Drink it moderately!

For some people, moderate alcohol consumption seems to offer protection against heart disease. Thus, if you drink alcohol, make sure you drink it moderately. This means an average of one to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. In which, a drink means 12 oz of beer, 4 oz of wine, 1.5oz of 80-proof spirits, or 1 oz of 100-proof spirits. Some of the suspected heart-related benefits of alcohol include:

1. raises HDL (good cholesterol) and reduce LDL (bad cholesterol)
2. lowers blood pressure
3. inhibits blood clotting by breaking up the body's natural platelets (blood cells that help in clotting the blood) and/or decreasing the vicosity of the blood
4. helps to prevent artery damage caused by LDL by improves the elasticity in the arteries
   
   

We should never drink alcohol more than what is recommended because alcohol can raise serum triglycerides level. It can also lead to high blood pressure, heart failure and an increased caloric intake (which eventually will lead to obesity and increased risk of diabetes mellitus). Excessive drinking or binge drinking can lead to stroke and other serious problems such as fetal alcohol syndrome, cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart), cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart beat) and sudden cardiac death.

Remember, alcohol consumption is suitable for “some” people only. Those with heart failure, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, diabetes, arrhythmia, a history of stroke, obesity, high triglycerides level should seek advice from their doctor before drinking alcohol.

However, the American Heart Association do not recommend people to drink alcohol for the purpose of getting the mentioned benefits of alcohol on heart. One should achieve the listed benefits through diet and exercise.