National Academies: Moderate Bev/Al Consumption 16% Lower Risk of Death from Any Cause

Those who consume alcohol moderately have a 16% lower risk of dying from from any cause than those who never consumed alcohol.

That's the headline conclusion of a just-released report by the National Academies of Science, Medicine & Engineering. The report was ordered and funded by Congress to inform the authors of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Its results are a stunning rebuke for antialcohol activists who have spent years insisting that previous studies finding moderate alcohol consumption generally resulted in lower deaths from all causes than did total abstention or heavy drinking were wrong.

The National Academies panel reviewed studies whose definition of moderate drinking conformed to the current Dietary Guidelines. Answering a major criticism of some studies, the panel also made sure that the studies did not include former drinkers – the subjects either were current drinkers or had never been drinker.

Here are its principal findings:

• All-Cause Mortality
  • An analysis of eight studies found a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality among those who consumed moderate levels of alcohol compared with those who never consumed alcohol.
  • An analysis of three eligible studies found a 23% lower risk of all-cause mortality was found among females who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol compared with females who never consumed alcohol.
  • An assessment of four studies showed a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality among males who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol compared with males who never consumed alcohol.
  • Persons less than 60 years old who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol had a 20% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those under 60 who never consumed alcohol.
  • For those 60 or older, those who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol had an 18% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who consumed no alcohol.
• Weight
  • There was insufficient evidence to draw a conclusion between weight-related outcomes or changes in weight.
  • As to changes in BMI, higher amounts of moderate alcohol consumption were associated with increases in BMI. Among women, the evidence was inconsistent.
  • Among men who moderately moderately consume alcohol, there is a higher risk of overweight or obesity. The evidence was inconclusive among women regarding changes in weight or obesity.
• Cancer
  • Four studies found a 10% higher risk of breast cancer among those consuming moderate amounts than among those who never consume alcohol.
  • Seven studies found a 5% high risk of breast cancer for every 0.7-1 U.S. drinks per day. Two stuides found a higher risk of breast cancer was associated with higher compared to lower amount of moderate alcohol.
  • Compared with never drinkers, moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a statistically nonsignificant higher risk of colorectal cancer overall among men and women. But two other studies found consumption of higher amounts of moderate alcohol was associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer.
  • There was insufficient evidence to support an association between moderate alcohol consumption and risk of oral cavity, pharyngeal, esophageal and laryngeal cancers.

The headline on this story was changed on Dec. 19 to more accurately reflect the tone of the report.