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Heavy drinking has been shown to raise mortality risk — but at lower levels, what’s in your glass may also matter, a new study suggests.
In recent research of data from 340,924 participants in the UK Biobank, wine was linked to lower mortality, while beer and spirits were tied to higher death risk.
Data were collected between 2006 and 2022, with more than 13 years of average follow-up. The findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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In the study, participants reported their alcohol intake as never/occasional, low, moderate or high.
High consumption was defined as >40 grams per day for men (about three standard drinks) and >20 grams per day for women (about 1.4 standard drinks).
Participants with high alcohol consumption had a 24% higher risk of all-cause death, 36% higher risk of cancer death and 14% higher risk of cardiovascular death when compared to people who never or occasionally drank, according to the study findings.
With low or moderate alcohol consumption, however, the mortality risk appeared to differ according to the type of beverage.
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Spirits, beer and cider were associated with significantly higher mortality, the researchers found, while the same amount of wine intake was linked to significantly lower mortality. Moderate wine drinkers had a 21% lower risk of cardiovascular death than those who never or occasionally drank.
Conversely, those who drank low amounts of spirits, beer or cider were found to have a 9% higher risk of cardiovascular death.
“These results come from the general population, and in certain high-risk groups, such as people with chronic diseases or cardiovascular conditions, the risks could be even higher,” said Zhangling Chen, M.D., Ph.D., a professor at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University in China and the study’s senior author, in a press release.
“These findings can help refine guidance, emphasizing that the health risks of alcohol depend not only on the amount of alcohol consumed, but also on the type of beverage.”
“Not everybody should have daily consumption of an alcoholic substance, whether it’s wine, beer or certain liquors.”
One potential reason for wine’s lower mortality association could be that it contains compounds such as polyphenols and antioxidants, which could have beneficial effects on blood vessels, inflammation and cardiovascular health, the researchers noted.
Jessica Steinman, a Los Angeles addiction specialist and chief clinical officer for No Matter What Recovery, said the study’s information is “helpful,” but cautioned against broadly applying the findings to individuals, particularly those with a history of substance misuse.
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While certain ingredients or substances might help someone with a very specific issue, she expressed her concern when it comes to mental health issues and addiction.
“When we hear these stories or get this research, it becomes a ‘black and white’ larger generalization for the population, and we want to be careful with that,” Steinman, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital.
“Not everybody should have daily consumption of an alcoholic substance, whether it’s wine, beer or certain liquors … if there’s someone who’s struggling with substances, then they really shouldn’t be having it at all.”
Different substances have different levels of alcohol in them, and each person metabolizes alcohol uniquely, the expert noted.
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“All those kinds of things are so specific to one person or a small sect of people,” she said. “So we want to make sure anytime there’s research given about something, that we’re not taking it as a society and saying, ‘Let’s do this,’ and not keeping it as black and white.”
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“Overall, more is not better, but also the higher potency of alcohol and higher percentages of alcohol is going to affect people negatively as well.”
Steinman recommended consulting with a medical professional for individual guidance.
The researchers acknowleged some limitations of the study. As it was observational in design, the study could not prove that drinking wine led to lower mortality or that other alcoholic beverages directly caused higher mortality.
Also, the participants reported their baseline alcohol intake at the start of the study, which means any changes in drinking patterns during the follow-up period were not recorded.
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There was also the chance that wine drinkers may have different dietary or other lifestyle habits that could impact their health outcomes, the researchers noted.
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The UK Biobank participants also tend to be healthier than the overall population, which could limit the ability for the finding to be generalized to wider populations.
The authors called for high-quality randomized studies to confirm the impact of differences in drinking habits reflect on mortality risk.
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