No safe limit to alcohol consumption, study finds

Going teetotal is the only way to avoid risking health with alcohol, scientists have claimed.

A major global study has concluded there is no safe limit to alcohol consumption. Previous research suggested that moderate levels of alcohol – around one drink a day for women and two for men – may protect against heart disease.

But the authors of the new study insist that any benefits from drinking alcohol are outweighed by the harms. They estimate that consuming just one drink per day increases the risk of developing one of 23 alcohol-related health problems by 0.5 per cent, compared with not drinking at all.

Globally, around one in three people – or 2.4 billion – drink alcohol, said the researchers, whose findings are reported in The Lancet medical journal.