Health Alcohol therapies Wine is good for you: our ancestors knew this, we know it and nowadays this has a solid scientific basis. The border between positive and negative effects is hard to define, though, and abuse brings to serious consequences. Moderation is the key word, and by moderation we mean no more than 40-60 grammes of alcohol per day - this corresponds to more than half a bottle but less than a whole bottle (if drunk with meals). With this dosage (or less) wine manifests its antiseptic properties. The polyphenolics help to destroy toxic waste products produced by the body. Ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) in moderate doses bring cardiovascular benefits. Among its effects is the increase in HDL Cholesterol (the so-called 'good cholesterol') which inhibits platelet aggregation and increases fibronolysis, preventing formation of thromboses and embolisms, important factors in causing heart attacks. Other studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of wine with regard to AMD, an illness of the retina which leads to blindness. It was found that moderate consumption of wine is associated with a reduction in AMD development and the percentage level of blindness associated with this illness in old people. One of the discoveries which aroused the greatest stir is associated with the properties of resveratrol - a substance present in the roots, shoots and leaves of the vine and in grape skins and, as a result, in wine, is that, according to some researchers it could have protective chemical properties against some forms of tumor.