Study: No amount of alcohol is good for you

Whatever our drink of choice, no matter how frequently or infrequently we imbibe it, a new study from the Global Burden of Diseases not only recommends we drink less but also suggests that no amount of alcohol is good for your health.

Lenox Hill Hospital's Dr. Rachel Bond, the associate director of women's heart health, confirmed that the occasional drink—particularly red wine—can improve heart health.

"But we have to also understand that with benefits come risks," she said.

Those are the risks of dying from other causes. And we know that alcohol, a carcinogen, increases those risks.

"If you are an individual who's thinking that by drinking I'm lowering my risk of a disease, that's not the case," Bond said. She also quashed any hope from drinkers looking for an excuse to ignore this study for being small or amateur.

"It was actually published in the Lancet, which is a very well-renowned publication," Bond said. "That in and of itself should make us really acknowledge it."

This study looked at 26 years of other studies in nearly 200 countries and found statistically significant higher rates of death in those who drank from not only cancer but also accidental causes.

"I think the rule of thumb is if you are drinking, you really should try to minimize the amount regardless," Bond said.