Wine a day won’t kill you, experts now claim

Drinking in moderation may not significantly increase the risk of early death, a study suggests.

According to a new scientific study by Canadian researchers, women can, on average, drink a large glass of wine a day without significantly increasing their risk of dying early.

On average, men can drink almost two tall glasses of wine a day without facing a higher risk of death than non-drinkers.

The results come from a review of 107 studies involving more than 4.8 million people.

However, the review authors say the included studies have several shortcomings, and they would still suggest that moderate amounts of alcohol pose a small risk of serious diseases like cancer.

According to a new scientific study, women can, on average, enjoy a large glass of wine a day without significantly increasing their risk of dying early

The researchers compared the odds of dying among non-drinkers in the studies to the odds of dying among low, moderate, heavy, or very heavy drinkers.

It was found that women who drank moderately and fell into the low alcohol consumption group did not have a significantly increased risk of death compared to female non-drinkers.

These women drank less than 25 grams of alcohol a day – around three units in the UK, which is the equivalent of a large glass of wine or three small measures of gin.

Men were not significantly more likely than non-drinkers to die when they drank small or moderate amounts.

These included men who drank less than 45 grams of alcohol a day – around five and a half units a day in the UK, which is about three 330ml bottles of lager a day on average, or not too far from two tall glasses of wine.

However, the researchers say the results shouldn’t be used for safe drinking guidelines because of the study’s shortcomings.

In 86 of the studies reviewed, non-drinkers included former drinkers who may have stopped drinking because it was already causing health problems, which likely skewed the results.

Drinkers can also falsely appear as healthy as non-drinkers because some of those non-drinkers are actually ill, which is why they don’t consume alcohol.

The review, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, found that the risk of early death became significantly higher above a certain alcohol limit, which was lower for women than for men.

Men who drank 45 to 64 grams of alcohol, or up to eight units a day, or four pints of mild beer, were 15 percent more likely to die early than non-drinkers.

The risk of early death was 21 percent higher in women who drank 25 to 44 grams of alcohol a day, which is more than a large glass of wine.

The co-author of the study, Dr. Tim Stockwell, former director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, said: “This review was created to examine errors in studies and how they affect estimates of the health risks of alcohol.

“For example, over 80 percent of the studies in the review counted people who abstained from alcohol for health reasons as abstainers.

“Compensating for these types of errors has greatly reduced the appearance of health benefits from moderate alcohol consumption.

“More robust studies are needed to determine the exact drinking levels at which men and women are at increased risk of premature death.”

A spokesman for the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, which is made up of major alcohol companies such as Heineken and Diageo, said: “These results are consistent with the broader evidence base, which tends to show that moderate alcohol consumption may be associated with certain health benefits in some adults, including a protective effect against cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

“We do not recommend anyone to drink alcohol for its potential health benefits.

“Those who have specific questions about their own drinking are encouraged to contact their healthcare professional.

“Together they can decide what’s best, and for some people, not drinking at all may be a better choice.”