MONDAY, March 30, 2026 (NewsDay News) — The potential health effects of low to moderate alcohol consumption vary by type of drinker, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting March 28-30 in New Orleans.
Ziyue Li, of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha, China, and colleagues examined the relationship between total and specific alcohol consumption (wine, beer/cider, and spirits) and death. The analysis included data from 340,924 UK Biobank participants (2006 to 2022).
Researchers found that compared to never or occasional alcohol consumption (≤20 g per week for men and women), total alcohol consumption (>40 g per day for men and >20 g/day for women) was associated with mortality from any cause (hazard ratio (HR), 1.24), cardiovascular disease (HR, 1.14), cancer (3HR) (3HR) and other causes. 1.12). Moderate alcohol consumption (>20 to ≤40 g/day for men, >10 to ≤20 g/day for women) was only associated with increased cancer mortality (HR, 1.11). There was a significant association for higher all-cause and cause-specific mortality (HRs 1.07 to 1.83) for alcohol and beer/cider consumption, even at low to moderate levels. For wine, low and moderate consumption was associated with reduced all-cause and cause-specific mortality (HRs 0.79 to 0.92). However, heavy wine consumption was associated with higher cancer mortality (HR, 1.10).
“Our findings help clarify the previously mixed evidence regarding low-to-moderate alcohol consumption,” said senior author Zhangling Chen, MD, Ph.D., also of Xi’an Second Hospital, in a statement. “Together, these factors suggest that the type of alcohol, the way it is consumed, and lifestyle behaviors all contribute to the observed differences in death risk.”
