I see that, thanks to the ever studious researchers at National Institute of Public Health in Copenhagen, we've new reasons to drink beer, or any other alcoholic beverage, for that matter. For according to their latest finding, as published in the British Medical Journal and reported at Bloomberg.com, an alcoholic drink a day may help men avoid heart disease, while some moderate measure of regular alcohol consumption may be all it takes for women to receive similar benefits.

     The study, which involved 28,400 women and 25,000 men between 50 and 65 years old, found that frequency of consumption was the important issue for men, while women who drank did better than those who didn't, and frequency didn't seem to matter.

     This report, of course, follows on the heels of who-knows-how-many prior studies that found essentially the same thing, namely that moderate consumption of alcohol can have positive health effects. Or in other words, if I may be permitted to extrapolate, that relaxing with a beer or glass of wine or cocktail now and again is better for you than abstaining completely or getting hammered nightly.

     Some call that medical research. I call it common sense.

     While it might not be a universal truth, there are two aspects of alcohol consumption that most drinkers will recognize. The first is that a drink at the end of a hard day is relaxing, while the second is that a night of heavy drinking will almost inevitably lead to some feeling of less-than-perfect health the next day.

     Couple these observations with the popular medical view that stress is one of the leading negative influences on health today and you have a good case for moderate drinking. Enjoy a glass of ale or whisky or cabernet at the end of a long, stressful day and the mere act of kicking back with a favourite tipple will mitigate as much or more stress than will the calming effects of the alcohol contained within the drink. That's a quick, non-prescription antidote to one of life's greatest ills, folks, and it's available most anywhere.

     Conversely, overdo it with that same drink and you'll find yourself regretting it in the morning, as your body sends strong and unmistakable signals to your head that you have just done yourself wrong. Granted, in some such instances, the fun is worth the resulting illness, but so long as those occasions are well spaced out - ie: not happening every weekend - then they don't figure in to our discussion here.

     These facts I've been aware of for years, not because any medical researcher told me, but because I listen to what my body tells me. I know them in the same way I know that after I return from, say, Belgium, where I will have almost certainly have been served meal after meal of fairly heavy cuisine, I should stick to lighter fare for a while. It just makes sense.

     Still, I suppose it's nice to have medical reassurance from time to time. And if it makes doctors and researchers happy to continue telling us things our minds and bodies already know quite well, then I suppose that's fine, even if those reports tend to become rather tediously repetitive after a while.

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• Beer & Health June 2006
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• Consider the Cocktail April 2006
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• The Case for the Complexity of Beer, June 2003
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• Why Craft Beer is Here to Stay, February 2001
• Y2Beer -- The Year in Review, January 2001
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• A Tale of a Tasting, November 2000
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• The Downside of Beer and Brewing, August 2000
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• In Defense of Beer, May 2000
• Ten Days in Belgium, Part II, April 2000
• Ten Days in Belgium, Part I, April 2000
• Ten Days in Belgium, Introduction, April 2000
• A World of Stout, Mar 2000
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• The Year As It Was: Brews, Fests and Damn Foolishness , Jan 2000
• New Years Eve, Dec 1999
• Beer in the Land of Stout, Nov 1999
• Visiting the World's Best Beer Fest, Oct 1999
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• The Mixed Marriage of a Beer and a Cigar, Aug 1999

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