Red wine is good for the heart. Or at least, that’s what wine drinkers have told themselves (and anyone else who happens to be in the area) for the last half century...if not longer. But is there any actual scientific evidence behind the idea that alcohol is good for your heart? And if there is, how exactly does alcohol have this effect? As with most things when it comes to health, the answer here is a little complex.
When it comes to clinical studies, the evidence is rather contradictory. Some studies have shown that moderate drinking can reduce the risk of heart disease...while others have shown the exact opposite. What is clear however, is that heavy drinking is bad for your heart, particularly binge drinking which can even lead to a heart attack! But clinical studies can be quite tricky, as outside variables like diet, exercise, genetics, etc., can all be difficult to control.
Skewing down to a more purely theoretical level, there are a couple of ways in which alcohol might have protective effects on the heart. In the first, alcohol can help prevent blood clots from forming; blood clots, which can block off veins and arteries, are a frequent cause of heart attacks. In the second, alcohol affects the levels of cholesterol in your bloodstream, and helps reduce the fatty deposits which narrow your arteries and leads them to clog...once again leading to a heart attack.
That said, there are certainly better and more well evidenced ways to protect your heart. A healthy diet, exercise, and avoiding smoking are all much more effective at keeping your heart healthy and strong. There are any number of reasons why you might want to drink alcohol, but unless your doctor tells you to do it for your heart, that’s probably not a particularly good reason to do it.
When it comes to the heart and drinking, Toast! gummies contain a pair of ingredients that have been shown to help protect your heart. Both n-acetylcysteine and green tea extract have been clinically shown to help support a healthy heart when consuming alcohol. We made Toast! gummies shareable so you can easily carry them in your bag or pocket and then be the talk of the group for bringing party favors! Check out our collection here and stock up today.