Drinking one glass of wine per night is unlikely to stave off an early death.
Glass of wine
Previous studies have suggested that light alcohol consumption is actually beneficial for a person's health but a new study from German academics has debunked the claims.
Researchers at University Medicine Greifswald examined data from more than 4,000 adults and interviewed them about their drinking habits in the late 1990s and then followed it up 20 years later.
In the two decades separating the interviews, scientists found no significant difference in the risk of dying compared to low and moderate drinkers.
Professor Ulrich John, who led the study, added that the findings suggested there was no health benefit to drinking alcohol.
He said: "It has long been assumed low to moderate alcohol consumption might have positive effects on health, based on the finding that alcohol abstainers seemed to die earlier than low to moderate drinkers.
"The findings speak against recommendations to drink alcohol for health reasons."