Some early reviews showed that light alcohol consumption may have a protective effect on cardiovascular health. For instance, a meta-analysis from 2010 found that patients with cardiovascular disease who were light to moderate alcohol consumers, were less likely to suffer from cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Several possible mechanisms have been suggested for the cardioprotective effect of alcohol. These include glucose control, lipid metabolism, and metabolism as a whole. However, another possible explanation is that the cardioprotective effect is only a confounding research result. A logical possibility is that some of the alcohol
abstainers in research studies previously drank excessively and had undermined their health. After they quit they were categorized as non-drinkers, which in turn led to more sick people in the non-drinkers category. To test this hypothesis, a 2019 meta analysis has recategorized people accordingly. As a result, no benefit was found for alcohol consumption of any dosage, moreover, alcohol was detrimental to health even at low doses. The
American Heart Association states that drinking too much alcohol increases health risks including cardiovascular disease precursors such as obesity, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and also heart attacks and strokes. They warn that "We’ve all seen the headlines about studies associating light or moderate drinking with health benefits and reduced mortality. Some researchers have suggested there are health benefits from wine, especially red wine, and that a glass a day can be good for the heart. But there’s more to the story. No research has proved a cause-and-effect link between drinking alcohol and better heart health." It has also been pointed out that the studies suggesting a positive link between red wine consumption and heart health had flawed methodology in the form of comparing two sets of people which were not actually appropriately paired. == Alcohol reduction ==