A Daily Glass Of Wine Increases Risk Of Premature Death- Study

A daily glass of wine has long been touted to be good for the health, especially for the heart. But, a new study claims the long believed fact is nothing but a myth. Shockingly, the study even linked consumption of wine to early death.

According to the study conducted by researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri, a daily glass of wine increases the risk of premature death by 20 percent on average, irrespective of age.

The research team claims that wine will only benefit if consumed not more than three glasses per week, or if the person had a family history of heart disease. However, in people who have a family history of cancer, any amount of drinking at all can turn out to be detrimental to the risk of developing the disease.

“Now we know that even the lightest daily drinkers have an increased mortality risk,” said Dr. Sarah Hartz, first author of the research study. “Consuming one or two drinks about four days per week seemed to protect against cardiovascular disease, but drinking every day eliminated those benefits. With regard to cancer risk, any drinking at all was detrimental.”

Hartz pointed out that while previous research has claimed moderate drinking can reduce one’s risk of heart disease, the benefit is overshadowed by the other damaging effects of alcohol.

For the purpose of the study, Dr. Hartz and her research team analyzed data from more than 400,000 US adults between the ages of 18 and 85. The participants were tracked from 1997 to 2009. They found that people who drank on more than three days a week were 20 percent more likely to die prematurely.

The research results have been published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.