Low to moderate consumption of alcohol on a daily basis does not have any health benefits, a new study has found.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Victoria in Canada and published in the journal of Jama Open Network, combined and reviewed data from 107 studies, including more than 4.8 million participants.
Contrary to previous research, this study concluded that not only is there no health benefit to alcohol consumption, but also that higher consumption could lead to an increased risk of death. It also found that women are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol than men.
The findings of the study stated,
“The proposition that low-dose alcohol use protects against all-cause mortality in general populations continues to be controversial.”
The big point: The study nullified the claims that “moderate drinkers” have a longer life expectancy, labelling them as 'a result of systematic biases'.
What the study said: The study stated that there was "a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality" for
female drinkers who drank 25 or more grams of ethanol per day
male drinkers who drank 45 or more grams of ethanol per day
On the other hand, there was no significant decrease in the risk for individuals who consumed less than this amount.
Which study do we trust? The review of the new research highlighted some limitations of the previous studies.
The sample of the previous studies consisted majorly of wealthy people who were more likely to exercise, maintain a healthy diet, and were also less likely to be overweight.
The studies were also found to have an imperfect measurement of alcohol consumption. Several studies involved the analysis of self-reported levels of alcohol consumed, which is often underreported.
These limitations and the absence of a cause and effect relationship in the previous studies enabled the scientists to conclude that there's no health benefit of low or moderate alcohol consumption.
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