[rue]

Not alcohol consumption, necessarily. The benefit is cited most ofter for red wine specifically, which indicates the active ingredient is something else.

10 000 years of recorded human experience only tells you that minimal alcohol consumption is not catastrophically bad for you, not that it is "safe".

[Alex3917]

Not true, your total morbidity risk decreases if you consume any type of alcohol up to 2 drinks per day. I'm guessing it still isn't great for your mental health, though I'm not positive on that.

[leif]

I believe the current thought is that it is good for your mental health. The stress relief extends your lifespan.

[rue]

Source?

[Alex3917]

http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/34/1/199.full

[rue]

Interesting, and I think I may have misread the conclusion (or your version thereof), to wit: it does not conclude that drinking up to 2 units per day is good, but that non-drinkers are worse off than people who drink up to 2 units per day - a figure which probably includes more than a few people who drink once every few days or even every few weeks (as opposed to none at all). It also does not differentiate within that group those who drink wine vs. other alcohols.

I hold the result inconclusive, then, on the subject of alcohol itself. Good info, though, thank you!