Men who drink less than half a glass of wine a day may live up to five years longer than teetotallers, and could have less chance of a heart attack, a study has found.

    An analysis of the impact of alcohol on men's health by a team at Wageningen University in the Netherlands found that long-term light consumption - less than 20 grams daily - is more beneficial than being teetotal. Although the findings are not the first to link a moderate intake of alcohol with certain health benefits, the study is the first to examine the effects of different drinks, claiming that wine is much healthier than beer or spirits.

    The research, reported in today's Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, was undertaken by a team led by Dr Marinette Streppel of the Division of Human Nutrition, which examined the lifestyle and alcohol consumption of 1,373 men born between 1900 and 1920 whose health had been examined regularly between 1960 and 2000.

    The men were studied to see how much alcohol they consumed, what type, and over what period of time, to find out if their risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke or other cause was affected.

    The researchers concluded that drinking up to 20 grams a day could extend men's lifespan by up to two years over those who avoided alcohol.

    They also found that men who drank only wine, and less than half a glass a day, lived for about two and a half years longer than those who drank beer or spirits, and almost five years more than teetotallers.

    The researchers say: "Long-term wine consumers had about five years longer life expectancy at age 50 compared with non-alcohol users. Of these five years, about two years can be attributed to an effect of alcohol intake. The remaining three years can be attributed to an effect of wine consumption." For the study, 70% of the wine consumed was red. The researchers add: "This suggests that the cardioprotective effect of wine could be due to a protective effect of polyphenolic compounds in red wine, but other explanations cannot be ruled out." In the UK, 720m bottles of red wine were consumed last year, compared with 764 million bottles of white and 150 million of rosé.

    The Wine and Spirit Trade Association, which represents wine producers, importers and wholesalers, welcomed the research. "This study reinforces the view taken by a government committee some years ago that moderate consumption of alcohol can have a positive impact on people's health, particularly in relation to heart disease," said a spokesman, Gavin Partington. "It's important to recognise the benefits of moderate consumption, while acknowledging the risks associated with alcohol misuse."

    But alcohol campaigners said any idea that drinking could promote good health was dangerous. Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: "Some evidence shows that very moderate alcohol intake can be beneficial, but this must be weighed up against the serious harms caused by drinking more than moderate amounts. For example, in men, drinking more than half a glass a day, there's a drop in life expectancy.

    "And individual risk must be taken into account. Research earlier this year found that drinking a small glass of wine per day increases the risk of cancer in women. The notion that we can somehow use alcohol for health benefit is a dangerous one. Swapping a healthy lifestyle for half a glass of wine a day would be counter-productive."

    一项研究表明，每天饮用少量酒的人比禁酒者的寿命至少延长五年以上，而且每天少量的饮酒可以减少心血管疾病的发病几率。

    Wageningen 大学的一个研究团队关于饮酒对人健康影响的分析研究发现，长期少量的饮酒——每天少于20g，与禁酒者想必对健康是有益的。尽管这发现并不是第一个关于酒精摄入与健康有益的研究，但这个研究首次检测了不同种类酒的效率，认为葡萄酒比啤酒和酒精饮料更健康。

    人群营养学部门的Dr Marinette Streppel 带领的一个团队进行的这一研究结果发表在流行病与社区健康这一杂志上，他们对在1900到1920年出生的1373名男性进行了他们在1960到2000年之间生活方式和酒精消耗的调查。

    每个人被研究的内容包括：他们消耗了多少酒精，什么种类，持续多长时间，并找出他们是否是死于心血管疾病、中风或其他原因。

    研究者推断，于不饮酒者相比，每天饮酒不超过20g可以延长其生命2年。

    他们也发现每天饮用半杯葡萄酒的人比饮用啤酒或其他酒精饮料的人的寿命延长2年半，比不饮酒者长5年。

    研究者说，长期的酒精消耗者在50岁时候可以比不喝酒的人延长5年的寿命预期。在这5年中，有两年归因于酒精的摄入，剩余3年归因于红酒的消耗。在这个研究中，70%的消耗为红酒。研究者补充，这酒对心血管的有效主要是由于红酒中有保护作用的多分化合物，但其他的因素也不能排除。在英国，去年共有 7.2亿瓶红酒的消费，与此同时有7.46亿瓶白酒和1.5亿的上升。

    代表着制造商，进口商和批发商的葡萄酒贸易协会对这一研究表示欢迎。##发言人说：“这一研究加强了政府多年前的一个观点，即适量的酒消费对人们健康有正面的影响，特别是对心血管疾病。认识适度消费是十分重要的，同时也承认酒精滥用的危险。”

    但是，酒业联合会的人说，任何关于饮酒可以促进健康的观点都是危险的。Don Shenker，酒业行政长官十分担忧的说，有些证据表明，十分适度的酒精摄入是有益的，但是这必须定量，从而避免因为因为超量饮用引起的严重危害。例如，对于人而言，每天超过半杯的饮酒量将引起预期寿命的下降。

    而且个人危险因素也应该被纳入衡量。今年早些时候的研究表明，每天喝一小杯酒引起女性癌症危险的增加。我们一某种方式使用酒精对健康有益的观点是危险的。每天半杯酒的生活方式可能产生反作用。