Fellas: New research out of University College London suggests that just a humble couple of pints per day, that life-affirming tipple to which you look forward after a hard day’s work, might not be doing you any favors in the smarts department. Drinking 36 grams or more of alcohol per day is shown to accelerate cognitive decline in just about every measurable area, but memory in particular: Over a 10-year period, the memory function could age nearly six additional years.

“Excessive alcohol consumption is known to have detrimental short- and long-term effects on the brain, but the effect of consumption of around 3 to 4 drinks per day is less clear,” said Séverine Sabia, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, United Kingdom.

The news appears to support other recent alcohol-related health advisories. Namely, the idea that having a drink or two per day is not only OK, but actually beneficial in terms of overall health and longevity. Anything more than that is considered “heavy” drinking.” Most people are aware that abusive drinking and alcoholism are destructive, but the idea that having a few beers every day might have health implications will come as a shock to some.

“Heavy alcohol consumption is known to be detrimental for health, so the results were not surprising . . . they just add that [it’s] also detrimental for the brain and the effects can be observed as [early] as 55 years old,” said Sabia. “There is no need to be an alcoholic to see a detrimental effect of heavy alcohol consumption on cognition [thinking skills].”

Unlike previous studies that examined alcohol-related cognitive decline in elderly subjects, this study is unique in that it also includes middle-aged subjects.

“The elderly may have reduced their alcohol consumption due to health concerns,” said Dr. Sabia. “In many of the previous studies, the effect of heavy drinking was difficult to assess due to the small number of heavy drinkers.”

Researchers documented the alcohol use of 5,000 men and 2,000 women three times over a period of 10 years before administering the first of three tests of memory and executive function. While no decline was observed in men who were teetotalers or “moderate” (up to two drinks per day) drinkers, those who drank more expressed accelerated mental decline at rates of 1.5 to 6 years faster than normal.

“We have lots of clinical experience to suggest that heavy drinking can have adverse effects on cognition. But what was new about this study, at least in men, was that it didn’t seem that light or moderate drinking” was more harmful than not drinking alcohol at all, said Dr. Marc Gordon, chief of neurology at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y., who was not involved in the research.

The study was unable to gather enough data to reach any conclusions regarding alcohol-related cognitive decline in women, though the evidence they do have suggests that consuming 19 or more grams of alcohol per day might have similar negative effects for women.

So, have a pint or two, just not too many. Added Dr. Gordon, “And nothing in this study [contradicts the idea] that having one drink a day is OK.”

Cheers to that.