Researchers at the University of Rochester gave lab mice the equivalent of two drinks, seven days a week, and gave others the equivalent of seven drinks, twice weekly. They found that moderate, daily drinking lowered cholesterol and decreased artherosclerosis — the hardening of the arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke — while binge drinking increased its development. The binge-drinking mice also gained three times the amount of weight of their moderate-drinking counterparts.