Alcohol is Never Good for You, Ever, Says New Study
Is your liver confused yet?
Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Planning on cutting loose this Labor Day with coolers filled with brews? According to a bombshell new study, you might want to consider replacing them with bubbly water.
A report from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD), published last week in the medical journal The Lancet, is making waves after its authors claimed that there is no amount of alcohol consumption that can be considered safe.
Using data from 195 countries over a period of 26 years, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded study found that increasing the level of alcohol consumption also increases the risk of disease—particularly in terms of cancer.
The authors do acknowledge that moderate consumption may protect individuals from heart disease, but believe nonetheless that the negatives outweigh the positives.
“Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none,” wrote the authors. “This level is in conflict with most health guidelines, which espouse health benefits associated with consuming up to two drinks per day.”
While this info is a reminder that alcohol can have potentially negative consequences when abused, it’s hard to believe that it will be followed to a tee.
"There is no safe level of driving, but the [British] government does not recommend that people avoid driving,” said University of Cambridge professor David Spiegelhalter to the BBC. "Come to think of it, there is no safe level of living, but nobody would recommend abstention."
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