Many people say that a glass of red wine is good for the heart, or that beer helps with the supply of electrolytes. However, according to various studies, this is a myth. A team from the Canadian University of Victoria has now analyzed many different studies on the link between alcohol consumption and health.
The central finding: alcohol, even in moderation, is not health-promoting. Previous studies had suggested that people who drank a little alcohol were less susceptible to certain diseases. But such results only occurred when the study participants were, for example, relatively old. It is said that the group that does not drink alcohol at all was not always well defined.
The team from the Canadian University of Victoria assumed a moderate consumption of up to 25 grams of alcohol per day, which is equivalent to 0.25 liters of wine with twelve percent alcohol or 0.6 liters of beer with five percent alcohol. According to previous research, this consumption would protect against heart attacks and strokes.
Influence of age
Tim Stockwell and his colleagues reviewed 107 long-term studies of the relationship between alcohol consumption and mortality. About 4.8 million people took part, and more than 420,000 of them died during the course. As the Mirror online reported, the risk of death was shown to be similar to that of complete abstinence from moderate consumption.
There were differences depending on age. If the average age of the group studied was younger than 55 and the study lasted at least a year, the risk of death was about the same in both groups. However, if the group was between 56 and 78 years old on average, the risk of death for moderate alcohol drinkers was lower than for those who abstained completely. However, the total abstainers often included people who had already stopped drinking for health reasons.
“There is no safe amount”
Stockwell concludes: “This makes people who continue to drink appear much healthier in comparison. There is simply no absolute ‘safe’ amount of alcohol.” Assumptions about health benefits have had a significant impact on “global estimates of the burden of disease and drinking guidelines.”
Source: Krone
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