LETTER: Healthy drinking

From Mr Denzil Payne

Sir: I wish you'd stop parroting claims about the salutary effects of wine-drinking ("A bottle of wine a day 'keeps angina away' ", 5 May).

The only demonstrable fact is that someone who enjoys a few glasses a day is likely a priori to be a better-balanced individual than either a heavy drinker or a teetotaller. Such consumption is a symptom of good health, not a cause.

Yours faithfully,

DENZIL PAYNE

Brighton

5 May