Lifestyle factor
Alcohol and life expectancy
Alcohol intake is associated with higher mortality as consumption rises, with no clearly established protective level once study biases are accounted for.
What the research suggests
Large analyses, including work in the Lancet, associate higher alcohol intake with shorter life expectancy, and the previously reported protective effect of light drinking is now widely attributed to confounding, where people who have stopped drinking due to ill health inflate the apparent risk among non-drinkers. The practical implication is that lower intake is generally associated with lower risk.
What helps
- Reducing weekly intake
- Having several alcohol-free days
- Avoiding heavy or binge drinking
Estimate your own range
Answer around a dozen short questions and get a five-year age range based on your profile. It takes about two minutes.
Start the estimatorCommon questions
How does alcohol affect life expectancy?
Large analyses, including work in the Lancet, associate higher alcohol intake with shorter life expectancy, and the previously reported protective effect of light drinking is now widely attributed to confounding, where people who have stopped drinking due to ill health inflate the apparent risk among non-drinkers. The practical implication is that lower intake is generally associated with lower risk.
What is the single most useful change?
Reducing weekly intake. Sustained changes started earlier tend to have the largest effect, though benefit is associated with change at any age.