Is it safe for women to drink alcohol?
Ask the doctor
has often said that it is generally healthy for women to have one alcoholic drink per day. Yet I hear a recent study showed no benefit. What's the truth?
But please notice the word "generally" in your question. There are many nutritional practices that may be healthy for most, but not all, people. Why? Because people are different: our age, gender, genes, and lifestyles are different. And because with some types of food, a little is good but a lot is not: in small doses they're a tonic, but in larger doses they're toxic. And because some practices affect the risk of one disease very differently from the risk of another. And because, globally, nations are very different in their lifestyles and disease risks. The question of alcohol in women highlights the importance of all these differences.
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