For a while now, various studies have suggested that moderate alcohol consumption is actually good for most of us. In fact, by today’s standards to state otherwise is to simply ignore the fact that known benefits (not merely from antioxidants present in beverages like red wine) do indeed exist among alcohol consumers. For instance, among demographics ranging from college students to middle aged parents, minimal-to-zero regular alcohol consumption was found to have effects similar to the repercussions one might expect later in life as a result of binge drinking during early adulthood.

As it turns out, production of proteins known to help reduce the risk of heart problems in later life can be stimulated by the weekly (or even daily) consumption of alcoholic beverages in moderation. Interestingly, either extreme, whether it be tendencies to over-use alcohol, or simply to avoid it altogether, yield the same lessened production of the aforementioned proteins, and hence a greater risk of heart problems later on. According to cardiology consultant Arthur Klatsky in a statement from March of 2007, “many epidemiologists now feel that there is little doubt that alcohol exerts a protective effect against Coronary Artery Disease.”

Previous studies of this sort have tended to focus more on people ranging in age from their mid twenties to middle age, looking ahead toward medical conditions that tend to begin to appear around age fifty. However, new research suggests that moderate alcohol consumption may also protect older healthy adults from suffering disabilities which could later lead to difficulty walking, eating, or performing simple tasks and errands.

According to the Chinese news source Xinhuanet, individuals 50 and older who drink moderately tend to have 25 percent lower odds of being unable to carry out daily activities, as determined by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The findings of the study were published in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, which stated that “light-to-moderate drinking” would fall in the neighborhood of less than fifteen drinks a week, daily maximums exceeding no more than five beverages daily for men, and four for women. The one catch; if you suffer from poor health, you are advised to avoid drinking altogether. “If your health is not good, you probably should not be drinking,” said lead researcher Dr. Arun S. Karlamangla, citing interaction with medications as being among the reasons alcohol may not benefit the unhealthy.