The first hard data supporting the benefits of a glass of wine a day came in 1974 when researchers at Kaiser Permanente in California found that teetotalers suffer more heart attacks than drinkers. So in 1977 another study excluded former drinkers. Rather than invalidating the California conclusion, the Honolulu Heart Program Study showed that, indeed, lifetime abstainers had more than twice as many cases of cardiovascular diseases as people who drank moderately. Likewise, two Harvard studies showed moderate drinkers having less heart disease than either abstainers or heavy drinkers. Drinking with meals, particularly, seems to prevent fatty platelets from forming in the blood.
Ethanol is the key, whether in the form of beer, wine, or spirits.
On the other hand, nutritionists warn that the benefit to the heart should not overshadow other medical questions. Suspicions remain that the same moderate drinking may lead to breast cancer in young women, and possibly contribute to colon cancer in men. French people have higher rates of liver disease. Drinkers must never forget the fine line that exists between alcohol use and abuse. Out of control drinking can cause birth defects, stroke, family disruption, lost productivity, loss of life-some 100,000 deaths a year in this country, including 20,000 deaths from traffic accidents, are attributable to alcohol abuse.