How to maximize the health benefits moderate drinking

Moderate drinking may help prevent conditions such as cognitive problems that arise later in life. The key word, of course, is moderate. While studies consistently show that people who have a drink or two per day tend to be healthier than abstainers, those who routinely exceed the two-drink limit have an increased risk of liver damage, high blood pressure and other diseases as well as car accidents, not to mention social and personal problems. Small doses of alcohol relax the blood vessels, which improves circulation, but alcohol has other hidden preventative qualities which you can find below.

• Some studies link resveratrol to helping prevent damange to blood vessels and reducing "bad" LDL cholesterol.
• It may also reduce the risk of inflammation and blood clotting that can lead to heart disease.
• Disease-fighting resveratrol keeps grapes healthy by fighting fungus. Because fungus grows more aggressively in humid weather, a grape's resveratrol level is influenced by where it's grown and even what day it's picked.

Some grapes are more vulnerable to fungus than others, so they naturally produce more resveratrol. All that makes selecting resveratrol-rich bottles a bit tricky, but following these rules will help you get a healthy dose, according to Leroy Creasy, professor emeritus of horticulture at Cornell University:

• Drink red wine. It contains much more resveratrol than white.
• Try pinot noir. On average, it has two times more resveratrol than other reds. In one analysis of California wines, pinot noir came out on top, followed by merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Keep in mind, however, that the resveratrol content varies from one bottle of pinot noir, or any red wine, to the next.
• Drink a variety of reds. Since resveratrol content fluctuates so much, the best way to get a steady diet of this antioxidant is to sip many varieties of red wine from different vintages and producers.
• Avoid the cheap stuff. Many large wineries modify levels of bitter-tasting compounds called tannins in their products to ensure that each vintage tastes the same. In the process, wines lose much of their resveratrol. Ask your wine merchant for the names of smaller producers who make wines that fit into your budget.
• If you don't drink wine, you can get the benefits of resveratrol straight off the vine: grapes (as well as grape juice) have about as much of this antioxidant by weight as wine does. Since resveratrol resides in grape skins, any grape variety will do.