At happy hour, I generally favor whiskey, gin, or a Belgian ale. I’ve never acquired a taste for wine, although I’ve found some that I enjoy. Learning to love wine would be in my interest, though, considering the health benefits that it seems to bring. And a research scientist from California (of course) may have found another unexpected reason to drink wine.

In a study of men aged 45 to 69, Chun Chao of Kaiser Permanente found that each glass of red wine a participant consumed per month lowered his risk of lung cancer by an average of 2%. Chao indicated that the results may be caused by resveratrol, a compound abundant in wine. The benefits of resveratrol have been reported for several years in various studies.

Even more interesting is that smokers who drank one or two glasses of red wine per day reduced their risk of lung cancer by 60%. Still, smokers have a higher risk of lung cancer than do nonsmokers, and the best way to reduce your risk of lung cancer is to quit smoking.

Unfortunately for me, the researchers also studied beer and liquor consumption and found no clear association with lung cancer.

So we may have yet another health-related reason to learn from the Europeans and enjoy a glass of wine on a regular basis. À votre santé!