Alcohol (In Moderation) May Help Preserve ‘Good’ Cholesterol

“This study allowed us to assess changes in HDL cholesterol levels over time (on average, a six-year period), rather than just comparing HDL in low, moderate and high alcohol consumers at one time point or looking at the effects of short-term changes in alcohol intake,” says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, a coauthor of the study and director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA), “It also allowed us to parse out the effects of different types of alcohol-containing beverages.”