Alcohol and life expectancy, explained
How this alcohol calculator works
Move the slider to your usual number of standard drinks a week. The calculator converts drinks to grams of pure alcohol (14 g per US standard drink) and places you in one of the bands from the largest study of alcohol and mortality: 599,912 current drinkers in 19 high-income countries (Wood et al., The Lancet 2018).
| Drinks a week | Grams a week | Band | Life expectancy at 40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | Not drinking | no alcohol-related loss in this model |
| 1–7 | 14–98 | Lowest-risk band | reference group |
| 8–14 | 112–196 | Above lowest-risk | about 6 months shorter |
| 15–25 | 210–350 | Heavy | about 1–2 years shorter |
| 26 or more | 364+ | Very heavy | about 4–5 years shorter |
In the Lancet study, the lowest risk of death was at up to about 100 g of alcohol a week. Compared with that group, drinking 100–200 g a week was linked to about 6 months less life expectancy at age 40, 200–350 g to 1–2 years less and more than 350 g to 4–5 years less. The study found that the associations were similar for men and women, so the calculator uses the same bands for both. The study included current drinkers only, so its reference group is light drinkers, not people who never drank.
The second result compares you with lifetime non-drinkers. It uses a 2023 review of 107 cohort studies with 4.8 million people, which adjusted for former drinkers and study quality (Zhao et al., JAMA Network Open 2023). Your weekly drinks are averaged to grams a day, and the result is the relative risk of death for your sex in that band.
| Grams a day | US drinks a week | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| under 25 | 1–12 | no clear difference (0.94) | no clear difference (0.99) |
| 25 to under 45 | 13–22 | no clear difference (1.01) | 21% higher (1.21) |
| 45 to under 65 | 23–32 | 15% higher (1.15) | 34% higher (1.34) |
| 65 or more | 33+ | 34% higher (1.34) | 61% higher (1.61) |
Worked example. A man who has 7 standard drinks a week (98 g, 14 g a day) is in the lowest-risk band of the Lancet study, with no clear difference from never-drinkers. A woman who has 14 drinks (196 g, 28 g a day) is in the band linked to about 6 months shorter life expectancy at 40, and her risk of death is about 21% higher than a woman who never drank. A man who has 21 drinks (294 g, 42 g a day) is in the band linked to about 1–2 years shorter life expectancy.
What counts as a standard drink?
| Drink | Pure alcohol | US standard drinks |
|---|---|---|
| Beer, 12 oz (355 ml) at 5% | about 14 g | 1 |
| Wine, 5 oz (148 ml) at 12% | about 14 g | 1 |
| Spirits, 1.5 oz (44 ml) at 40% | about 14 g | 1 |
| Pint of beer (568 ml) at 5% | about 22 g | about 1.6 |
| Large glass of wine (250 ml) at 13% | about 26 g | about 1.8 |
Definitions differ by country. A UK unit is 8 g of alcohol, so the UK guideline of no more than 14 units a week is 112 g, or about 8 US standard drinks (UK Chief Medical Officers, 2016). The WHO says no level of drinking is safe for health (WHO Europe, 2023).
How to cut down
- Count for one week. Most people underestimate. Home pours of wine are often a large glass, nearly 2 standard drinks.
- Have several alcohol-free days a week and avoid drinking a whole week’s amount on one or two days.
- Swap some drinks for alcohol-free beer or wine, or alternate with water.
- Get help if it is hard to stop. In the US, the SAMHSA National Helpline is free and confidential: 1-800-662-4357.
Alcohol is one of the habits in the add-years simulator and the full life expectancy calculator.
Alcohol and lifespan FAQ
How much does alcohol shorten your life?
In the Lancet study of nearly 600,000 drinkers, drinking more than about 100 g a week (about 7 US drinks) was linked to lower life expectancy at 40: about 6 months at 100–200 g, 1–2 years at 200–350 g and 4–5 years above 350 g.
Is one drink a day bad for you?
Seven drinks a week is about 98 g of alcohol, just within the lowest-risk band in the Lancet study. The WHO says no amount is completely safe, because risks such as cancer start at low levels.
What is the life expectancy of a heavy drinker?
It depends on how much and for how long, but in the Lancet study people drinking more than 350 g a week (about 25 US drinks) had a life expectancy about 4–5 years shorter at age 40 than people drinking under 100 g.
How many drinks a week is low-risk?
This calculator treats up to about 7 US standard drinks (100 g) a week as low-risk, based on the Lancet study. The UK guideline is no more than 14 UK units (112 g) a week, spread over several days.
Do you gain years back if you cut down?
In the Lancet study, men who drank under 100 g a week had about 1–2 years longer life expectancy at 40 than men who drank 196 g a week. How much you gain depends on your age and health, and the link was weaker at older ages.
Is drinking worse for women?
The Lancet study found similar associations for men and women; women drinking more than about 100 g a week had about 1.3 years shorter life expectancy at 40. A 2023 review that compared drinkers with lifetime non-drinkers found higher risk for women from 25 g a day (about 13 US drinks a week) and for men from 45 g a day (about 23 drinks a week).
Is moderate drinking good for you?
Not on current evidence. In the 2023 review of 107 studies, low-volume drinkers did not have a significantly lower risk of death than lifetime non-drinkers (relative risk 0.93, not significant). The WHO says no level of drinking is safe for health.
Last reviewed: · Sources · Educational estimate, not medical advice.
Sources
- Wood AM et al. Risk thresholds for alcohol consumption: combined analysis of individual-participant data for 599,912 current drinkers in 83 prospective studies. The Lancet, 2018.
- Zhao J, Stockwell T, Naimi T, Churchill S, Clay J, Sherk A. Association between daily alcohol intake and risk of all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analyses. JAMA Network Open, 2023.
- UK Chief Medical Officers. Alcohol consumption: advice on low risk drinking, 2016.
- WHO Regional Office for Europe. No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health, 2023.