All the women in our sample who ran over 45 miles per week and drank at least 6 oz.of alcohol per week had high HDL-cholesterol. Our physician-supplied HDL-cholesterol values do not discriminate between the two major subfractions of HDL: HDL2 (the lighter larger HDL particles that are most consistently associated with lower coronary heart disease risk) and HDL3. Both HDL fractions are reported to increase with exercise and alcohol, however, previous studies show that exercise exerts a more consistent effect on HDL2 than HDL3 whereas the alcohol may more consistently involve HDL3 than HDL2. (Permission granted to anyone wishing to use the images provided here when cited properly. Williams PT. Interactive effects of exercise, alcohol, and vegetarian diet on coronary artery disease risk factors in 9242 runners: the National Runners' Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Nov; 66(5):1197-206.)