My drinking days are long gone. Over and out. The fat lady has sung. The swilling ship has sailed.

That said, I see nothing wrong with a glass of wine now and then; in fact, I’m not opposed to a glass of wine every day. But anything more than that and you’re asking for trouble. Particularly if you’re a woman.

The reason I specify women is because most of the previous studies that focus on atrial fibrillation pertain to men. Not too surprising, really, not when one considers that men are far more likely to drink than women. They’re more likely to be reliant upon the bottle as well (a Scottish study says that 1 in 8 Scottish men exhibit some form of alcohol dependence, compared to 1 in 24 women).

While men are more likely to suffer from alcoholism and the devastation it wreaks, that in no way suggests women are immune from alcoholism’s effects. Far from it. In fact, the health risks of alcohol often have a deeper impact on women than on men. Women have more cirrhoses of the liver than men, for example.

Another example of how alcohol can have a greater impact on the female body than the male body is with respect to the heart. Previous studies have shown that drinking in moderation can actually be beneficial to the heart. But anything more than two drinks and women are in stroke territory, according to researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

The researchers investigated how excessive alcohol consumption affected the hearts of women because…well…no real research had been done on it yet. Prior studies showed how anything more than three drinks and men were in the red zone for stroke risk. But UNC’s 12-year study of over 34,500 healthy, middle-aged women showed women entered the stroke-risk red zone with no more than two drinks.

Think about that: just one additional drink and the risk of atrial fibrillation increased manifold – 60 percent, in fact!

Atrial fibrillation is a condition that affects the upper chambers of the heart, where it beats out of synch with the lower chambers, leading to constant, irritating palpitations and shortness of breath. Because of excessive blood clotting, atrial fibrillation is often a precursor to stroke.

These results are certainly dramatic – and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association – but the researchers are quick to point out how contributing factors may have played a role in their findings (such as the possibility that those who drink excessively lead a less healthful life than those who drink moderately).

In the meantime, this finding solidifies what I’ve long been advocating. Sure, the study says two drinks are fine, but even in this Christmas season – a time where there’s an uptick in alcohol consumption– try and limit your celebratory toasts to just one. That kind of self-discipline will pay enormous heart-health dividends.