You may have heard that drinking red wine has been associated with a range of health benefits. It's true - the benefits come from an antioxidant called resveratrol which is found in the skin of red grapes, which are used to make red wine. Antioxidants are known to be good for the heart as well as have some anti-aging effects. Red wine has also been linked to reducing the onset of kidney stones and ovarian cancer and reduces the incidence of strokes. The risk for heart disease can also be reduced by drinking red wine because it helps reduce the production of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Case in point - the country of France has a low occurrence of heart attacks and consistently ranks as one of the highest wine drinking countries in the world.

In the past, it was only believed that red wine held some health benefits, yet recent studies suggest that white wine can also have some health benefits. Some studies have even found that moderate intake of white or red wine can increase life expectancy by as much as five years due to the health benefits that they provide. However, it should be noted that wine is the only alcoholic beverage that has been associated with health benefits - things like beer and other spirits have not.

The idea of healthy drinking can be misleading, though. Of course it must be in moderation and part of a balanced diet, first and foremost. Men should limit themselves to no more than two 5 ounce glasses of wine a day and women should have no more than one. Like anything, too much alcohol drinking will negate any of the aforementioned health benefits, so the excuse of "health" is not a good one for overindulgence.

Further, you should still try to remain alcohol free for a few days a week and only drink occasionally during the week. Those same scientists who have identified the health benefits of drinking wine will also tell you that falling in to a routine of drinking alcohol every day can be dangerous and unhealthy for an number of other reasons. It is also important to add that driving after drinking, even one or two glasses of wine, is never a good idea.

Finally, it goes without saying that consuming alcohol every day can become a problem. A lot of people wrongly assume that the only people with drinking problems are those that stumble home after closing down the bars every night. That is not necessarily true. If you drink most nights of the week or frequently have more than two or three drinks while drinking, you could have a dependency problem. In addition to the possible negative health consequences, this type of behavior can get you in trouble with the law very easily. Save yourself the trouble of ever having to hire a Colorado DUI attorney by never drinking and driving. Even people that stay under the legal limit of 0.08 can be arrested for driving under the influence and will need Denver DUI attorneys to help get them out of trouble.