For Even Healthy Men, Alcohol Seems to Lower Heart Attack Risk

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Several other recent studies have added to the evidence suggesting that moderate alcohol intake complements a healthy lifestyle.

A recent British study identified moderate alcohol consumption among four healthy behaviors (including not smoking, exercising and eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day) that added 14 years to life, compared with men and women who did not adopt these behaviors. And Danish researchers reported that both physical activity and moderate drinking have a protective effect on the heart and an additive benefit when combined as part of a healthy lifestyle.

There's one glaring problem, though. None of the studies were "randomized controlled trials" -- the gold standard of scientific research, whereby people are randomly assigned to an intervention, such as exercising or consuming alcohol.

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There are lots of observational data to support moderate drinking, said Dr. Robert A. Vogel, professor of medicine and director of clinical vascular biology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "However, we do not consider alcohol a validly tested drug because to do that you would have to randomize people for years with alcohol or not -- and that's not a study that can be done," he said.

Vogel said he enjoys a daily glass of wine as part of a healthy lifestyle and tells patients who do the same that it's "a reasonable thing to do." Many doctors, though, tend to shy away from recommending alcohol to their patients. Instead, they have emphasized other lifestyle modifications, including diet and exercise.

"Clinicians are very resistant to taking alcohol out of the 'alcoholism' box and asking what its effects might be at more typical levels of intake," Mukamal said. "Even if clinicians don't believe there are benefits to alcohol, and I think that's a reasonable concern since we don't have randomized trails, they should at least be discussing it, but I don't think that's happening."

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