New Study Shows Alcohol May Not Be As Safe As We Once Believed

There’s no doubt that heavy drinking comes with a slew of health concerns1 and that completely abstaining from it eliminates all potential health risks of alcohol. 

What isn’t clear, though, is how some alcohol consumption impacts the body. There are a lot of studies that show having a glass or two of wine (or really any serving of alcohol) is actually protective of health and longevity2. Whereas other studies indicate enjoying the occasional libation is right on par with no consumption3. 

And when these high and low-quality studies are pitted against each other, there’s a clear difference.  

Quality studies show low-volume drinking is not protective

Overall, analysis of the studies that met the quality criteria found that people who drank up to 2 drinks a day had about the same mortality likelihood as abstainers.   

Whereas when the same type of analysis was run only using low-quality studies, researchers found that drinking up to 2 drinks a day was linked to a 16% lower risk of mortality—making some alcohol consumption appear more healthy than none. But this study clearly shows this seemingly beneficial effect is solely because of biases in the research, not because alcohol is actually healthier. 

Now, guidelines in the U.S. recommend that women don’t consume more than one and men don’t consume more than two alcoholic drinks a day (so very close to how this study classifies low-volume).

For far too long, it was accepted that drinking some alcohol could help you live longer and be healthier. Turns out the benefits of alcohol have long been over-hyped. But you also don’t have to completely abstain from alcohol for optimal health.