Moderate alcohol consumption has no health benefits, analysis of decades of research findings

The review found that the methodology of many previous studies was flawed and the risk of a myriad of health problems increased significantly after less than two glasses a day for women and after three for men.

For decades, scientific studies have suggested that moderate alcohol consumption is better for your health of most people than not drinking at all, and may even help them live longer.

A new analysis of over 40 years of research has concluded that many of these studies were flawed and the opposite is true.

The review found that the risks of dying prematurely increase significantly for women once they drink 25 grams of alcohol a day, which is less than two standard cocktails containing 1.5 ounces of distilled alcohol, two 12-ounce beers, or two 5-ounce beers. glasses of wine. The risks for men increase dramatically at 45 grams of alcohol per day, or just over three drinks.

The new report, which analyzed more than 100 studies involving nearly five million adults, was not designed to develop drinking recommendations, but to correct methodological problems that have plagued many older observational studies. These reports have consistently found that moderate drinkers were less likely to die from all causes, including those unrelated to alcohol consumption.

La Most of these studies were observational, meaning they could identify links or associations, but they could be misleading and did not prove cause and effect. Scientists said older studies failed to recognize that light and moderate drinkers had a myriad of other healthy habits and benefits, and that teetotalers used as a comparison group often included former drinkers who had quit drinking. alcohol after developing health problems.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“When you compare this unhealthy group to those who continue to drink, it makes current drinkers look healthier and mortality weaker," said Tim Stockwell, a scientist at the Canadian Institute. for Substance Use Research who was one of the authors of the new report, which was published in JAMA Network Open last week.

Once Dr. Stockwell and his colleagues corrected these and other errors, he said, "And lo and behold, the supposed health benefits of alcohol consumption decline dramatically and become not statistically significant."

Dr. Stockwell said comparisons between moderate drinkers and non-drinkers are flawed for many reasons. People who completely abstain from drinking alcohol are a minority, and those who do not abstain for religious reasons are more likely to have chronic health conditions, have a disability, or be from from low-income backgrounds.

Moderate drinkers tend to be moderate in all respects. They tend to be wealthier, are more likely to exercise and eat a healthy diet, and are less likely to be overweight. They even have better teeth, say scientists.

"They have a lot of things going for them that protect their health, that have nothing to do with their food intake. 'alcohol." Dr. Stockwell said.

The idea that moderate alcohol consumption can be beneficial dates back to 1924, when a Johns Hopkins biologist named Raymond Pearl published a graph with a J-shaped curve, the low point in the middle representing moderate drinkers, who had the lowest all-cause mortality rates.

The point top of the J represented the well-known risks of heavy drinking, such as liver disease and car accidents. The bracket on the left represented teetotalers.

Over the past few decades, wine - and red wine in particular - has gained a reputation for health benefits. health after news reports highlighted its high concentration of a protective antioxidant called resveratrol, which is also found in blueberries and cranberries.

But l he moderate-drinking hypothesis has come under increasing criticism over the years, as the role of the alcohol industry in funding research has emerged and new...