A new study concludes low to moderate alcohol consumption is not likely to prevent premature death, HealthDay reports.

Previous research has suggested that low to moderate consumption of alcohol, particularly red wine, may benefit health, especially cardiovascular health, said lead researcher Ulrich John. The new study found that premature death among people who don’t drink is likely the result of unrelated health problems.

The study found premature death from heart disease or cancer was no higher among people who did not drink and did not have other health risk factors compared to people who consumed low to moderate amounts of alcohol.

“It has long been assumed that low to moderate alcohol consumption might have positive effects on health based on the finding that alcohol abstainers seemed to die earlier than low to moderate drinkers,” John said in a news release. “We found that the majority of the abstainers had alcohol or drug problems, risky alcohol consumption, daily tobacco smoking or fair to poor health in their history, i.e., factors that predict early death.”