For decades, the idea that moderate drinking—particularly red wine—protects heart health has been one of the most persistent health beliefs in our culture. It's a belief that many adults over 40 [blocked] have held for years. It's the reason many of us feel virtuous pouring that evening glass of Merlot, convinced we're doing something good for our cardiovascular system.
But what if this comforting belief is wrong?
A growing body of research, including a landmark 2025 Stanford study, suggests the supposed heart benefits of moderate drinking were largely a statistical illusion. Understanding this shift in scientific consensus matters—especially for adults over 40 who are making daily decisions about their health.
The Origin of the Heart Health Myth
The belief that moderate drinking protects the heart emerged from observational studies in the 1970s and 1980s. Researchers noticed that people who reported drinking moderate amounts of alcohol had lower rates of heart disease than both heavy drinkers and non-drinkers. This created the famous "J-curve"—a graph suggesting that moderate drinkers were healthier than abstainers.
The wine industry, unsurprisingly, embraced these findings enthusiastically. Red wine in particular was elevated to superfood status, with its resveratrol content cited as the magic ingredient protecting French hearts despite their rich diet.
For forty years, this narrative went largely unchallenged in popular culture. Doctors sometimes even recommended a daily glass of wine to patients. The message was clear: moderate drinking wasn't just acceptable—it was healthy.
What the New Research Shows
Recent studies have systematically dismantled this narrative by addressing a critical flaw in the original research: the "sick quitter" bias.
Here's the problem with those early studies: the "non-drinker" category included people who had quit drinking due to health problems, former heavy drinkers in recovery, and people who abstained because they were already ill. When you compare moderate drinkers to this mixed group, moderate drinkers look healthier—but not because alcohol is protecting them.
A comprehensive 2024 study published in JAMA, following over 135,000 adults aged 60 and older, found that when researchers properly accounted for these factors, the apparent heart benefits of moderate drinking disappeared entirely. Adults who drank moderately showed no cardiovascular advantage over lifetime abstainers.
The 2025 Stanford analysis went further, examining data from multiple large-scale studies using more sophisticated statistical methods. Their conclusion was unambiguous: there is no safe level of alcohol consumption for heart health. Any amount of drinking increases cardiovascular risk, though the increase is modest at low levels.
The Surgeon General Weighs In
In January 2025, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on alcohol and cancer risk—the first such warning in over 40 years. While focused primarily on cancer, the advisory also addressed cardiovascular claims, stating that the evidence no longer supports the idea that moderate drinking provides heart protection.
This represents a significant shift in official health guidance. For years, dietary guidelines suggested that moderate drinking could be part of a healthy lifestyle. That language is now being reconsidered.
What About Resveratrol?
The resveratrol theory—that antioxidants in red wine provide special heart protection—has also been largely debunked. While resveratrol does have antioxidant properties in laboratory settings, the amounts present in wine are far too small to have meaningful health effects.
To get the resveratrol doses used in promising animal studies, you'd need to drink hundreds of glasses of wine daily—an amount that would cause catastrophic harm long before any antioxidant benefits appeared.
If you want resveratrol's potential benefits, supplements provide far more without the alcohol. But even then, human studies haven't shown the dramatic effects seen in mice.
The Mechanisms of Harm
Understanding why alcohol doesn't protect—and may harm—the heart helps make sense of this research shift.
Alcohol raises blood pressure, even at moderate levels. A 2023 meta-analysis found that any amount of alcohol consumption is associated with elevated blood pressure, with effects becoming more pronounced with higher intake. High blood pressure is one of the leading risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
Alcohol also contributes to atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm that significantly increases stroke risk. Studies have found that even moderate drinking increases AFib risk by 8-10%, with risk rising further at higher consumption levels.
Additionally, alcohol is metabolized into acetaldehyde [blocked], a toxic compound that causes inflammation and oxidative stress throughout the body, including in blood vessels and heart tissue. This same compound is responsible for many hangover symptoms [blocked] and contributes to skin aging [blocked]. Over time, this contributes to atherosclerosis—the buildup of plaque in arteries that leads to heart attacks and strokes.
What This Means for You
If you've been drinking moderately partly because you believed it was good for your heart, this research might feel unsettling. It's worth sitting with that discomfort rather than dismissing it.
This doesn't mean that having an occasional drink will cause immediate harm. The increased cardiovascular risk from light drinking is modest. But it does mean that heart health is no longer a valid reason to drink—or to resist cutting back.
For adults over 40, who face naturally increasing cardiovascular risk, this matters more than it might for younger people. Every risk factor we can modify becomes more important as we age.
A More Honest Conversation
The unraveling of the moderate drinking myth is part of a broader shift toward more honest conversations about alcohol. For too long, we've looked for reasons to justify drinking rather than examining it clearly.
Alcohol is a recreational substance that many people enjoy. That's a valid reason to drink, if you choose to. But we don't need to pretend it's medicine.
If you're reconsidering your drinking habits, you're in good company. Millions of adults are questioning the role alcohol plays in their lives—not because they have a "problem," but because they want to make informed choices about their health. Many identify as gray area drinkers [blocked] or sober curious [blocked].
The Bottom Line
The science is now clear: moderate drinking does not protect heart health. The apparent benefits seen in earlier studies were largely due to methodological flaws, particularly the inclusion of former drinkers and sick individuals in the "non-drinker" comparison group.
This doesn't mean you must stop drinking entirely. But if heart health was part of your rationale for that daily glass of wine, it's time to find a new reason—or reconsider whether you need one at all.
Your heart will thank you for every drink you don't have.
Curious about how reducing alcohol might affect your health? Download ClearDays and start tracking your clear days. Many users report improvements in blood pressure and resting heart rate within weeks.