For example, one survey may ask questions in a way that permits a diagnosis of alcohol dependence. Another study, however, may ask questions about alcohol consumption and alcohol problems without including specific diagnostic criteria, and thus a diagnosis cannot be made. However, some individuals with the defective form of ALDH2 can become tolerant to the unpleasant effects of acetaldehyde and consume large amounts of alcohol. Epidemiologic studies have shown that such individuals have a higher risk of alcohol-related esophageal cancer, as well as of head and neck cancers, than individuals with the fully active enzyme who drink comparable amounts of alcohol (31). These increased risks are seen only among people who carry the ALDH2 variant and drink alcohol—they are not observed in people who carry the variant but do not drink alcohol. While many of the facts conveyed in this post may sound as though they are meant to dissuade individuals from drinking, the goal is not to pass judgment on behavior or to make the argument in favor of abstinence.
Risks Of Moderate Drinking
It’s possible that the fast-acting enzyme breaks down alcohol before it can have a beneficial effect on HDL and clotting factors. Interestingly, these differences in the ADH1C gene do not influence the risk of heart disease among people who don’t drink alcohol. This adds strong indirect evidence that alcohol itself reduces heart disease risk. However, a prospective study following almost 15,000 men at four-year periods found only an increased risk of minor weight gain with higher intakes of alcohol. [19] Compared to those who did not change their alcohol intake, those who increased their intake by 2 or more drinks a day gained a little more than a half-pound.
People Who Shouldn’t Drink At All
Heavy drinking thresholds for women are lower because after consumption, alcohol distributes itself evenly in body water, and pound for pound, women have proportionally less water in their bodies than men do. This means that after a woman and a man of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol, the woman’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) will tend to be higher, putting her at greater risk for harm. While there is no guaranteed safe amount of alcohol for anyone, general guidelines can help clinicians advise their patients and minimize the risks. Here, we will provide basic information about drink sizes, drinking patterns, and alcohol metabolism to help answer the question “how much is too much? ” In short, the answer from current research is, the less alcohol, the better.
Related Articles
During pregnancy, drinking may cause the unborn baby to have brain damage and other problems. And drinking raises the risk of problems in the digestive system. During pregnancy, it increases the risk of pregnancy moderate drinking loss and of a child having growth and developmental problems in future. This information on drinking in moderation was adapted from materials from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Studies suggesting a heart benefit
Past studies often compared people who drank alcohol against a mixed group of nondrinkers. Although some of the people in the nondrinking group never drank alcohol, some had stopped drinking because they were recovering from alcohol use disorders and had been heavy drinkers for years before they quit. Others had given up alcohol because of health problems, such as heart disease or diabetes, or because they were taking medications that interacted with alcohol, says Dr. Manson. Furthermore, although alcohol research in general is becoming increasingly sophisticated, the measurement of alcohol consumption remains imprecise. In alcohol epidemiology, differences abound in definitions, scientific assumptions (e.g., regarding the alcohol content of a drink), and methods for calculating drinking levels. Although no one method or assumption is inherently better or worse than another, substantial differences in their use and in the resulting findings exist.
Shifting Benefits and Risks
These differences may result in ambiguous or even conflicting results and must be taken into account in order to draw valid conclusions or develop appropriate guidelines. According to the federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025, individuals who do not drink alcohol should not start drinking for any reason. The Dietary Guidelines also recommends that people who drink alcohol do so in moderation by limiting consumption to 2 drinks or less in a day for men and 1 drink or less in a day for women.
- There are books on alcoholism with general guidelines that can help people looking for ways on how to moderate drinking.
- In recent years, the alcoholic beverage market has become even more diversified.
- It’s also a good idea to have some days when you don’t drink at all.
- Servings must not be averaged, but rather taken on a per episode basis.
- An alarming one in three American adults has high blood pressure.
Alcohol use: Weighing risks and benefits
- Short-term recall methods ask respondents for information about their actual alcohol consumption over a short period of time (e.g., the past week).
- Hormones may also impact the rate at which alcohol is metabolized.
- Whether beverage type matters for other diseases remains uncertain, although most evidence suggests that it does not.
- By doing so, you may even identify any triggers that cause you to drink—for example, certain social situations, stress from work, or even boredom.
- But those studies lumped all nondrinkers together, including those who had quit because of substance use issues or illness.
- But a January 2022 policy brief from the World Heart Federation (WHF) aims to set the record straight.
In addition, some of the health benefits of red wine we often hear about have been called into question by recent research. Gallstones and type 2 diabetes are also less likely to occur in moderate drinkers than in individuals who drink no alcohol at all. A drink before a meal may improve digestion, and occasional drinks can be a social tonic that contributes to overall well-being.
How To Drink In Moderation
- The heart-protective theory was based on the finding that moderate drinkers had better cardiovascular health than both nondrinkers (by a little bit) and heavy drinkers (by a lot).
- The current study is the first to indicate that light to moderate alcohol consumption has longer-term neurobiological effects in dampening activity in the amygdala, which may have a significant downstream impact on the cardiovascular system.
- Liqueurs and cordials, usually grouped with distilled spirits, often are less concentrated than standard liquors.
- Nevertheless, research to date investigating the association between alcohol consumption levels and various diseases has relied primarily on self-reports of alcohol consumption.
- “If we could find the mechanism, the goal would be to find other approaches that could replicate or induce alcohol’s protective cardiac effects without the adverse impacts of alcohol,” said Tawakol.