>But what about those countries that still sip wine with meals? Also there has been some proven health benefits to regular small amounts of certain alcohols...

I remember a case, which may be an urban legend among medical students, but may as well be true:

In Sremska Kamenica, Heart & Lung Disease Institute, lay a guy from Srem (the neighbouring area, famous by wine and pork). He had water in his lungs, and was scheduled for a puncture and a drain next day. He got scared, so at night he sneaked out into the nearby village, and got stiff drunk. That's in the wine part of Srem, anyway, so finding good wine was no problem.

Next day, before the treatment, they checked his lungs - dry. Water gone. The doctor figured what happened and explained it with the usual chemical reaction - burning alcohol uses up water from the organism.

"So this means I don't have to be punctured?"
"Right"
"And it would work each time?"
"It would."
"Doc, why don't you publish this?"
"Are you nuts? What would happen with my career?"