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Article:
Alcohol as a Key Ingredient to a Healthy Diet by: Dr. John Rumberger Evidence suggesting that alcohol is 'cardio-protective' first appeared in the literature about 30 years ago. The Framingham Heart Study [the longest running population study of heart disease which began in 1948] provided the first solid evidence of this association. The relationship has now been confirmed by dozens of large population ['epidemiological'] studies. However, physicians have been reluctant to recommend alcohol consumption to patients because of the well-known health consequences of excessive drinking [hypertension, liver disease, increased rates of cancer, violent or accidental death] and the horrors that are associated with 'drinking and driving'. Moderation is the key. Many large studies have found that men and women who consume light to moderate amounts of alcohol per day live longer than those who abstain completely. The Physicians' Health Study involved long term follow-up of '89
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