Drinking a pint of beer or glass of wine a day won't kill you, study finds

Drinking up to 24g of ethanol — three units or the equivalent of a strong pint of beer or large glass of wine — did not raise death risk above being tee-total.

Dr Jinhui Zhao, of the University of Victoria, said: "Daily low or moderate alcohol intake was not significantly associated with mortality risk."

The NHS recommends people do not drink more than 14 units a week, which amounts to around six pints or 10 small glasses of wine.

Guidelines suggest drinks should be spread out over several days.

Having more than eight units — three pints — for men or six units — two large glasses — for women in a session is considered dangerous binge drinking. 

But around a quarter of adults in England and Scotland drink more a week, and 27 per cent in Great Britain regularly binge.

Drinking too much can lead to a range of deadly conditions in the long-term, including heart disease, stroke and several types of cancer.

The latest study, published in JAMA Network Open, reviewed 107 studies to see how alcohol habits impacted the chances of an early death.

The studies included more than 4.8million participants, who were split into six groups based on how much they drank.

Occasional — less than a unit or half pint a week — and low drinkers — up to three units a day — had no higher chance of dying from any cause than lifetime non-drinkers.

Overall, guzzling around eight units or more — around a bottle of wine — a day increased the chance of meeting an early day by more than a third.

Dr Zhao said: "Increased risk was evident at higher consumption levels, starting at lower levels for women than men.

"There was a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality among female drinkers who drank a large glass of wine and among male drinkers who drank two pints or more per day."