Maybe moderate drinking isn’t so good for you after all
Thousands of studies spanning multiple decades show that alcohol use is linked with more than 200 health conditions and is responsible for 6% of deaths worldwide. Scientists are still looking for a plausible mechanism that would allow alcohol – a carcinogen and a key predictor of sickness and early death – to have a health-protective effect.
Researchers are also increasingly concerned about the validity of previous claims on the health benefits of moderate drinking. Reviews of studies supporting a relationship between alcohol and health show many grouped “sick quitters” (previous drinkers who stopped due to poor health) with those who have never regularly drunk alcohol. The presence of these sick ex-drinkers in analyses makes the health of non-drinkers seem much poorer than that of moderate drinkers.
Many studies also failed to account for differences between moderate drinkers and other groups...
