STILL OR SPARKLING? –
Aug. 8, 2024 – The researchers found no reduction in heart disease deaths among light or moderate drinkers, regardless of this health or socioeconomic status, when compared with occasional drinkers. “We did not find evidence of a beneficial association between low drinking and mortality,” said Dr. Rosario Ortolá.
The findings add to a mounting body of evidence that is shifting the paradigm in alcohol research. Scientists are turning to new methodologies to analyze the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption in an attempt to correct what some believe were serious flaws in earlier research, which appeared to show that there were benefits to drinking.
Much of this new research compares rates of heart disease and death in moderate and occasional drinkers, instead of abstainers. Abstainers as a group include many individuals who stopped drinking because they were already seriously ill, and relying on this group for comparisons may have falsely made light drinkers look healthier.
The new study comes amid a brewing fight over the official U.S. guidance on alcohol consumption. Two scientific groups are preparing reports on the relationship between alcohol and health in advance of an update of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
