Is the right amount of alcohol good for your health? Even one drink a day can be dangerous

Dec 18, 2024Ehotyshamull Joy

Even one drink a day can be dangerous

The importance of social drinking is something that every adult can relate to, right? When it comes to socializing, the magic of alcohol seems to be greater than you think. This is because once you get rid of your skin, you will be able to treat each other with an honest heart. This can also cause a butterfly effect in individuals, and it can also be an opportunity to get rid of pent-up resentments or become more intimate.

But what about our health? Some alcohol lovers have taken solace in the fact that the recommended amount of alcohol consumption can help with cardiovascular disease. However, recent studies have shown that regular consumption of alcohol in the recommended amount can shorten life expectancy.

In fact, alcohol, which people are vaguely aware of, has been designated as a class 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers that increase the risk of alcohol consumption, but there are also a wide variety of cancers, including cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, liver, and colorectal cancers. It appears to cause cancer wherever alcohol touches and is metabolized.

In addition, excessive drinking increases the risk of everything from liver disease to high blood pressure, dependency problems, memory and mental health problems over time.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - Alcohol Use and Health

Between 1999 and 2016, cirrhosis deaths increased by 65% in the United States, with approximately 88,000 deaths and 2.5 million potential life losses each year. Despite the enormous harm caused by alcohol consumption, we still do not have precise safety standards for alcohol consumption. That's why you should pay attention to the research we're going to introduce to you.

2018.04 The Lancet Alcohol consumption in the existing recommended amount may shorten life expectancy

The study was published in The Lancet in April 2018. An impressive meta-study of 600,000 participants showed that even alcohol levels previously considered relatively harmless can increase the risk of death, and the cardiovascular system-protective effects of small amounts of alcohol are also contradictory.

Risk of death from alcohol consumption

Decrease in survival time according to alcohol intake by male and female

The team, led by Professor Angela Wood of the University of Cambridge, followed 600,000 people aged 30-100 for at least one year in 83 previous studies in 19 high-income countries. The drinker's age, gender, comorbidities, social status, and smoking status were taken into account.

As a result, as you can see from the graph above, drinking about 100g~200g of alcohol a week, which was the previous recommended amount (195g in the US and 115g in Korea), resulted in an average reduction of 6 months in life expectancy compared to drinking less than 100g. If you consume more than that, you will see an increasing mortality rate. If you drink 200g~350g a week, it will be reduced by 1~2 years, and if you drink more than 350g, it will be reduced by 5 years.

It can be clearly seen that we have set the wrong amount of alcohol intake. As a result, Professor Angela Wood suggests that 100 grams per week is a safe limit for both men and women, and warns that drinking alcohol is associated with lower life expectancy if this limit is exceeded.

Alcohol-related risk of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease

The study also demonstrated that 100 to 200 grams of alcohol per week, which has been recommended for cardiovascular health benefits, increases the risk of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases, including cerebral cord, aortic angina and heart failure. This risk was even higher if more alcohol was consumed.

Alcohol-related risk of heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases

For cardiovascular disease, the risk is sometimes reduced between 100 and 200 g, but when death from heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases is taken into account, it seems very reasonable to set a safe limit of less than 100 g. This is something that the researchers also emphasized.

A common misconception is that different types of alcohol have different health effects. The most representative is the relationship between red wine and health. However, it should be clarified that the results of the above lancet paper are the result of the alcohol content contained in it, whether it is beer, wine or soju. Simply put, if any alcohol contains alcohol, it will follow the above results.

In our country, the recommendation not to drink even one or two drinks a day for health purposes may be meaningless. However, if you are consuming alcohol for social purposes, I would strongly recommend that you consume no more than 100 grams per week.