Will alcohol improve your health or will it harm you? The answer depends on how much you consume, when you drink, and whether or not you have problems that increase your personal risk.
Harvard medical school guide to men’s health about alcohol and its potential health benefits states, that the dose is the most important factor :
It hardly seems possible, but it is true. Alcohol is good for health if the dose is right, the timing is right, and the drinker is right. By now, a massive amount of medical evidence supports this news. If you drink a little, you can reduce your risk of dying from heart disease, but if you drink too much you will increase your risk of dying from many causes, including cancer, liver disease, trauma, and even heart disease.
Is drinking right for you? It is a personal decision. Men are better candidates for low-dose alcohol than women. Older men are better candidates than younger men, and men with heart disease risk factors, particularly low HDL cholesterol levels, are the best candidates of all, as long as they have no specific reason for abstaining.If you choose to drink, limit yourself to one to two drinks a day, counting twelve ounces of beer, five ounces of wine, or one and a half ounces of distilled liquor as one drink. But do not drink at all before you drive or operate dangerous machinery.
Do not drink at all if you have liver disease or other alcohol-related problems, such as uncontrolled hypertension or congestive heart failure, pancreatitis, or high triglyceride levels. Do not drink if you take medications that interact adversely with alcohol. Check with your doctor to see if alcohol is safe for you.
Drink with extra care, or not at all, if you have a family history of alcohol abuse. Do not force yourself to drink if alcohol causes unpleasant symptoms such as heartburn, palpitations, headaches, or untimely drowsiness.
Despite all these precautions, do not shun all thoughts of alcohol. Most men can drink safely and responsibly, and men who do so will benefit from up to two drinks a day. If you are one of these men and you enjoy a drink or two, drink up. To your health!
I agree stolich. Lets grab a beer