- Joined
- Jul 15, 2009
- Messages
- 43,417
- Reaction score
- 970
- Points
- 133
Alcohol and longevity article.
Quote
ere are some conclusions from recent peer-reviewed studies—both positive and negative—that examine the issue:
Studies With Weak or No Links Between Alcohol Intake and Longevity
By looking at the studies, there does appear to be a connection between alcohol consumption and longevity.
Additionally, this is just a small sample, and there are dozens of studies that find alcohol lengthens lifespan.
That said, the key is to drink alcohol in modest doses. Specifically, the research is clear that moderate drinkers show decreased mortality risk compared to non-drinkers.
However, this isn’t free license to drink as much as you want. The research is also very clear that heavy drinkers have a higher risk of mortality.
Key Point: There is compelling evidence that moderate consumption of alcohol can increase longevity. However, heavy drinking is ill-advisable; moderation is important.
The Health Benefits of Alcohol
Many people are not aware of this, but reasonable amounts of alcohol have some surprising health benefits.
Alcohol and Cholesterol
Heavy Drinking Damages Health
Despite the advantages of alcoholic beverages, we forfeit them when we drink too much.
In fact, drinking to excess is one of the most damaging things to our health and prematurely kills millions of people every year (20).
While a glass of red at the weekend or an occasional beer might be beneficial, drinking several beers a day is not.
If we don’t emphasize healthy drinking habits, then the disadvantages of alcohol quickly become apparent.
Excessive Alcohol and Lipids
In high amounts, alcoholic beverages can worsen cardiovascular markers of health.
While small amounts of alcohol can be beneficial, higher doses can cause liver problems.
But how much causes liver damage?
Unfortunately, higher amounts of alcohol have close links to several types of cancer.
Key Point: While light to moderate drinking can be beneficial, side effects and the negatives become apparent at higher doses.
Alcohol and Alcoholic Life Expectancy
We’ve discussed how alcohol has both positives and negatives. Although this may be true, there is a big caveat: alcoholics.
It goes without saying that those with past alcoholism or who feel an addiction to alcohol should never drink. Not even a single drop.
Alcoholic Life Expectancy
By how much can chronic alcohol consumption shorten your life? There is a range of estimates on this, and none of them are good.
At present, the global life expectancy is 71.4 years (30).
In contrast, the global life expectancy for people suffering from alcoholism is believed to be 10-12 years lower.
And as previously mentioned, in patients hospitalized through alcoholism in Scandinavia the life expectancy plummets to (2):
However, there is a ‘U’ shape curve with alcohol; a little is good, and after that point, progressively more seems to equal progressively higher risk.
The Prevalence of Heavy Drinking
The pervasiveness of heavy drinking is more common than you might expect.
In fact, 24 million Americans drink 74 alcoholic beverages a week: more than ten every single day.
Many of these people try giving up alcohol but can’t break their addiction
Key Point: Alcoholism is a scary but common condition with severe impacts on health. If someone is drinking large numbers of alcoholic beverages on a daily basis, seek help and support.
Which Types of Alcohol Are Best?
If you’re going to drink alcohol, then there’s a big difference between a glass of wine and a bottle of sweet flavored vodka.
In my view, the two alcoholic beverages with the most real science behind them are red wine and hard liquor – especially whiskey.
Best Alcohol: Red Wine
Out of all alcoholic drinks, red wine has the largest body of evidence supporting its numerable health benefits.
Whiskey has also demonstrated numerous beneficial effects over a range of studies.
How Much Alcohol is Optimal?
To sum up, we can see that there are numerous potential benefits of alcohol.
However, alcoholic beverages are far from a magic pill and drinking is always a trade-off between the positives and negatives.
The data does suggest that moderate intake has beneficial effects on heart health and can increase lifespan. On the other hand, a moderate amount also appears to raise the risk of several cancers.
Given this, just a light amount of alcohol seems to be most beneficial. If we’re drinking for health, then stopping after 1 or 2 drinks appears to be the sweet spot.
Personally, I have a couple of glasses of red wine or whiskey each week and enjoy the experience.
But is drinking the same amount on a daily basis a good idea? And would it lead to a longer life?
To be honest, I’m not sure, and for now neither is the science.
6 comments
Top rated
comments first
Quote
ere are some conclusions from recent peer-reviewed studies—both positive and negative—that examine the issue:
Studies With Weak or No Links Between Alcohol Intake and Longevity
- Low volume drinkers may appear to benefit only because alcohol abstainers are more likely to be in ill health. There are no significant reductions in mortality risk in moderate drinkers (1).
- Patients hospitalized with alcohol use disorder (abuse or dependence) die 24-28 years earlier than the general population (2).
- A meta-analysis finds a weak reduction in mortality in people with lower intakes of alcohol compared to non-drinkers. Conversely, there is an apparent higher mortality risk with heavy consumption (3).
- There is consistent evidence for a mortality advantage among moderate wine drinkers compared to abstainers. However, this may be the result of co-founding social and behavioral factors (4).
- Controlling for all co-founders, a study involving 124,000 people finds that moderate alcohol drinkers have lower all-cause mortality than non-drinkers. Further, there is strong evidence for the relationship being causal (5).
- Alcohol affects the mTOR pathway, which slows the aging of cells. Moderate alcohol consumption reduces mortality risk, and there’s compelling evidence this is due to the effect on mTOR suppression. Calorie restriction is also a suppressor of mTOR, so alcohol may work through a similar pathway (6, 7).
- Epidemiological studies consistently show that alcohol drinkers have a lower risk of cardiovascular events. The case for the benefits of light drinking is compelling (8).
By looking at the studies, there does appear to be a connection between alcohol consumption and longevity.
That said, the key is to drink alcohol in modest doses. Specifically, the research is clear that moderate drinkers show decreased mortality risk compared to non-drinkers.
However, this isn’t free license to drink as much as you want. The research is also very clear that heavy drinkers have a higher risk of mortality.
Key Point: There is compelling evidence that moderate consumption of alcohol can increase longevity. However, heavy drinking is ill-advisable; moderation is important.
The Health Benefits of Alcohol
Many people are not aware of this, but reasonable amounts of alcohol have some surprising health benefits.
Alcohol and Cholesterol
- Alcohol lowers the risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) by increasing HDL levels, otherwise known as “good cholesterol.” HDL rises in a dose-dependent fashion with alcohol consumption (9, 10).
- Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) increases by 10.8% following an alcoholic beverage. RCT refers to the process of removing free cholesterol from the body, and research shows that higher rates of RCT help minimize CVD risk (11).
- As well as promoting higher HDL levels, alcohol decreases fibrinogen levels – a marker of inflammation (12).
- There is a ‘U’ shape curve between alcoholic drink intake and inflammatory markers. A little alcohol has an anti-inflammatory effect, but larger amounts can cause inflammation (13, 14).
- As part of a cardiovascular health study, out of 5865 adults aged 65 or above, those who drink had lower systemic inflammation (15).
- Wine contains significant amounts of health-protective polyphenols, and it has demonstrated protective effects against cardiovascular disease and some cancers. Several compounds in wine also display anti-carcinogenic properties in clinical trials (16).
- Among all types of alcohol, especially red and berry wines seem to offer greater cardiovascular protection due to their polyphenolic content. As a result, red wine is one of the best alcohol options for health (17).
- The polyphenols in red wine help reduce oxidative stress and protect against inflammatory lesions in the arteries. Both human and animal studies have shown this beneficial effect (18, 19).
Heavy Drinking Damages Health
Despite the advantages of alcoholic beverages, we forfeit them when we drink too much.
In fact, drinking to excess is one of the most damaging things to our health and prematurely kills millions of people every year (20).
While a glass of red at the weekend or an occasional beer might be beneficial, drinking several beers a day is not.
If we don’t emphasize healthy drinking habits, then the disadvantages of alcohol quickly become apparent.
Excessive Alcohol and Lipids
In high amounts, alcoholic beverages can worsen cardiovascular markers of health.
- Light to moderate alcohol consumption can decrease triglyceride levels, but high alcohol intake “is associated with elevated plasma triglycerides” (21, 22).
- In patients with diabetes, heavy alcohol intake may cause excessive production of triglycerides (23).
While small amounts of alcohol can be beneficial, higher doses can cause liver problems.
But how much causes liver damage?
- Among men and women drinking daily (or 14-28 drinks per week,) there’s a much higher risk of alcoholic cirrhosis compared to those drinking less (24).
- On average, between 90% and 100% of heavy drinkers develop fatty liver disease. Also, 10-35% will suffer from alcoholic hepatitis, and 8-20% will develop alcoholic cirrhosis (25).
- Over time, binge drinking has significant associations with liver cirrhosis mortality–irrespective of drinking frequency (26).
Unfortunately, higher amounts of alcohol have close links to several types of cancer.
- There is “strong evidence” that alcohol can cause cancer at seven sites in the body. As always with epidemiological studies, this relies on self-reporting and ignores potential confounders (27).
- Low levels of alcohol consumption increased breast cancer risks in a prospective observational study of 105,986 women. The most significant risk factor was cumulative lifetime intake (28).
- In the PURE study, research involving 114,970 people showed alcohol reduces cardiovascular risk but increases the risk of alcohol-related cancers. The increase in mortality is visible in those with a high intake (29).
Key Point: While light to moderate drinking can be beneficial, side effects and the negatives become apparent at higher doses.
Alcohol and Alcoholic Life Expectancy
We’ve discussed how alcohol has both positives and negatives. Although this may be true, there is a big caveat: alcoholics.
It goes without saying that those with past alcoholism or who feel an addiction to alcohol should never drink. Not even a single drop.
Alcoholic Life Expectancy
By how much can chronic alcohol consumption shorten your life? There is a range of estimates on this, and none of them are good.
At present, the global life expectancy is 71.4 years (30).
In contrast, the global life expectancy for people suffering from alcoholism is believed to be 10-12 years lower.
And as previously mentioned, in patients hospitalized through alcoholism in Scandinavia the life expectancy plummets to (2):
- 47-53 years in men
- 50-58 years in women
However, there is a ‘U’ shape curve with alcohol; a little is good, and after that point, progressively more seems to equal progressively higher risk.
The Prevalence of Heavy Drinking
The pervasiveness of heavy drinking is more common than you might expect.
In fact, 24 million Americans drink 74 alcoholic beverages a week: more than ten every single day.
Many of these people try giving up alcohol but can’t break their addiction
Key Point: Alcoholism is a scary but common condition with severe impacts on health. If someone is drinking large numbers of alcoholic beverages on a daily basis, seek help and support.
Which Types of Alcohol Are Best?
If you’re going to drink alcohol, then there’s a big difference between a glass of wine and a bottle of sweet flavored vodka.
In my view, the two alcoholic beverages with the most real science behind them are red wine and hard liquor – especially whiskey.
Best Alcohol: Red Wine
Out of all alcoholic drinks, red wine has the largest body of evidence supporting its numerable health benefits.
- A randomized controlled trial (RCT) shows that red wine helps improve glucose metabolism and decreases cardiometabolic risk (31).
- Links between red wine and heart health are well known. A randomized prospective study split 108 patients who have atherosclerosis into two groups: one group avoided all alcohol, and the other had a daily glass of red wine. The wine drinkers had a significantly reduced triglyceride level after 20 weeks, and a better overall cholesterol profile (32).
- Red wine contains resveratrol; a compound thought to help protect against cancer and promote longevity (33).
- In a 2-year trial of well-controlled diabetics, half were assigned to drink a daily glass of red wine with their dinner as opposed to water in the other half. After two years, the wine drinkers demonstrated better lipids and blood glucose control (34).
Whiskey has also demonstrated numerous beneficial effects over a range of studies.
- Aged whiskey contains polyphenol compounds that show better free-radical scavenging activity than vitamin E (35).
- In one study, test subjects consumed either 100ml of red wine, whiskey, or a new-make distilled spirit. In subjects drinking whiskey and red wine, the total blood concentration of antioxidants experienced a similar rise within 30 minutes. However, the other spirit induced no change (36).
- A controlled study investigated the ability of alcoholic beverages to improve glucose control. In healthy male subjects beer increased blood glucose levels by 26.7%; in contrast, whiskey had no effect (37).
How Much Alcohol is Optimal?
To sum up, we can see that there are numerous potential benefits of alcohol.
However, alcoholic beverages are far from a magic pill and drinking is always a trade-off between the positives and negatives.
The data does suggest that moderate intake has beneficial effects on heart health and can increase lifespan. On the other hand, a moderate amount also appears to raise the risk of several cancers.
Given this, just a light amount of alcohol seems to be most beneficial. If we’re drinking for health, then stopping after 1 or 2 drinks appears to be the sweet spot.
Personally, I have a couple of glasses of red wine or whiskey each week and enjoy the experience.
But is drinking the same amount on a daily basis a good idea? And would it lead to a longer life?
To be honest, I’m not sure, and for now neither is the science.
6 comments
Top rated
comments first