How Much Booze Is Good For You? - WebMD

Light drinking helps heart health. But more than one drink a day for women and more than two daily drinks for men are harmful.

That's the bottom line from a state-of-the-art review of drinking and health by University of Missouri cardiologist James H. O'Keefe, MD, and colleagues.

The researchers note that study after study shows health benefits for moderate drinking. These benefits appear to come not from the type of alcohol, but from the alcohol itself.

That's been seen as terrific news for tipplers. If a little is good, wouldn't a little more be better? No, O'Keefe and colleagues assert. More is not only not better -- it's harmful. Just a little too much is worse than none at all.