A study released in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs has revealed that moderate drinking is not linked to a longer life expectancy.

Previously, research has suggested that moderate drinkers enjoy longer lives with lower risks of heart disease and other chronic illnesses than those who do not drink. This has encouraged a widespread belief that alcohol, in moderation, can be healthy.

Tim Stockwell, a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria, said, studies that have previously linked moderate drinking to health benefits have design flaws.

Previous studies have focused on older adults and have not accounted for people’s lifetime drinking habits. Moderate drinkers have been compared with “abstainer” and “occasional drinker” groups that included some older adults who had quit or cut down on drinking because they had developed some form of health condition.

Tim commented, “That makes people who continue to drink look much healthier by comparison”.

In the study, Tim and his colleagues identified 107 published studies that followed people over time and looked at the relationship between drinking habits and longevity.

When the researchers combined all the data, it appeared as if light to moderate drinkers (that is, those who drank between one drink per week and two per day) had a 14 per cent lower risk of dying during the study period compared with abstainers.

However, the researchers found “higher quality” studies that included people who were relatively young at the outset (younger than 55-years-old, on average). This ensured former and occasional drinkers were not considered “abstainers.”

In those studies, moderate drinking was not linked to a longer life.

Instead, it was the “lower quality” studies (older participants, no distinction between former drinkers and lifelong abstainers) that linked moderate drinking to greater life expectancy.

Tim said, “If you look at the weakest studies, that’s where you see health benefits.”

The research shows that moderate drinking does not extend people’s lives.

It also indicates that moderate drinking can cause potential health hazards, including an increased risk of certain cancers.

Tim concluded, “There is simply no completely ‘safe’ level of drinking”.

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