Drinking more than three times a week can be dangerous, says science

You want to toast to your health? Just have to drink three times or less a week. After numerous studies suggesting that even moderate alcohol consumption can be dangerous to health, new research suggests that drinking alcohol three times a week may be the answer.

Led by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the latest study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research showed that drinking lightly at least four times a week could increase the risk of premature death. The study found that people who participated four or more times a week had a higher risk of death of about 20% during the study period than those who drank three or fewer times per week. This goes against the conventional wisdom that links light consumption to heart health and other benefits.

"The cut seems to be that we should not drink more than three times a week," said study co-author Sarah Hartz, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University's Faculty of Medicine. from Washington to St. Louis, according to Time. "The frequency of alcohol consumption is important, just like taking a drug. If you take a medicine once a week, it will have an impact different from the one you take each day. "

Remember that this study, which analyzed data from over 400,000 people aged 18 to 85, looked at the number of times a week that someone drank. The assumption is that you never drink in excess, sipping one or two glasses on each occasion. This means having a glass of wine at dinner every night can be dangerous. Sip.

"Daily consumption, even at low doses, is harmful to health," as the authors of the study say.

This research could follow a recent study published in the Lancet, which examined data from more than 700 studies worldwide and concluded that the safest level of beverage consumption is zero. Nothing. Zero.