Grim.

Who among us hasn't had a sneaky glass of wine or two  after a long, hard day at the office? You've been answering calls all day, you've been flat out, you've been dealing with clients at 5.24pm on a Friday who just won't leave you alone despite the fact that your shift ended almost half an hour ago. Fairly grim. The only thing now to (try) end your day on a decent note is to have a glass of wine. As it turns out though, having that extra glass of wine on your night off might actually be detrimental to your health. According to new research published in the Lancet Medical Journal, having your extra glass of wine could potentially shorten your life by 30 minutes. See? We told you it was grim. The study shows that while five 175ml glasses of wine per week is safe, adding just one more to this increases your risk of stroke, aneurysm, heart failure, and even early death. The chances of this happening are even greater if you're over the age of 40 too. Great. Researchers looked at data from over 600,000 wine drinkers cited in over 80 different studies and found that early death was far more common in people who drank over five glasses of wine a week. The study showed that one 40-year-old in particular who drank over twice the recommended amount of wine per week cut their life expectancy by six months. Similarly, people who consumed over 350g of wine or beer a week shortened their life expectancy by up to five years. Pretty grim, really. According to the HSE, a low-risk level of alcohol consumption is 11 standard drinks a week for women, and 17 standard drinks a week for men. A standard drink can be:

• A pub measure of spirits (35.5ml)
• A small glass of wine (12.5 percent volume)
• A half pint of normal beer
• An alcopop (275ml bottle)