An alcoholic beverage is not likely to pose a threat to one’s health or on the other hand, offer health benefits, according to a new Canadian study.
The investigative review by the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, titled “Association Between Daily Alcohol Intake and Risk of All-Cause Mortality,” claims low to moderate drinkers have similar death rates to those who don’t drink at all.
“In this updated systematic review and meta-analysis, daily low or moderate alcohol intake was not significantly associated with all-cause mortality risk, while increased risk was evident at higher consumption levels, starting at lower levels for women than men,” the study published on Friday says.
However, women who enjoy more than one drink per day are at least 20 per cent more likely to die prematurely than women who don’t drink.
“There was a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality among female drinkers who drank 25 or more grams per day and among male drinkers who drank 45 or more grams per day,” the study continues.
READ MORE: Alcohol in Canada should have warning labels, according to experts. Here’s why.
The authors also mentioned “low-volume alcohol drinking was not associated with protection against death from all causes.”
The study follows updated liquor consumption guidelines by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) released in Feb., recommending Canadians avoid more than two alcoholic drinks per week, to minimize the health risks associated with alcohol.
The report’s lead researcher, Dr. Jinhui Zhao and his co-authors, sought to determine the link between alcohol and all-cause death, as theories advanced by previous studies, claiming a small amount of alcohol could provide health benefits.
The report also examined whether moderate drinkers live longer and are less likely to die from heart disease than those who abstain from alcohol.
This study examined 107 cohort studies between 1980 and 2021, involving 4.8 million people.
