For a long time, various studies have mentioned the supposed benefits of drinking alcohol in the correct amounts. Claims such as a little wine can help with coronary arteries, beer can have cardiovascular benefits, and other examples. However, a recent study suggests that drinking alcohol does not provide any health benefits.
As pointed out by The New York Times, over the past year «a significant change» has emerged in how alcohol advertising should be handled. This is a radical change in a certain sector that has been promoting «the good» of these types of drinks.
The internet is a huge gateway for information, and a quick search on Google will reveal hundreds of articles that have been published about the benefits of drinking alcohol in moderate amounts. To mention some of the headlines, there is one from 2023 that mentions that drinking beer in small amounts is associated with «good physical and mental health». Another, also from last year, was dedicated to investigating how consuming wine can be good for preventing chronic-degenerative diseases.
In short, there is a lot of research regarding moderate alcohol consumption and its positive effects. Despite everything, The New York Times takes up a study from 2023 called «Association between daily alcohol consumption and the risk of mortality from all causes».
This study re-evaluates 107 articles published in the last 40 years about the benefits of drinking alcohol. The conclusion reached by the team from the University of Victoria, in Canada, is that no amount of alcohol, large or small, benefits health.
In addition to this, The New York Times cites another study from 2022 that found that, even if you drink once or twice a day, negative effects can occur in the brain. In particular, the study in Nature argues that the amount of gray matter is reduced with alcohol consumption.
This change in the narrative regarding the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption has led some governments to rethink their policies on the matter. The New York Times article mentions that both Ireland and Canada have changed the way they advertise alcohol, with Ireland even considering placing warnings about the negative effects, as is done in Mexico for cigarette packs.
A study from Public Health Scotland, published during 2022, analyzed changes in alcohol marketing in European countries such as Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. The research shows that most of these countries have eliminated advertising in various media, greatly restricting content related to this topic. Within the study, we can read:
«The restrictions described follow the international scientific consensus on how to reduce harmful alcohol consumption, and the success achieved in the past with tobacco demonstrates the value of restricting the marketing of unhealthy products».
All this issue of advertising and the narrative that alcohol, to some extent, can be beneficial for health has led to different debates and dilemmas regarding our relationship with alcohol. More recently, Another Round, a film starring Mads Mikelsen, takes up an argument related to this. According to the film, a Norwegian philosopher mentions that humans are born with 0.5% alcohol in the blood.
The premise of Another Round revolves around a professor who, maintaining that percentage of alcohol, begins to notice an «improvement» in his social relationships and his life as a teacher. However, everything starts to twist little by little, leading to an unexpected ending.
And it’s not that alcohol is something vile, evil, or ruinous. After all, we have already experienced the problems of prohibition, something that historically did not go well. Although we can argue that it left us with inspiration for series, movies, novels, and even more than entertaining video games.
What The New York Times article mentions is that our cultural relationship with alcohol is complex. In addition, it makes it clear that, according to current scientific evidence, «there is no level of alcohol consumption that is completely safe for health». A new approach to how we promote or visualize alcohol may be on the way in more places around the world.
