Ongoing attempts to erase the health benefits of moderate drinking have suffered a setback in the USA. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has published a 230 page report to feed into the latest deliberations around the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025.
As (Bloomberg-funded) Stat News reports:
A major report on alcohol’s health effects — which will inform the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans — found moderate drinkers had lower all-cause mortality, and a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, than those who never drank. The findings are sure to cause a stir, especially once a separate panel of experts releases its own alcohol report in coming weeks.
We can expect the anti-alcohol academics on that panel to come out swinging with the usual cherry-picked studies (hello, Tim Stockwell!) and merchant of doubt rhetoric. But for now, we have the actual evidence...
According to its meta-analysis, the committee found those who consumed moderate levels of alcohol had a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who never drank. This conclusion was graded as being of moderate certainty, meaning there was enough evidence to determine the health effects, but there are limitations due to the quality of the evidence. Future data could change the conclusion.
Meta-analyses the committee reviewed found moderate drinking was associated with a lower risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular disease mortality as compared to never drinking.
This much we have known for decades. These associations have had everything thrown at them. There is probably no finding in epidemiology that has been subjected to so much rigorous examination. The reason for that is obvious: a lot of people in 'public health' don't want it to be true.
And yet here we are.
You can read the full report here.
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