You may think that a night of drinking with friends once a week is acceptable and a great way to blow off steam, or a drink or two every night with a meal is a fantastic way to de-stress, but could these habits be having long-term effects on your health?

It’s no secret that alcohol is not good for your health, and aside from being packed with sugar and therefore calories, it can also affect the brain, cause inflammatory damage, affect the body’s insulin, and damage tissues in the digestive tract, among more, and even if you do not have an alcohol dependency, over-consumption can shorten your life, this according to research conducted by a team of international researchers. According to CNN, the researchers observed the drinking habits of almost 600,000 current drinkers in multiple different studies and across 19 countries, and what they found was that drinking 100 grams of alcohol per week increases the risk of death of all causes and lowers life expectancy.

Around 50 percent of the people observed reportedly drank more than 100 grams of alcohol per week, while 8.4 percent reportedly drank more than 350 grams per week. When compared to those who drink under 100 grams, drinking between 100 grams and 200 grams per week would shorten the lifespan of a 40-year-old by six months. And for those who drink a lot more, the results are even more terrifying because those who drank between 200 and 350 grams would lose a year or two of their life, and drinking even more than this could result in the loss of four of five years.

According to The Guardian, the research indicates that although smokers lost on average ten years of life, Tim Chico, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Sheffield, claimed he would not be surprised if people who drink heavily lost as many years of life as a smoker. He added, “This study makes clear that on balance there are no health benefits from drinking alcohol, which is usually the case when things sound too good to be true.”

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