A recent research study conducted in Sweden at the University of Gothenburg reveals that women who consume two pints of beer each week have one third as great for a risk of having a heart attack as women who drink more or less than that amount.

The Study Alcohol Consumption of Women

The research was conducted using one thousand and five hundred participants. The researchers at the University of Gothenburg looked at data compiled over a fifty-year time span concerning the alcohol consumption statistics of women.

The women were asked how much alcohol they consumed on a daily basis. Their answers could start at no alcohol in the prior ten years, to daily amounts of alcohol.

After a period of thirty two years the researchers again asked the same questions of the women participants in the study.

The Results of the Study

In the thirty-two years between the first questionnaire about their alcohol consumption and the second questionnaire about their alcohol consumption:

  • One hundred and sixty two of the women had suffered a stroke
  • One hundred and eighty five of the women had suffered a heart attack
  • One hundred and sixty of the women had developed type II diabetes
  • Three hundred and forty five of the women had developed some form of cancer
  • The women who had reported drinking beer about twice a week were thirty percent less likely to have a heart attack
  • Women that drawn alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine, were twice as likely to get cancer if they drank more than twice a month
  • Surprisingly drinking wine twice a week did not have the same health benefit as the beer had for the women.

Bad news

Women who consume alcoholic beverages more than three times per month are twice as likely to develop breast cancer. So the beer drinking may help to decrease the risk of heart attack, but it is increasing the risk of breast cancer development.

Alcohol is high in calories and the added beer each week might very well add a few extra pounds each year. You have to balance your alcohol calories so that they do not increase your waist size over time.

What this means

Drinking a moderate amount of alcohol is not likely to harm you, and according to much different research studies, a moderate amount of alcohol might be good for your health. The key to alcohol consumption is moderation.

Having one pint of beer while you are having dinner, or while you are visiting with friends is a moderate amount of alcohol for women.

Women should keep their alcoholic beverage consumption to one glass of wine, one pint of beer, or one mixed drink.

Never consume any amount of alcohol if you take prescribed medications without asking your doctor or your pharmacist what the effects the alcohol might have on your medication.