A heart-smart guide to consuming alcohol

Once scorned as the devil's drink and a crutch for those weak of will, alcohol has undergone a major reputation rehabilitation. Today doctors say that an occasional drink or two protects the heart and may provide other health benefits, though the upside of sipping the sauce must be weighed against the risks.

Scientists have been trying for years to develop safe medications that raise blood levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the kind that lowers the risk of heart disease by removing excess low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, from the blood. Yet you can find a reasonably effective HDL booster on your wine rack or in your liquor cabinet.

• Studies show that having one or two alcoholic beverages per day increases the blood concentration of HDL by about 12 percent.
• Each one milligram/decilitre increase in HDL lowers the risk of heart disease by two percent in men and three percent in women.

Alcohol has been known to prevent blood clots.

• When disk-shaped cells called platelets clump together in the blood, they form clots that can block arteries and cause heart attacks and strokes. Alcohol makes these platelets less "sticky" and therefore less likely to form clots.

Alcohol may help the heart in other ways.

• For example, animal studies show that small doses of alcohol relax the blood vessels, which improves circulation. (Drinking too much, however, seems to have the opposite effect.)
• And some alcoholic beverages, such as red wine and dark beer, are rich sources of antioxidants that some scientists believe have important benefits for the heart.
• The science is overwhelming: more than 100 studies have shown that moderate alcohol consumption — usually defined as two drinks per day for men, one for women — lowers the risk of heart disease as well as for diabetes and strokes. Much remains mysterious about how alcohol safeguards the heart, but this much is not in doubt.