Based on the data from more than 400,000 people, it has been found that consuming one to two drinks four or more times per week, an amount deemed healthy by current guidelines increases the risk of premature death by 20 percent
Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine analyzed data of people between ages 18 to 85. While some earlier studies have linked light drinking to advances in cardiovascular health, the new study shows that those probable gains are offset by other risks.
The team evaluated heart disease risk and cancer risk and found that while in some cases, drinking alcohol may reduce risk of heart-related problems, daily drinking increased cancer risk and, as a result, mortality risk.
This study comes on the heels of a research published in The Lancet, which studied data from more than 700 studies around the world and established that the safest level of drinking is none. But that study looked at all types of drinking: from light alcohol consumption to binge drinking.