Moderate alcohol consumption inversely correlated with all-cause mortality

My roommate recently sent me a review article that LW might find interesting:

Conclusions: Low levels of alcohol intake (1-2 drinks per day for women and 2-4 drinks per day for men) are inversely associated with total mortality in both men and women. Our findings, while confirming the hazards of excess drinking, indicate potential windows of alcohol intake that may confer a net beneficial effect of moderate drinking, at least in terms of survival.

Personal observation says that LWers tend not to drink very much or often. Perhaps that should change, to the degree suggested by the article?

Full article here.

My roommate recently sent me a review article that LW might find interesting:

Conclusions: Low levels of alcohol intake (1-2 drinks per day for women and 2-4 drinks per day for men) are inversely associated with total mortality in both men and women. Our findings, while confirming the hazards of excess drinking, indicate potential windows of alcohol intake that may confer a net beneficial effect of moderate drinking, at least in terms of survival.

Personal observation says that LWers tend not to drink very much or often. Perhaps that should change, to the degree suggested by the article?

Full article here.

From the paper itself:

"Forty-eight curves (908 182 subjects and 86 941 deaths) were adjusted at least for age; among them, 28 were adjusted for social status too, and 10 for social status and dietary markers."

This is adjusting for 1-4 confounders out of many possible confounders. Even doing so they lost half of the association. Note that the scientists themselves do not claim a causal effect, but only association. It's reasonable to take their word for this.

I personally would not change dietary habits just based on studies like this.

Note that the scientists themselves do not claim a causal effect, but only association.

They claim causation in several places, albeit sprinkled with perhapses and maybes. From the abstract:

potential windows of alcohol intake that may confer a net beneficial effect

From the Comment section:

...the benefit of light to moderate drinking remained in a range of undoubted public health value (15%-18%)...
...the maximum protection conferred by light to moderate drinking...
...the “real” (maximum) protection against total mortality associated with low levels

... (read more)

-2James_Miller14y

No because saying alcohol is healthy could get them in lots of trouble. [...] Not even a little? Does it at least slightly increase your estimate of alcohol being healthy and so if at a social event deciding whether to have a drink shift your cost benefit analysis?