Study Links Wine to Lower Mortality While Beer, Cider and Spirits Raise Risks

The UK Biobank data set, encompassing 340,924 participants between 2006 and 2022, was used to examine how different alcoholic beverages affect longevity. Participants were grouped by weekly and daily pure-alcohol consumption, with standard drink equivalents defined for beer, wine and spirits. Over an average follow-up of 13 years, high-volume drinkers were 24% more likely to die from any cause, 36% more likely from cancer and 14% more likely from heart disease.

In contrast, moderate wine consumption was linked to a 21% reduction in cardiovascular death, whereas even modest intake of beer, cider or spirits raised mortality risk by about 9%. Senior author Zhangling Chen noted that lifestyle factors and compounds like polyphenols in red wine may explain the divergence. The observational nature of the study and reliance on baseline self-reports were cited as limitations, and randomized trials were recommended for clearer causal insight.