Drinking one drink a day doesn’t lead to early death, but it doesn’t improve health either: Study – National

Drinking Drinking a glass of wine or a pint of beer every day isn’t good for your health, but it doesn’t cause premature death, either, according to a recent Canadian study.

Research published in JAMA open network on March 31 A review of existing studies involving more than 4.8 million people found that light to moderate drinkers had similar mortality rates to nondrinkers. alcohol Overall.

But the study found that women who drank more than a standard glass of alcohol a day had at least a 20% higher risk of death than women who didn’t drink.

On the other hand, men who drank two cups a day had a lower risk of premature death, but those who drank three cups a day had an increased risk from 15% to 34%.

“There was a significantly increased risk of death from all causes among female drinkers who drank more than 25 grams per day and male drinkers who drank more than 45 grams per day,” said lead researcher Dr. Jinhui Zhao and the university team said. Victoria writes in Research.

The standard Canadian definition of a drink is equivalent to 1 bottle of beer, 1 glass of wine, 1 glass of spirits and 1 bottle of cider.

This study brings together data from 107 studies on the effects of alcohol published between 1980 and 2021. This is the latest research to shed light on the dangers of even moderate alcohol consumption.

In January Canadian Center for Drug Use and Addiction (CCSA) Updated guidance stating that there is no safe amount of alcohol to consume and even moderate drinking more than twice a week can put your health at risk (increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer). Announced.

and Global research published in The Lancet .

A University of Victoria study found that women drinkers had a higher risk of death than men at all levels of alcohol consumption.

There are biological and social reasons for the inequality, said Vancouver-based psychiatrist, Parenting author.

“Many previous studies have not had proportional numbers of women participating in the study. This is true for all research and medical research,” Kang explained. “The gender gap between drinking and risky drinking has also been closed. We used to see much more drinking with men.

Women are at higher risk when they drink more, she added.

Biologically speaking, the liver (which metabolizes alcohol) weighs less than men on average.

“Women are also more likely to experience violence and sexual assault,” she said. majority of women with addiction problems Has an underlying mental health problem that is not being treated.

The popular belief that a glass of wine a day is good for your health is believed to have originated in the 1980s. french paradox — the notion that drinking red wine lowers the incidence of heart disease in French people, despite a typical diet containing many rich, fatty foods.

However, there is very limited evidence that drinking red wine (or alcohol in general) helps prevent heart disease. According to a 2020 article in Harvard Health Publishing.

A study from the University of Victoria said that studies investigating this paradox were more “observational” and had a lot of bias.

“The proposition that low-dose alcohol use prevents all-cause mortality in the general population continues to be controversial,” the researchers wrote. “Observational studies show that people classified as ‘moderate drinkers’ have longer life expectancies and are less likely to die of heart disease than those classified as abstainers.”

But the researchers argue that the “growing evidence” suggests other factors are at work, leading to systematic bias in the study.

Other studies did not take into account lifestyle factors such as age, gender, financial status, exercise, smoking and diet, the researchers argued.

For example, studies say people who drink less tend to have better dental hygiene, exercise more, and earn more. Abstainers may be in poor health or may be “sick quitters” or former drinkers, many of whom cut back or quit for health reasons.

was there previous research Kang supports that low levels of drinking are highly associated with health problems, Kang said, adding that it’s a very complex issue as it depends on the person’s medical history. .

“And we can give it plenty of anecdotes…. Queen Elizabeth drank gin every night and grew quite old.

“So I think it’s really personal.

“It’s all about your genes, your DNA, your life history, and what happened to you: concussions, head injuries, mental health issues, trauma, how stressed you are, and how positive your social system is. It’s an interaction between all things.”

— Using files from Kathryn Mannie of Global News

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