Beer, like wine, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease when consumed in moderation according to a new study. Photo Credit: Sawfnews

November 15, 2011, (Sawf News) - Beer, like wine, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease when consumed in moderation according to a new study.

The study was conducted by research laboratories at Fondazione 'Giovanni Paolo II' in Italy and was published today on line by the European Journal of Epidemiology. It analyzed data of 200,000 people for whom alcohol drinking habits were associated with cardiovascular disease.

The study established that both for wine and beer the key is moderate and regular drinking.

For wine, moderate consumption is approximately two glasses per day for men and one for women; past research has established it can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, up to 31% less when comparing to non drinkers.

The new research adds data on beer for the first time - One English pint a day of beer containing 5% alcohol works best.

It is not clear at this stage whether its the alcohol in these two beverages that is beneficial or other substances.

Alcohol is the only common ingredient in the two beverages, so it could be the main player. But they both contain polyphenols, albeit different ones.

Simona Costanzo, first author of the paper, explains, "In our research we considered wine and beer separately: you first observe a reduction in cardiovascular risk with low to moderate drinking. Then, with an increasing consumption, you can see that the advantage disappears, until the risk gets higher. The interesting part of our research is that, among the studies selected for this meta-analysis, there were 12 in which wine and beer consumption could be compared directly. Using these data we were able to observe that the risk curves for the two beverages are closely overlapping".

"Moderate and regular drinking is the key," stresses Augusto Di Castelnuovo, head of the Statistic Unit of Research Laboratories and a pioneer in alcohol epidemiological studies.

"Wine or beer are part of a lifestyle. One glass can pair with healthy foods, eaten at proper time, maybe together with family of friends. There is no place for binge drinking or any other form of heavy consumption," he adds.

"The data reported in our meta-analysis cannot be extrapolated to everybody. In young women still in their fertile age, as an example, alcohol can slightly raise the risk for some kind of cancer. This could counterbalance the positive effect on cardiovascular disease and reduce the overall benefit of alcoholic beverages on health".

News Copyright © Sawf News. May not be reproduced without explicit written permission