drinking in moderation apparently does do the body some good.

The data from two million people (yes, million) showed that moderate drinking lowers the risk of heart attacks, strokes, or death from heart disease. (By comparison, teetotalers have an increased risk for eight different heart ailments.)

Moderate drinking lowers the risk of heart attacks, strokes, or death from heart disease.

What exactly constitutes moderate alcohol consumption? Here, it was defined as one glass of wine a day for women or two glasses for men—and not a couple of frozen margs or G&Ts.

Sounds like happy hour just got a little bit happier. Now, who’s got a bottle of orange wine they can open?

In case you missed it, wine-infused coffee now exists. And here are some tips on organic alcohol-and-food pairings to try this weekend.

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