Is Drinking a Glass of Wine a Night Really Healthy?
You might want to pop the cork back on the bottle. Because a new study has found even a little tipple raises the risk of premature death by 20 percent.
Published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research journal, the Washington University School of Medicine study found drinking one glass of wine a day was all it took to raise the risk.
"It used to seem like having one or two drinks per day was no big deal, and there even have been some studies suggesting it can improve health," said study author Sarah Hart.
"But now we know that even the lightest daily drinkers have an increased mortality risk.
"Consuming one or two drinks about four days per week seemed to protect against cardiovascular disease, but drinking every day eliminated those benefits. With regard to cancer risk, any drinking at all was detrimental."
How was the discovery made?
The research team took data on over 400,000 people aged between 18 and 85. And they found that having one or two drinks four or more time a week (which is considered healthy by most national guidelines) increased the risk of premature death by 20 percent – compared to drinking three times a week or less.
"A 20 percent increase in risk of death is a much bigger deal in older people who already are at higher risk," Hartz said.
"Relatively few people die in their 20s, so a 20 percent increase in mortality is small but still significant. As people age, their risk of death from any cause also increases, so a 20 percent risk increase at age 75 translates into many more deaths than it does at age 25."
So can we still have a glass of wine with dinner?
"Overall, I do think people should no longer consider a glass of wine a day to somehow be healthy," said Hartz. Dang.
Pass me the bottle.
Originally published on Oct 22, 2018
