More evidence a little wine can be a good thing

"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."

There's new evidence that the Apostle Paul's advice to Timothy is just as valid today as it was a couple of millennia ago.

According to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Israeli researchers looked at a specific group of people, with well-controlled type-2 diabetes and with a low risk of alcohol abuse, to see whether there would be any health benefits from moderate drinking.

Moderate drinkers can have lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, mortality and type 2 diabetes, according to the latest research.

The 224 people in the Israeli study, who didn't drink wine currently, were assigned to start drinking five ounces of mineral water, dry white wine or dry red wine. They also followed a Mediterranean diet without calorie restrictions and kept it up for two years.

Questionnaires and blood draws found that red wine drinkers had significantly increased levels of good HDL cholesterol compared to the water drinkers, and also were the only group to show significant improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels and excess fat around the mid-section.

People who drank red or white wine also slept better than the water-drinkers.

Israeli study is only the latest in a long list that show moderate wine drinking can lower the risk of heart-attack and type 2 diabetes.

Over the years, other studies have shown that it can lower the risk of stroke, cataracts, colon cancer and brain decline.

The key word is "moderate," of course; a glass of wine with a meal. Too much alcohol raises your risk of high blood pressure and some kinds of cancer as well as creating multiple other health, family and societal problems.

But if you've been feeling guilty about enjoying that glass of wine with dinner, your conscience should be clear.