Debunking the myth: Moderate alcohol consumption is not healthy

The authors of the latest research stated the assertion that moderate drinking is healthy and extends life is the result of poorly conducted studies. At the same time, they emphasized that "There is simply no completely ‘safe’ level of drinking."

Most people have heard at least once in their lives that moderate alcohol consumption supports health. However, this is just a harmful myth. Scientists from the University of Victoria in Canada shared such conclusions.

Those studies have generally focused on older adults and failed to account for people’s lifetime drinking habits. So moderate drinkers were compared with "abstainer" and "occasional drinker" groups that included some older adults who had quit or cut down on drinking because they’d developed any number of health conditions – said Dr. Tim Stockwell, author of the publication that appeared in the "Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs."

He also noted, "That makes people who continue to drink look much healthier by comparison."

The expert and his team analyzed over a hundred studies, in which participants were observed over a long period to check the impact of alcohol on life expectancy. The results indeed suggested that light and moderate drinking reduced the risk of death by an average of 14% in the observed periods.

However, when the researchers delved deeper into the topic, much changed. Selected studies, those of higher quality, included younger individuals and excluded those who had previously consumed alcohol. In these studies, occasional drinkers were not labeled as abstainers. The connection between moderate drinking and longer life was indicated by studies deemed by the authors of the analysis as lower quality.

If you look at the weakest studies, that’s where you see health benefits – emphasized Dr. Stockwell.

"The notion that moderate drinking leads to a longer, healthier life goes back decades," the researchers remind.

They also pointed to the so-called French paradox. Popularized in the '90s, this idea suggests that red wine contributes to the relatively low heart disease rates among the French despite a diet rich in fats.

In reality, moderate drinking likely does not extend people’s lives--and, in fact, carries some potential health hazards, including increased risks of certain cancers. That’s why no major health organization has ever established a risk-free level of alcohol consumption, conveyed researcher.

Dr. Stockwell also noted that "there is simply no completely 'safe' level of drinking."