New Study Suggests Severe Cuts to Your Booze Intake
Like, by half.
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Alright you barflies and boozers; you besotted imbibers and beer drinkers. Listen up and listen good, because this little tidbit could save you some years.
A study published in the Lancet last week found that the current consumption guidelines for alcoholic beverages in many countries may in fact be inadequate. Notably, the researchers recommended that Americans reduce their intake from two drinks per day down to one drink per day.
Using data pulled from 83 separate studies of 19 different countries—which involved a whopping total of just under 600,000 participants—the researchers concluded that participants who consumed more alcohol could reasonably expect to die sooner than those who consumed less. They set a safe limit at 100 grams per week which is about one drink per day.
They also came up with a formula for how increased alcohol consumption can affect the human lifespan. For a 40-year-old man, 100 to 200 grams of alcohol per week results in a lifespan decrease of six months. Consuming 200 to 350 grams per week means lifespan is cut by one to two years. And drinking more than 350 grams per week can cut life short by about four to five years.
Oddly enough, the heavier drinkers were less likely to have heart attacks. Yet, this is countered by an increased risk of stroke and other heart disease.
“What this is saying is, if you’re really concerned about your longevity, don’t have more than a drink a day,” David Jernigan, a non-participative alcohol researcher at Johns Hopkins University, told the Associated Press.
Of course, alcohol research is a fuzzy subject, with many different conclusions being drawn by many different professionals. If you want to make yourself feel better about that ice cold beer, know that it can also make you more creative. Some have even said that it can help with cognitive function.
Everything in moderation, of course. We’ll drink to that!
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