New study says moderate drinking won't help longevity

What's the news: Moderate drinking won't help your health or longevity.

Why should we believe it: This news comes from a new review study, published by scientists at Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. The researchers looked at 197 previous studies, going back 40 years, and including over 4.8 million subjects.

The researchers pooled all those previous studies, corrected statistical quirks (such as including previous heavy drinkers who had to stop drinking for medical reasons in the control group), and came up with the new conclusion: drinking, even moderately, doesn't help your health or longevity any.

Why is this a big deal: There's a popular idea, going back to 1924, that moderate drinking is actually beneficial to health. The new study, using a broader scope and better statistics, says no.

So what specifically can you do now: It's important to note the current study only says moderate drinking won't help your health. On the other hand, it doesn't explicitly say that drinking, even modestly, will harm your health, though there are other studies that do say that. Whatever the case may be, if you're looking for improved health and longer youthspan, according to this new study, you won't find it at the bottom of a wine or beer glass.