“One glass is fine, three glasses, hello damage!”. This famous slogan would be quite inaccurate since a new study, published in The Lancet, shows that even drinking just 1 glass of alcohol a day carries health risks.
This large-scale project analyzed nearly 700 studies from 195 different countries between 1990 and 2016. It shows that one in three people in the world drinks alcohol, i.e. 2.4 billion people ( a quarter of women and 39% of men). On average, women consume 0.73 alcoholic drinks every day and men 1.7 drinks. Of course, this is an average and these figures vary greatly from one country to another.
However, the study also showed that in 2016, alcohol consumption was linked to 2.8 million deaths. Although alcoholic beverages are considered the 7th risk factor for premature death and disability in the world, they are becoming the main cause among people aged 15 to 49 because they are associated with road accidents, suicides, tuberculosis, etc. For this age group, 1 in 10 deaths is attributable to alcohol.
Supporters of “zero alcohol”
Overall, the study shows that one in three regular drinkers dies from an alcohol-related problem. This represents 2.2% of female deaths and 6.8 of male deaths. Indeed, the researchers who have analyzed these hundreds of studies have noted that daily consumption, even moderate, of winebeer or spirits, increased the risk of developing one of 23 alcohol-related health problems by 0.5% (cancer, cardiovascular illnesses, stroke, cirrhosis, accidents, violence, etc.). According to the authors, this would correspond to 100,000 additional deaths per year in the world, and this, for only 1 drink per day. The beneficial effects of alcoholas a protective effect against heart attacks Where diabetes, would not be able to compensate for the overall effects it causes on health. This is why scientists advocate “zero alcohol”.
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