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Comment by dfc | Hacker News Reader

Dr. Jarin, the American Heart Association has a slightly different take on alcohol consumption. For starters they recommend that women do not exceed 1 drink per day. Most importantly they do not seem to think that abstaining from alcohol is considered a risk factor:

  > How  alcohol  or  wine  affects  cardiovascular  risk  merits
  > further research but right now the American Heart Association
  > does not recommend drinking wine or any other form of alcohol
  > to gain these potential benefits

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter...

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Keep in mind that almost no organization (outside alcohol sellers) can "recommend" alcohol consumption for the simple reason that alcohol is extremely negative for certain cohorts (i.e., alcoholics). Therefore, even if there are demonstrated benefits for the majority of the healthy population, no one wants to be seen as supporting the harms, which, in fairness, are often extremely bad. That said, even your quoted text admits that there may be potential health benefits to alcohol consumption in moderation.

Keep in mind that a "potential benefit of moderate alcohol consumption" is not the same thing as "NOT drinking is actually considered a risk factor."

If the science clearly indicated that "NOT drinking is actually considered a risk factor for heart diseasee" do you think AHA would:

  (A) Refrain from mentioning the risk factor.
  (B) Present the risk factor with a stipulation that individuals
      "consult your doctor on the benefits and risks of consuming
      alcohol in moderation"

I agree that it is silly to think that not drinking is actually a risk factor for heart disease. I was never trying to support that claim. I was just trying to point out the institutional biases that may be at play when AHA makes recommendations about alcohol consumption.

I would also like to point out that the very AHA page you linked to states "The incidence of heart disease in those who drink moderate amounts of alcohol (no more than two drinks per day for men or one drink per day for women) is lower than in nondrinkers." So there may be a potential benefit there that AHA acknowledges.

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