The authors urge the adoption of a common method for reporting alcohol consumption. Drinking excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages damages many organs, particularly the liver, brain, and heart. Paradoxically, however, beginning about 50 years ago, studies began to suggest that moderate drinking might actually be good for the heart. Moderate drinking is defined as one to two drinks per day for a man, and one drink per day for a woman.
Observational study limitations
There may be options that can help you cut back, without requiring you to quit alcohol completely. If you’re looking to adopt healthier drinking patterns and better monitor your consumption of alcohol, there are ways to limit your alcohol intake in easy, more manageable ways. Learn more about the results of some large prospective cohort studies of alcohol consumption and granada house boston cardiovascular disease.
Moderate drinking vs. heavy drinking
To find out, Columbia Magazine spoke with Katherine Keyes ’10PH, a professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and an expert on the health risks of our new drinking habits. Alcohol interacts in potentially dangerous ways with a variety of medications, including acetaminophen, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, painkillers, and sedatives. It is also addictive, especially for people with a family history of alcoholism. Another study found that it is widely assumed that light or moderate drinking is the safest way to to drink alcohol.
Most of the alcohol is broken down in the liver by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). ADH transforms ethanol, the type of alcohol in alcohol beverages, into acetaldehyde, a toxic, carcinogenic compound. Generally, acetaldehyde is quickly broken down to a less toxic compound, acetate, by aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Acetate then is broken down, mainly in tissues other than the liver, into carbon dioxide and water, which are easily eliminated. To a lesser degree, other enzymes (CYP2E1 and catalase) also break down alcohol to acetaldehyde.
The Basics: Defining How Much Alcohol is Too Much
Or suppose that the nondrinkers are born with a gene that gives them an unpleasant reaction when they drink alcohol — and that’s why they don’t drink. Suppose that same gene also raises their risk of getting heart disease. If that gene is the reason nondrinkers have more heart disease than people who take a drink a day, then people without that gene would get no heart benefits from taking a drink a day. Based on these results, the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend drinking only in moderation, if at all. Other authoritative organizations — such as the CDC and the American Heart Association — have echoed this advice.
Finally, distilled spirits exhibit a wide range in terms of alcohol concentration. Typically, many familiar forms of distilled spirits (e.g., vodka, whiskey, gin, or rum) have alcohol contents of 40 to 50 percent (often expressed as 80 to 100 proof). Considerable variation may occur even within these categories, with the alcohol content of some varieties being as low as 30 percent and others as high as 75 percent.
This adds strong indirect evidence that alcohol itself reduces heart disease risk. The definition of moderate drinking is something of a balancing act. Moderate drinking sits at the point at which the health benefits of alcohol clearly outweigh the risks.
- Maybe it’s those other practices, not the moderate drinking, that explains the lower risk of developing heart disease.
- Finally, the Dietary Guidelines provide specific recommendations for recovering alcoholics and for people who have family members with alcohol problems.
- For example, treatment providers base various treatment decisions on the drinking-behavior information provided by patients.
- Consuming moderate amounts of certain types of alcohol, such as wine, has shown some benefits.
- “Non‐drinkers, both ex‐drinkers and lifelong teetotalers, consistently show an increased prevalence of conditions likely to increase morbidity and mortality compared with occasional or light drinkers.
- These contributors included both experts external to NIAAA as well as NIAAA staff.
By sponsoring regular surveys, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has played an important role in establishing alcohol dependence in this category. In the United States, however, each bar, restaurant, or other establishment that serves alcoholic beverages can set its own standards, although establishments generally are consistent in the sizes of the drinks they serve. For beer, wine coolers, and similar alcoholic beverages, the serving size is most likely to be consistent across different households because a “serving” or drink often corresponds to one (standard size) can or bottle. For wine and distilled spirits (e.g., vodka and whiskey), however, the size of one drink is entirely up to the person pouring it and may vary from occasion to occasion. BAC is largely determined by how much and how quickly a person drinks alcohol as well as by the body’s rates of alcohol absorption, distribution, and metabolism.
Sign up to get tips for living a healthy lifestyle, with ways to fight inflammation and improve cognitive health, plus the latest advances in preventative medicine, diet and exercise, pain relief, blood pressure and cholesterol management, and more. 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. Jan. 17, 2024 – When it comes to alcohol consumption, moderation is everything. When it comes to alcohol, if you don’t drink, don’t start for health reasons. In the United States, people younger than age 21 are not legally able to drink alcohol. In this video, Dr. Bobby Lazzara explains the potential benefits of alcohol for your heart and emphasizes the importance of moderation.
