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BuzzkillNot to put a cold blanket on this because I want it to be true, but this all appears to be based on epidemiology and not actual blind studies (which obviously have ethical issues) so the results are never going to have a hugely high confidence level. At best more likely than not. That's especially the case when you are talking about increasing/reducing risk as opposed to actual causation.
Also, from the article:
"Past studies have found moderate drinking was linked to lower mortality. However, some researchers were dubious, asking whether those who drink moderate amounts aren’t just healthier overall than abstainers. That question remains. In some cases, people abstained from drinking because of prior health issues, further muddling the data. While the NASEM committee tried to avoid this pitfall in its study selection, other variables may be at play.
The committee’s reviews were limited by a “consistent set of research gaps,” the report says. Among those are a lack of standard definitions of alcohol consumption levels, underreporting of alcohol consumption by study participants, as well as a lack of data stratified by age, sex, smoking status and genetic ancestry. Many studies are also observational, making them less rigorous."
Like, literally