Given the season, you'd be forgiven for thinking we've made this one up. Happily however, science supports what we always hoped was true: enjoying a few glasses of wine every day can lead to some serious health benefits in the long term.
Previous research has revealed
plenty of reasons why a nightly tipple could realistically form part of a healthy living plan, but the latest study has revealed that just two small glasses a day can cut your risk of Alzheimer's by a whopping 77 per cent.
Scientists in Denmark spent three years tracking 321 people with early Alzheimer’s disease and found that those with moderate alcohol consumption (between three and 4.5 units per day) had a 77 per cent lower risk of death than people who consumed less than one unit daily.
Nearly 40,000 people in Ireland suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or a related form of dementia. Due to our ageing population, this figure is expected to grow over the coming years.
However, experts have warned that the University of Copenhagen study is not a license to pop open bottles with wild abandon; while scientists are looking into the effects of alcohol on the brain, the benefit might also be down to the social atmosphere in the pub.
