Editor’s Note: Our Senior Columnist, Michael Apstein, MD, FACG, is a gastroenterologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. If some of the material in this column sounds familiar, it is because the author uses portions of an article published on this site on December 10, 2025, to explain why drinking wine may be beneficial to health.… Read more
Public health officials and scientists continue to debate whether moderate drinking is harmful or beneficial. There is no debate that heavy drinking or binge drinking is harmful to health. Both are.
In the late 20th century, there was a flurry of studies that showed—and a 60-Minutes television segment that popularised the idea—that moderate drinking protected the heart.… Read more
Following a very merry Christmas, are you in the first few days of a self-imposed dry January? With indepth knowledge of both medicine and wine, Dr. Michael Apstein explains how our bodies process alcohol and whether a New year detox really works.… Read more
“Officer, the Breathalyzer must be wrong. I only drank two glasses of Chardonnay,” the young woman complained. “How is that possible?” Well, it is possible.… Read more
“I only had two glasses of wine.”
It’s not an unreasonable amount to drink with dinner, yet how much you feel from those two glasses can vary widely – whether you’re worried about a curbside Breathalyzer or just hoping you don’t feel the effects the next day.… Read more
When people discover that I’m a liver doctor and a wine writer, they invariably ask, “How much can I drink without developing liver disease?” They never ask, “How much should I drink to stay healthy?”
People know that alcohol – and wine – can cause liver disease.… Read more