Forty years of research is being challenged. (Actually, it may be closer to 100 years for some of these studies.) That’s how long we have been informed that moderate alcohol consumption yielded beneficial health benefits.

This new analysis indicates that drinking 25 g of alcohol a day increases a woman’s risk of dying.  (To put that in perspective, that’s less than 2 five ounce glasses of wine, 2 twelve ounce of beer, or two standard cocktails.)

The risk to men starts at 45 g of alcohol a day (just over three drinks).

But here’s the kicker.  The review of some 100 studies of 5 million adults was looking to correct methodologic problems in those studies- not to upend long-held belief.s.  That data indicated moderate drinkers are less likely to die from all causes-  with or without alcohol involvement.  That’s because the subjects had myriad healthy habits.  Once the healthy habits were removed from the study, there was no true benefit from moderate drinking of alcohol.  (Those that refrain from alcohol consumption are either religious, are in a lower economic strata, or have chronic health problems that causes them to avoid alcohol.

Moderate drinkers tend to be wealthier, more likely to exercise, adhere to a healthier diet, and are less likely to be overweight as manifested by the data.

The analysis involved a multicenter team that was headed up by Drs. J.Zhao, T. Stockwell, and T. Naimi.  The report, “Association between Daily Alcohol Intake and Risk of All-Cause Mortality”, was published recently in JAMA Network Open.

As stated above, moderate drinkers tend to be moderate in all ways. They tend to be wealthier, are more likely to exercise and to eat a healthy diet, and are less likely to be overweight. They even have better teeth conditions.

However, drinking will NOT elevate one’s health status-  which means there is no incentive to drink for one’s health.

But, it also means that drinking alcohol is generally not harmful to one’s health.

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