According to new research, your drink order makes a difference. A study of more than 340,000 British adults found that light-to-moderate wine drinkers had a lower risk of early death than people who who consumed the same amount of alcohol from beer, cider or spirits. The wine drinkers also enjoyed a lower risk than people who never drank or drank only occasionally. The impact was strongest in heart-related deaths, and red wine drinkers seemed to benefit most of all.
The research was presented in March at the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans. “We followed people for about 13 years, and found that those who drank wine in light to moderate amounts had a lower risk of dying compared with people who never or only occasionally drank wine,” said the study’s senior author, Zhangling Chen, a professor at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, in China, in an email.
The analysis showed that people who, on average, drank up to 10 (for women) or 20 (for men) 5-ounce glasses of wine per week were 8% less likely to die of any cause and up to 21% less likely to die from cardiovascular causes during the follow-up period, compared to non-drinkers or occasional drinkers. In contrast, people who consumed the same average weekly amounts of alcohol through beer, cider or spirits were 9% more likely to die prematurely of cardiovascular disease and also showed a higher risk of dying from non-cardiac causes (particularly cancer).
“What was surprising to me personally was how even moderate amounts of alcohol from different beverages can have varying associations with health outcomes,” said Chen, who hopes to publish the study in a peer-reviewed journal soon. “This shows that the type of alcoholic beverage, the amount consumed and the context in which it’s consumed, like with meals, can all make a difference.”
There have been past studies suggesting that wine is a healthier option than other alcohols. But in recent years, those have been dismissed by health advocates arguing that all alcohol is unhealthy. This study suggests it’s not that simple.
Chen’s team used data from the United Kingdom’s Biobank study, which has tracked health information for nearly 500,000 adults in England, Scotland and Wales since 2006. After eliminating subjects with chronic diseases and other complicating issues, including those who stopped drinking because of health problems, the researchers analyzed data collected between 2006 and 2022 from 340,924 people, about 51% of them female, with an average age of 46. The study’s large population size and long tracking period (an average of 13.4 years) are all strong points.
People who exceeded the “moderate” average weekly intake of alcohol had the highest risk of early death, no matter what beverage they drank. These “high-intake” subjects were women who consumed more than 140 grams of pure alcohol per week and men who consumed more than 280 grams of pure alcohol per week. That’s more than 10 typical-size drinks per week for women and more than 20 for men. Over 13 years, they were 24% more likely to die from any cause, 14% more likely to die from heart disease, and 36% more likely to die from cancer than occasional drinkers or those who never drank.
What Benefits Does A Glass Of Wine Contain?
Chen believes that there are several likely reasons why wine drinkers showed lower mortality risk. For one, wine has different nutrients than beer, cider or spirits. “Wine contains compounds like polyphenols that may have beneficial effects on heart health,” said Chen. Other bioactive compounds and antioxidants in wine may fight inflammation, lower bad cholesterol, improve vascular function and protect against heart disease through other mechanisms.
Another likely reason? “People who drink wine in light to moderate amounts tend to have healthier overall lifestyles,” Chen noted. “For example, they may eat more fruits and vegetables, exercise more or be less likely to smoke, and these habits can also contribute to lower risk.”
Some habits, such as drinking with meals, did show healthier associations in the study. Drinking on an empty stomach, particularly before meals, was associated with higher mortality risk across all beverage types, Chen noted. “This could be related to faster ethanol absorption, which may lead to higher peak blood alcohol concentrations over a shorter period of time and potentially increase the toxic effects of alcohol.”
The data didn’t capture which drinkers were indeed more likely to only consume alcohol with meals, but it’s reasonable to think that wine’s well-known role in a Mediterranean-style diet may have been a factor. The study also did not show if subjects had a different mortality risk if they consumed their low-to-moderate weekly total over seven days or in just two or three (say, on weekends).
Limits of Observational Studies
To best isolate the effects specifically associated with alcohol volume and beverage choice, Chen’s team attempted to weed out lifestyle habits and other factors that could skew the results. For example, they adjusted for differences among subjects in education, wealth, fitness, geographic region, diet quality, overall health and numerous other factors. They also adjusted for subjects who said they drank a mix of different beverage types.
However, as with any observational study using self-reported data collected over several years, it was impossible to control for every potential factor. The results can show associations but can’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship. “There could be other unmeasured or difficult-to-measure factors—for example, stress levels, sleep patterns, or other aspects of lifestyle—which might influence the associations we observed,” said Chen.
Some potential influences even showed up within beverage groups. For example, red wine drinkers tended to have more education than non-red wine drinkers in the study, Chen noted, adding that this “may reflect underlying differences in lifestyle and socioeconomic factors.”
Ron Geraci is a wine-loving writer who splits his time between San Diego and Salerno, Italy.
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