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> The optimal level of alcohol intake for health and longevity is zero The whole "little alcohol can actually be healthy" meme is a good example of corporate s
by nabla9 6y ago
> The optimal level of alcohol intake for health and longevity is zero
The whole "little alcohol can actually be healthy" meme is a good example of corporate sponsored research combined with publication bias. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publication_bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publication_bias It went on 15-20 years before better and larger studies debunked it.
Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31310-2/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...
>Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for global disease burden and causes substantial health loss. We found that the risk of all-cause mortality, and of cancers specifically, rises with increasing levels of consumption, and the level of consumption that minimises health loss is zero. These results suggest that alcohol control policies might need to be revised worldwide, refocusing on efforts to lower overall population-level consumption.
- jimmar 6y agoFor making global policy, the Lancet study is great. It's not the perfect study for determining an individual's risk factors. I looked at that Lancet study in detail trying to determine how much risk alcohol consumption poses to me personally, but it was challenging. For example, the #1 risk they associated with alcohol was tuberculosis--something I'm not concerned about at all.
- antonvs 6y ago> These results suggest that alcohol control policies might need to be revised worldwide, refocusing on efforts to lower overall population-level consumption. It ought to astonish me that people unironically think this way, but then I remember one of the most dangerous and life-shortening human tendencies of them all - the desire to control others.
- polishdude20 6y agoYeah let's ban ATV's, swimming in the ocean, driving a car and eating cake while we're at it.
- lm28469 6y ago> The whole "little alcohol can actually be healthy" meme is a good example of corporate sponsored research combined with publication bias. It also is what everyone drinking a few glasses of wine here and there want to hear
- thinkharderdev 6y agoIt is the typical story where whatever you like doing ALSO has to be healthy and good in all respects. So it can't just be "I like having a glass or two of wine in the evening to unwind." Likewise it can't just be "I think eating animals is morally wrong so I don't do it." It's like the human mind instinctively rebels against having to weigh tradeoffs.
- allturtles 6y agoIsn't "The optimal level of alcohol intake for health and longevity is zero" exactly what abstainers want to hear? I don't think we should rely on any group's anecdotal espousal of the health benefits of their choices.