Research

Hormonal

Moderate alcohol consumption (1-3 drinks/day) is associated with a significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease in women compared to abstainers, while heavy consumption increases risk.

For women aged 40-65 who do not smoke and have no history of heart disease, consuming 1-3 drinks per day is associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease compared to not drinking at all. However, this does not apply to stroke risk, and heavy drinking increases risk. Individuals should consider their personal health history and local guidelines before making changes.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
The relative risks of coronary heart disease for women who consumed 1 to 3 drinks per day were significantly lower than those for abstainers (relative risk, 0.6; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.4 to 0.9).
Meir J. Stampfer et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 1988

Why this rating

Large prospective cohort study with long follow-up and adjustment for major confounders, but observational design limits causal inference.

Source

A Prospective Study of Moderate Alcohol Consumption and the Risk of Coronary Disease and Stroke in Women

Meir J. Stampfer et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 1988

DOI 10.1056/nejm198808043190503

cohortCited 912×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →