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Alcohol Helps A Women's Heart

© Gretchen Malik

When we drink to our health, let's stick to two glasses of wine. Drinking up to 14 units (one unit is a half-pint of beer, a glass of wine or a shot of whiskey) of alcohol a week reduces heart disease risk by 34 percent. Any more alcohol increases our chances of high blood pressure by 68 percent. This is not an invitation to start drinking to reduce heart disease risk -- there are many other ways to do that. Things like exercise and a healthy diet can help reduce heart risk. But if you do drink, just make sure you have no more than two drinks daily.

When consuming alcohol, the key seems to be that drinking up to 14 units of alcohol per week increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), the "good" cholesterol by a significant amount. HDL-C has been shown to reduce heart disease risk. However, more than the 14 units cause a big jump in blood pressure, a leading risk factor for stroke -- 68 percent compared to nondrinkers.

So, it bears repeating -- knocking back cocktails is not the way to take care of your heart. Exercise, healthy eating and reducing stress are far more judicious methods to reduce coronary risk. When in doubt, talk to your doctor.

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