Wine, Beer, or Spirits? A Massive 340,000 Person Study…

Wine, Beer, or Spirits? A Massive 340,000 Person Study Finds a Surprising Divide Heavy drinking has long been known to increase health risks regardless of what type of alcohol is consumed. But at low to moderate levels, a large new study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session suggests the type of beverage may genuinely matter, and the results are more nuanced than a simple "alcohol is bad" message. The study: Researchers analysed drinking habits and mortality data from 340,924 adults in the UK Biobank study, followed for more than 13 years on average, one of the largest and longest studies of its kind on this specific question. How researchers categorised drinking levels: Participants were grouped based on their weekly or daily pure alcohol intake, never or occasional drinkers, low consumption, moderate consumption, and high consumption, with specific thresholds defined separately for men and women, based on standard drink equivalents. The clear finding at high consumption levels: Compared to never or occasional drinkers, people in the high consumption group had a 24% higher risk of death from any cause, a 36% higher risk of cancer death, and a 14% higher risk of heart disease death, findings consistent with existing knowledge tha