5 drinks per week can help keep heart risks at bay

Cheers! A team of research has suggested that by boozing in moderation, you can drink your way to a hearty heart.

Three to five drinks a week are part of a heart-healthy lifestyle, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology scientists concluded.

Researcher Imre Janszky said that drinking a little alcohol every day can be part of a healthy lifestyle and added that it doesn't matter whether a person drinks wine, liquor or beer.

"It's primarily the alcohol that leads to more good cholesterol, among other things," he said, adding "But alcohol can also cause higher blood pressure, so it's best to drink moderate amounts relatively often."

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With colleagues from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Professor Janszky and his team have published two studies looking at the link between alcohol and heart health.

The studies showed that those who drank three to five drinks each week were 33 per cent less prone to heart failure than those who abstained, or drank infrequently. In the case of heart attacks, the risk was reduced by 28 per cent with each additional one-drink increment.

The studies are published in the Journal of Cardiology and the Journal of Internal Medicine.