Analysis of decades of research finds no health benefits to moderate drinking

A new analysis of more than 40 years of research has concluded that many of the studies that had found moderate drinking was better for most people’s health than not drinking at all were flawed and that the opposite is true (Source: “Moderate Drinking Has No Health Benefits, Analysis of Decades of Research Finds,” New York Times, April 4).

The new report, which was published in JAMA Network Open, found that the risks of dying prematurely increase significantly for women once they drink 25 grams of alcohol a day, which is less than two standard cocktails containing 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits, two 12-ounce beers or two 5-ounce glasses of wine. The risks to men increase significantly at 45 grams of alcohol a day, or just over three drinks.

The study, which analyzed more than 100 studies of almost five million adults, was not designed to develop drinking recommendations, but to correct for methodological problems that plagued many of the older observational studies. Those reports consistently found that moderate drinkers were less likely to die of all causes, including those not related to alcohol consumption.