By CHLOE TAYLOR, July 16, 2022
People under the age of 40 start risking their health if they consume any more than two teaspoons of wine or two and a half tablespoons of beer per day, a new study suggests.
The analysis—part of the wider Global Burden of Disease study—was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and published in published in The Lancet medical journalmedical journal on Thursday.
It found that for young adults between the ages of 15 and 39, there were zero health benefits—only risks—associated with drinking alcohol.
Researchers said that for people aged between 15 and 39, the recommended amount of alcohol that could be consumed before risking their health was “a little more than one-tenth of a standard drink.”
They defined a standard drink as 3.4 fluid ounces of red wine or 12 fluid ounces of beer.
By this definition, the study’s findings suggested that alcohol stops being “safe” to consume for under-40s after around two teaspoons of red wine or two and a half tablespoons of beer.
The Global Burden of Disease study is massive in scope. It has been ongoing since 1990 and uses data from 204 countries and territories, and is described in the Lancet as "the most comprehensive effort to date to understand the changing health challenges around the world.
The study echoes findings from some earlier studies that have suggested there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.
Last year, an Oxford University study of more than 25,000 people found that there was “no safe dose of alcohol” when it came to brain health.
“Our message is simple: Young people should not drink…” Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou
Also see
- Poor Representatives in Alcohol Cohorts: The Nail in the Coffin of the ‘Heart Health Benefits’ of Moderate Drinking? click here
- No Amount of Alcohol Use is ‘Safe’ click here