Previous studies have implied on the links between light drinking and benefits to people heart healthand it’s easy to follow any study that suggests cracking open a cold one after work is actually good for you.
However, the connection may not be as easy as it seems. A new study suggests that any apparent benefit may actually be due to other factors, and even moderate alcohol consumption could increase your chances of getting heart disease.
In the study published at the end of March in the journal CardiologyResearchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard examined data from more than 370,000 UK adults, comparing information about their drinking habits, their lifestyle habits, and their risk of heart disease.
These observations cast doubt on the belief that light drinking can improve heart health and instead suggest that any association between moderate drinking and heart health may be due to other lifestyle factors. Furthermore, the researchers found that the heart disease risk increased exponentially as alcohol consumption increased, suggesting that consuming more alcoholic beverages may dramatically increase your risk.
Perhaps even more relevant when thinking about how alcoholic beverages can affect your health, dieticians highlight the findings that these beverages may increase the risk of some types of cancer. They noted that moderate drinkers tended to exercise more, eat more nutritious foods and smoke less than those who didn’t drink at all.
“Excessive alcohol consumption may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer,” Carolina Susie, RDit says Eat this, not that! “Yes, there are cardioprotective benefits (increasing good cholesterol and lowering blood pressure), but you may find [those benefits from] other foods besides alcohol.”
In fact, A study July 2021 printed in the magazine The Lancet Oncology linked alcohol use to cancers of the esophagus, throat, larynx, colon, rectum, liver, and breast.
Furthermore, in an interview with Eat this, not that!, Karen Collins, MS, RDN, CDN, FANDnutrition adviser to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), noted that the cancer risk-increasing effect starts earlier than you think.
“Alcohol increases the risk of six different types of cancer… For some cancers, such as head and neck, esophageal, and breast cancers, the risk starts to increase even with less than one standard drink a day.” , according to a research analysis from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR),” he says. “The increased cancer risk associated with alcohol is consistent, regardless of whether you choose beer, white wine, red wine, or distilled spirits (such as vodka or whiskey).”
For more possible consequences to be aware of, see the Weird Alcohol Side Effects You’ve Never Heard Of Before, Science Says.
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