Drinking a little wine now and then might actually be good for your kidneys a new study suggests. The notion presented this week at a meeting of the National Kidney Foundation is drawn from a fresh analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Nearly 5900 men and women were polled between 2003 and 2006. Roughly 1 in 6 had chronic kidney disease. About 40% said they routinely drank wine, but only in moderate amounts meaning less than 1 glass per day.

Those who did tended to be younger and were less likely to have either diabetes or high blood pressure. And when compared with those who never drank at all moderate wine drinkers actually had a 37% lower risk for chronic kidney disease. What’s more moderate drinkers who already had chronic kidney disease were found to have a 29% lower risk for heart disease compared with non-drinkers.

That said the study authors cautioned that more research is needed and that the apparent wine benefit was observed only among moderate drinkers not heavy drinkers.

I’m Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV your source for ideas to protect your health.

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