There is no safe level of alcohol consumption, according to a major global study.
Researchers in the US have pooled data from nearly 600 studies and found the benefits of drinking alcohol are outweighed by the harm it causes.
Previous research has indicated one drink a day for women and two a day for men was a safe level which could protect against heart disease.
But the authors of the new study say just one drink a day increases the risk of developing one of 23 alcohol-related illnesses by 0.5%, when compared with not drinking at all.
The research was published in The Lancet medical journal.
Lead researcher Dr Max Griswold, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said: "Previous studies have found a protective effect of alcohol on some conditions, but we found that the combined health risks associated with alcohol increase with any amount of alcohol.
"In particular, the strong association between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer, injuries, and infectious diseases offset the protective effects for ischaemic heart disease in women in our study.
"Although the health risks associated with alcohol start off being small with one drink a day, they then rise rapidly as people drink more."
A standard alcohol drink was defined as containing 10g of alcohol, or one unit. A pint of beer is two units.
The team used a statistical method to estimate the risks of consuming between zero and 15 alcoholic drinks a day.
Every year 2.2.% of women and 6.8% of men die of alcohol-related health problems including cancer, tuberculosis, and liver disease.
Globally, drinking alcohol is the seventh-leading risk factor for premature death and disease.
The study found that for people aged 15-49, alcohol was the most important risk factor, account for 3.8% of women's deaths and 12.2% of men's.
For those aged over 50, cancer is the leading cause of alcohol-related death.
The 0.5% increase means that 918 people in every 100,000 who drink one unit a day would develop a health problem compared with 914 who do not.
Lucy Rocca, founder of Soberistas, an online forum to help people stay sober, told Sky News: "I don't think it's realistic [for everyone to be sober].
"I didn't drink moderately, so over the years the negative impacts of my alcohol intake overtook the positive so I stopped.
"I think alcohol is ingrained in our society, so to make the decision to not drink is really bold.
"I've not drunk for seven years, and I feel much better, I've lost weight, it's better for my mental health.
"I can't see negatives associated with no drinking."
She added that those who are able to drink moderately are making their own choices based on their experiences.
Wine expert Joe Wadsack told Sky News: "The report makes salient points. If you are planning for fewer people to be ill in a country as a whole, then you have to look at it statistically.
"I think it comes down to a person by person basis.
"If you're drinking because you are in a group where you are having one or two bottles of wine in a social setting it's hard to say 'I might have a problem', because others will then say 'if you have one, I must do too' and it's hard to talk about that.
"People should enjoy it if they do, rather than habitually having it everyday."
More from US
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Men in Romania and women in Ukraine drink the most, 8.2 and 4.2 drinks per day respectively.
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