The latest research on the health effects of drinking alcohol has found that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol has a significant benefit - wait for it - for people with an unhealthy lifestyle!
The finding is the result of a long term study led by Australian born Professor Michael Marmot, one Britain's leading authorities with a special interest in inequalities in health and their causes.
Sir Michael Marmot, from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College, London, says health advice which supports moderate drinking from middle age onwards, should be modified to reflect how people may be differently affected.
The researchers say the cardioprotective properties of moderate alcohol consumption, compared with abstinence or heavy drinking, are widely reported, but it is less well known whether the benefits are experienced equally by all moderate drinkers.
They looked at data from a longitudinal study of British civil servants in order to examine the link between average alcohol intake and the incidence of fatal and non-fatal heart attacks.
The study which began between 1985 and 1988, involved 9655 men and women without heart disease, who were tracked for almost two decades with the aim of assessing to what extent lifestyle protected a person from a heart attack.
The researchers found that moderate drinking offered a significant benefit compared with abstinence or heavy drinking, for those who did little exercise, had a poor diet and smoked.
For those with a healthy lifestyle who did at least 3 hours of vigorous exercise each week, ate fruit and vegetable on a daily basis and were non-smokers, alcohol offered no additional benefit.