
Non-drinkers seem to be most likely to take sick days related to mental health issues
Not drinking alcohol doesn’t make you less likely to take sick days, suggests a new study. Researchers from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health were curious about the correlation between drinking habits and missing work, so they discovered an interesting phenomenon. Both non-drinkers and heavy drinkers were more likely to get sick, while moderate drinkers took fewer days off.
Not drinking alcohol might keep you from going to work
Many people tend to brag if they don’t consume alcohol, so Finnish researchers decided to see if this has any influence on their health. Therefore, they looked at how alcohol consumption influenced illness among workers in three countries: UK, Finland, and France. There was an impact indeed, but not how you would expect it.
Those who were more likely to take sick days were both non-drinkers and heavy drinkers. Many people used to think not drinking is a lot better than moderate drinking, but this study proves the contrary. The results showed drinking played an important role in the mental health of the employees.
Moderate drinkers were the least likely to take sick days
For instance, non-drinkers had 50 percent higher chances of taking sick days for issues related to their mental health. However, the same correlation applied for other conditions as well. Among other diseases, there were also digestive and respiratory disorders and injuries of the muscles and bones.
Interestingly enough, the big amount of sick days was present even among people who drank really small quantities of alcohol. This way, researchers identified a low limit for sake drinking. For men, this is of about 34 units per week, while for women the limit is of 17 units per week.
However, take these findings with a grain of salt. The study was merely observational and looked at the correlation between alcohol and sick days. It didn’t take into account other diseases caused by alcohol consumption, as some guidelines might indicate much smaller quantities of alcohol as safe.
Image source: Max Pixel