Days, months and years of alcohol ruining your life

• READ MORE: Drinking any amount of alcohol is bad for your health, experts warn

One of the world’s leading experts on alcohol and longevity has revealed the exact number of days, months and years alcohol takes from your life.

And the results might surprise people.

An average of just two drinks a week – bottles of beer, regular glasses of wine or a few shots of liquor – over a lifetime can shorten a person’s life by just three to six days.

Drinking one glass a day reduces a person’s life expectancy by two and a half months.

It is those who drink heavily – regularly drinking 35 drinks a week (about five drinks a day or two bottles of whisky in seven days) – who reduce their life expectancy by about two years.

That’s according to Dr. Tim Stockwell, a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, who was a strong advocate of moderate alcohol consumption until a fellow scientist alerted him to major flaws in medical research.

Citing extensive research over the past five years or so, including his own that inspired the Canadian government’s alcohol guidelines, he said no amount is good for you.

Dr. Stockwell cautions that his predictions are averages and that some people are luckier than others when it comes to health.

But the growing body of evidence raises questions about whether Americans, including those charged with issuing health guidelines, have ignored or downplayed the risks associated with alcohol consumption because it is such an integral part of our culture.

Last year, Ireland became the first country in the world to pass a law requiring all alcohol producers to put a health warning on the labels of alcoholic drinks.

The labels will read, “There is a direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers.” The policy will come into effect in 2026.

Canada, meanwhile, recently proposed revised guidelines recommending no more than two alcoholic drinks per week, a dramatic reduction from the previous limit of 15 drinks for men and 10 drinks for women.

Last year, Dr. George Koob, President Biden’s health chief, predicted that the USDA might revise its alcohol consumption advice to align with Canada’s.

The official changes in health messaging reflect a sea change in how doctors and ordinary Americans view alcohol and its safety, based on major studies debunking the myth that a little here and there is healthy.

Last year, Dr. Stockwell led a meta-analysis of more than 107 studies published over the past four decades that concluded that no amount of alcohol improves health and may actually increase the risk of dying from any cause.

And a 2022 study by scientists at Harvard University reported that “alcohol consumption at all levels was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.”

According to the CDC, the average number of annual deaths from excessive alcohol use, whether from direct causes like car crashes and liver damage, or indirect causes like mental health problems or heart disease, increased by about 29%, from nearly 138,000 in 2016 to 2017 to more than 178,000 in 2020 to 2021.

That’s more than the number of drug overdose deaths reported in 2022, which was about 108,000.

This figure may seem higher than expected, given Dr Stockwell’s relatively moderate conclusions about the impact of alcohol on life expectancy.

However, this discrepancy is likely because many alcohol-related deaths occur rapidly, such as a car accident or acute liver failure, which have an immediate impact on mortality rates.

Deaths from chronic diseases such as alcohol-related heart disease are gradually increasing.

Dr Stockwell said: “Alcohol is our recreational drug of choice. We use it for pleasure and relaxation, and the last thing we want to hear is that it is harmful… It is comforting to think that drinking is good for our health, but unfortunately this is based on shaky science.”

Alcohol has been shown to damage organs including the brain and nervous system, heart, liver, and pancreas. Alcohol itself is a toxin that causes cell damage and inflammation as it is metabolized.

It can increase blood pressure and contribute to the development of heart disease, interfere with the body’s ability to absorb nutrients, and suppress the immune system.

The belief that moderate alcohol consumption is healthy stems from a phenomenon known as the French paradox: the curious fact that the French, who eat rich, fatty foods and drink above-average amounts of red wine, have relatively low rates of heart disease compared to other nations.

The idea that drinking in moderation was healthy was appealing, and Americans quickly accepted it.

But much of the research into the supposed benefits of alcohol has been funded by the alcohol industry. In fact, a recent report found that 13,500 studies were funded directly or indirectly by the industry.

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One of the main triggers for the re-evaluation of this accepted logic was Dr. Stockwell’s research, carried out in collaboration with Kaye Middleton Fillmore, a sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco.

They questioned the validity of studies highlighting the health benefits of red wine. One reason is that people who consume red wine often have healthier diets and lifestyles, which could explain their overall well-being.

This does not mean that red wine alone is responsible for the health benefits, but rather the lifestyle associated with being a red wine consumer.

Researchers also suggested that non-drinkers may appear unhealthy in studies because they stopped drinking alcohol due to a health problem.

Dr Stockwell said: “These abstainers are often older people who have given up alcohol because their health is poor.

“Being able to drink is a sign that you are still healthy, not the cause of good health.

“These studies give many false results that are wrongly interpreted to mean that alcohol is good for you.”

Federal tracking of alcohol-related deaths has shown that these rates have increased over the past two decades.

Red wine, in particular, has long been considered heart-healthy. It contains compounds called polyphenols, which are thought to help protect the lining of blood vessels in the heart.

One particular polyphenol, resveratrol, has garnered the most attention. However, research into its benefits has only been conducted in mice.

According to Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, an internist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, you would have to drink between 100 and 1,000 glasses of red wine a day to get an amount equivalent to the doses that improved the mice’s health.

Federal guidelines recommend that men drink no more than two drinks a day and that women stick to one. But research suggests that even that is excessive.

A 2022 policy statement from the World Heart Federation, WHO’s leading partner in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, stated: “Contrary to popular belief, alcohol is not good for the heart.

“This directly contradicts the common and popular message that alcohol prolongs life, primarily by reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.”