A sobering new study says people under 40 shouldn’t drink alcohol at all

A new study shares surprising recommendations for people under 40.

Essentially, the study encourages young people to put down that delightful summer cocktail or delicious beer this minute.

You should not drink alcohol at all.

According to a study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle, people under the age of 40 suffer significant health risks from drinking.

The research findings were published in The Lancet, a British medical journal, on Thursday.

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Health risks associated with drinking include car accidents, injuries and even murder, according to the study.

The study found that people under the age of 40 receive no health benefits at all from drinking alcohol.

People 40 and older can benefit from limited alcohol consumption — for example, the occasional glass of red wine — as long as they don’t have underlying health risks.

According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, the benefits of small amounts of alcohol include a potential reduction in the risk of developing heart disease, ischemic stroke, and/or diabetes. (None of these results are guaranteed with moderate drinking.)

“Our message is simple: Young people shouldn’t drink, but older people can benefit from drinking small amounts.”

This new study, from authors at the Global Burden of Diseases project, based at the University of Washington in Seattle, analyzed the drinking habits of people in 204 countries and territories. The number of people consuming harmful amounts of alcohol rose to 1.34 billion in 2020.

Almost 77% of these people were male – with almost 60% of harmful use occurring in those aged 15-39.

Fox News Digital reached out to Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou, senior author of the study and professor of health metrics at the University of Washington, and was referred by the IHME to the press release on its website.

Among other things, the press release states: “Our message is simple: young people should not drink, but older people can benefit from drinking small amounts.”

“While it is unrealistic to think that young people will stop drinking,” the statement continued, “we believe it is important to communicate the latest evidence so that everyone can make informed decisions about their health.”

“Our message is simple: Young people shouldn’t drink, but older people can benefit from drinking small amounts.”

The study looked at the risk of alcohol consumption for 22 health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

For the purposes of the new study, a drink of alcohol was defined as 10 grams of pure alcohol — meaning a small 3.4 fluid ounce (100 milliliter) glass of red wine, a standard 12 fluid ounce (355 milliliter) can or bottle. Beer (3.5% alcohol) or a shot of spirits (30 milliliters) with 40% alcohol.

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“We provide clear evidence that the level of alcohol consumption that minimizes health loss varies significantly between populations and remains zero or very close to zero for several population groups, particularly young adults,” the study said.

“At the same time, small amounts of alcohol consumption are associated with improved health outcomes in populations that predominantly face a high burden of cardiovascular disease, particularly among older adults in many regions of the world,” she continued.

“In light of these results, we recommend changing existing policies to focus on emphasizing different optimal levels of consumption by age, rather than the current practice of recommending different levels of consumption by gender.”

Historically, there has been a focus on examining alcohol use in relation to gender — as exemplified in a report nearly a decade ago entitled “Closing the Gender Gap: The Case for Gender-Specific Alcohol Research” published in the Journal of Alcoholism and was released Drug Addiction in 2013.

This new study instead focused on multiple factors: world region, gender, age, and calendar year.

The study “Highlights represents serious advice for those under 40, and the authors call for alcohol consumption guidelines to be revised to emphasize consumption by age,” according to the University of Washington’s IHME website.

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The study “emphasizes that the alcohol consumption recommended by many existing guidelines is too high for young people in all regions.”

It also calls for “policies targeting men under 40 who are most likely to be harmful consumers of alcohol”.

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“This study underscores the importance of prioritizing interventions aimed at minimizing alcohol consumption among young adults,” the study also states.