Dear Bunmi,

My best mate drives me up the wall sometimes. He hates alcohol and makes drinkers like me feel as if we’re committing a mortal sin. He says all these stories about red wine doing you good are garbage. He agrees that one glass of wine cleans your arteries, but so does vinegar.

I mean, what would you rather drink, wine or vinegar? I told him booze had other benefits and he asked me to name some. Can you help?

Onome,  by e-mail.

Dear Onome,

Pick up your glass for a congratulatory toast! It’s been proved that people who drink up to two tipple, a day are much less likely to develop dementia.

Dutch scientists carried out a six-year study of 8,000 people over 55 years old. They found that light to moderate drinking reduce the risk of all types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, by 42 per cent. Alcohol is thought to have a beneficial effect in the part of the brain involved with memory and learning. The trick here is not to abuse it.