Alcohol Use and Your Health Alcohol Use

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.

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Longitudinal studies have tried to adjust for these factors, but perfectly isolating the effects of moderate drinking remains difficult, if not impossible. This is why findings about moderate alcohol consumption are often contradictory, with some studies suggesting benefits (like reduced cardiovascular risk) and others showing risks (such as cancer or liver disease). Alcohol is one part of the ongoing debate surrounding the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Other contentious issues center around recommendations for red meat, sugary beverages, and environmental sustainability. Another important confounding factor to be considered is physical activity level. Furthermore, beer and spirit drinkers appear to have poorer dietary habits in general than wine drinkers 3•.

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French et al. 15 measured alcohol frequency ranging from 1–2 times per year to every day, while estimating the number of drinks per drinking day from 1–36. Such an analysis allows for a more complete description of participants’ drinking patterns, and is important as cross-sectional studies suggest that drinking frequency and intensity influence weight differently 14–16. Some studies have found a protective effect with low to how to drink moderately moderate levels of alcohol on overall health.

Risks

Talk with your doctor right away if you have signs of alcohol use disorder — even if you don’t think they’re causing any problems in your life. If you think you or a loved one may have developed a dependence or AUD from binge drinking, consider reaching out to a physician or therapist for help. In addition, certain individuals, particularly older adults, who are planning to drive a vehicle or operate machinery—or who are participating in activities that require skill, coordination, and alertness—should avoid alcohol completely.

• First, as previously mentioned, energy from alcohol appears to be additive to energy from other sources 5.
• This study, however, did not specify the amount of alcohol intake, and did not control for participant’s physical activity (PA) levels 40.
• 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.
• After more analysis of the research, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
• It was noted that calorie intake (not from alcohol) tended to increase along with alcohol intake.

What’s Moderate Alcohol Intake? What’s a Drink?

Studies have shown that females begin having alcohol-related problems at lower levels of alcohol consumption than males. Consuming too much alcohol for too long can be damaging to health. While alcohol does not pose a risk to health on its own, abusing can lead to liver disease and other fatal conditions.

• In 2018, when Hartz and her colleagues compared thousands of moderate and very light drinkers (one or two drinks per week), the advantages of moderate consumption basically disappeared.
• Acetate then is broken down, mainly in tissues other than the liver, into carbon dioxide and water, which are easily eliminated.
• In this video, Dr. Bobby Lazzara explains the potential benefits of alcohol for your heart and emphasizes the importance of moderation.
• The bottom line is that alcohol is potentially addictive, can cause intoxication, and contributes to health problems and preventable deaths.
• The body begins to metabolize alcohol within seconds after ingestion and proceeds at a steady rate, regardless of how much alcohol a person drinks or of attempts to sober up with caffeine or by other means.
• 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 (the amount of alcohol in the blood) will tend to be higher, putting her at greater risk for harm.

According to Harvard’s Professor of Medicine Dr. Eric Rimm, ScD, studies purporting to prove any alcohol consumption increases risks for dementia and other diseases are problematic. Said Rimm, “For longevity and all-cause chronic disease, those who drink 1-2 drinks a day relatively frequently do the best. “After that, if you enjoy a few drinks several times a week, it will probably do you benefit! In summarizing the recent literature it appears that light-to-moderate alcohol intake is less likely to be a risk factor for obesity than heavy drinking. Heavy drinking and binge drinking have been more consistently linked with adiposity. The effects of alcohol vary based on individual factors like genetics, metabolism, gender, age, and pre-existing conditions, adding further complexity.

Nutrition and healthy eating

• This study, however, did not control for PA levels and only assessed alcohol intake on a yes/no scale 42.
• Determining whether you should drink should be based on several factors, including your own health and lifestyle, your history with alcohol, and your body’s own limitations.
• Studies show that women start to have alcohol-related problems sooner and at lower drinking amounts than men and for multiple reasons.3 On average, women weigh less than men.

As I wrote in August, groups like Florida Rising that work primarily with voters of color are spreading a message about how racial and economic justice and abortion are intertwined to an audience that is more likely to get it. Then, of course, there are groups like Galvanize, that are working on moving moderate white women on the issue of reproductive freedom for the long haul. In addition, the paper did not account for different drinking patterns and says, “Low level drinking over several days/weeks is different than ‘binge’ drinking.’” In addition, the study relied on electronic health records, which may be inaccurate. Last, the analysis was based on current drinkers and ignored past drinking. A decade ago scientists and public health experts agreed with me.