Drinking alcohol in the evening after a hard day's work can do more harm than good, a study has found.
Despite the large number of observations whose analysis found that moderate alcohol consumption can protect against heart disease , researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia, question these claims.
One of the authors of the study - Assoc. Prof. Emanuel Stamatakis, recalls that the prevailing publications in this area exaggerate the benefits of consuming a few glasses of wine a day.
He added that there are those who are "distorted" because they involve people who do not consume alcohol, and the reasons for this are not taken into account. These may include health problems or abstinence.
During the current study, researchers use a more accurate approach, aiming to identify the real risks and benefits of alcohol consumption .
The first stage involves people who have consumed before but have given up the habit. The effects are compared between them and those who drink moderate amounts of alcohol. It is established that the benefits are the same for all participants.
In the second stage of the study, in place of those who no longer consume alcohol, comes a group of people who have never consumed. It turns out that among them the benefits of alcohol consumption disappear.
Although it is not clear from the results of the study whether alcohol consumption should be present or excluded definitively, they point to the importance of defining different strategies for maintaining good health.