Men Should Have No More Than One Alcoholic Drink A Day, Federal Committee Warns

TOPLINE

An influential federal panel is recommending that men reduce their alcohol intake to one drink per day rather than two, and that all Americans should cut back on added sugars.

KEY FACTS

Key Background:

The committee’s recommendations related to reduced alcohol consumption align with recent studies on the subject. According to the current guidelines published by the Canadian government, low-risk drinking constitutes no more than ten drinks per week for women and 15 for men. Yet, a Canadian study recently published in the Journal of Alcohol and Drugs found that people whose drinking accords with those guidelines are still at risk of developing severe alcohol-related health problems. In particular, the study found that 50% of cancer deaths resulting from alcohol use in British Columbia occurred among moderate drinkers. A study by South Korean scientists published last year found that one glass of wine a day is worse for the heart than binge drinking.

Critical quote: 

“We found that those drinking within moderate guidelines, even though they are following the low-risk drinking guidelines still in one year, experienced about 140 more deaths and nearly 4000 hospital stays than they would have if they had instead abstained,” said Adam Sherk, a postdoctoral fellow at the Canadian Institute for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Victoria.

Further Reading:

Men should cut back on booze, federal panel says (Politico)

Moderate drinkers still at higher risk for cancer, early death, alcohol study claims (Fox News)