No amount of alcohol healthy for under-40s but older people ‘may benefit from small amounts,’ study finds

Drinking more than a small shot glass of beer a day could pose risks to health for men under the age of 40, a study suggests as researchers urged younger adults to steer clear of alcohol.

And a safe daily limit for women aged 39 and under is the equivalent of two tablespoons’ worth of wine, or 100ml of beer, the research suggests.

But those over 40 can toast their health with a drink or two, as academics found a small amount of alcohol can help ward off heart disease, stroke and diabetes among this age group.

Researchers said young people face higher health risks from alcohol consumption than older adults.

They called for stronger guidance to warn younger adults of the health dangers posed by drinking and said there should be tailored alcohol guidance to depend on a person’s age and where they live in the world.

Some 1.34 billion people are estimated to have consumed harmful amounts of alcohol in 2020, according to the analysis of drinking habits in 204 countries around the globe.

The study, published in The Lancet, found that 59% of those who drank harmful amounts were people aged 15 to 39 – for whom alcohol provides no health benefit and poses risks including injuries relating to drinking or car accidents, suicides or murders.

And three quarters of harmful drinkers were men.

Senior author Dr Emmanuela Gakidou, professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine in the US, said: “Our message is simple: young people should not drink, but older people may benefit from drinking small amounts.

“While it may not be realistic to think young adults will abstain from drinking, we do think it’s important to communicate the latest evidence so that everyone can make informed decisions about their health.”

Researchers looked at the risk of alcohol consumption on 22 health outcomes, including injuries, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers using 2020 Global Burden of Disease data.

Using this information the researchers were able to estimate how much alcohol a person can drink before taking on excess risk to their health compared with someone who does not drink any alcohol.

They found that the level of alcohol that can be consumed without increasing health risks rises throughout a lifetime.

“This is driven by differences in the major causes of death and disease burden at different ages,” the authors wrote.

“Any level of drinking leads to a higher probability of injuries, while small amounts of alcohol decrease the risk of some conditions prevalent in older ages, such as ischaemic heart disease and diabetes.”

Researchers deemed a standard drink as a 100ml glass of 13% wine or 375ml of 3.5% beer.

They found:

– For men aged 15 to 39, the recommended amount of alcohol before “risking health loss” was just 0.136 of a standard drink. This equates to about 10ml of wine – or two standard teaspoonfuls – or 38ml of beer, the equivalent of a small shot glass.

– For women aged 15 to 39 the “theoretical minimum risk exposure level” was 0.273 drinks – about a quarter of a standard drink per day. This is the equivalent of about two tablespoonfuls of wine or around 100ml of beer.

Xural.com