Queue the Winston Churchill quote "I've taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me". I believe he died at age 91. Although it seems crazy that we could have ever believed alcohol is healthy in any way.
Anecdotal accounts could be one offs. We need data for a full picture and even than the data could be biased.
It may very well be Churchill could have survived longer were it not for alcohol.
This recent post seems to imply that they now have more accurate and more unbiased data leading them to this new conclusion. I think a lot of people at the WHF drink some amount of alcohol as do most people in the world. However, despite this, their conclusions and announcements must be based off data which is exactly the right thing to do and exactly what they are doing here.
There's some data on scholar, for instance a suggested health difference between wine vs beers or spirits, based on ~28k participants monitored over 2-19 years[0].
From my understanding the narrative of moderate alcohol consumption (specifically wine, via resveritrol) being beneficial comes from epidemiological studies of people living in the Mediterranean, an area with relatively long median life spans[1]
Other than this being an anecdote and doesn't mean everyone who drinks heavily will leave to their 90s, the quality of those 90 years matters too!
Though he became Prime Minister for the last time at the young age of 76 in 1951, he was plagued by health problems. He suffered many minor strokes and at least one that left him partially paralyzed for some time. He only stayed on as PM as long as he did because his successor was sick as well (Anthony Eden).
Don't know about you, but I would rather live a healthy 70 years than live 90 years but where the last 20 years are plagued with illness and thus lower quality. In that light, I try to minimize the bad habits that may result in poorer health and thus lower quality life in my later years. Not saying I'm a saint, but I don't need to drink every day or even every week. Currently I'm mostly dry. Saves a lot of money too!
It may very well be Churchill could have survived longer were it not for alcohol.
This recent post seems to imply that they now have more accurate and more unbiased data leading them to this new conclusion. I think a lot of people at the WHF drink some amount of alcohol as do most people in the world. However, despite this, their conclusions and announcements must be based off data which is exactly the right thing to do and exactly what they are doing here.