A drink a day leads to higher risk of health problems: study

Aug 30 2022, 7:50 pm

A new study by the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction suggests that major health problems could develop from having even just one drink a day.

The study said that the more researchers looked at the data, the more concerning the numbers were.

“Over time, the aim of drinking guidelines has changed from the designations of ‘safe’ or ‘sensible’ guidelines to the designation of ‘low-risk’ guidelines. The change in designation comes as research has shown that for numerous health outcomes, such as gastrointestinal diseases, cancer, and injuries, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.”

The study says the risk of major health problems increases the more you drink.

CCSA

“Based on published mechanistic, animal and epidemiological studies, diseases that were not considered to be causally related to alcohol use are now thought to be so,” the study states. “Furthermore, the leading causes of death among those causes related to alcohol were, for males, ischemic heart disease, followed by colorectal cancer and unintentional injuries (excluding road injuries) and, for females, breast cancer and unintentional injuries (excluding road injuries).”

So, the question on everyone’s mind: how much can I drink and not completely fall apart?

“Thresholds for alcohol use should ideally be set at either 4 or 11 g/day for both males and females in Canada.”

That comes out to 28 to 77 g/week.

For reference, according to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a standard drink contains 14 grams of alcohol. That amount is found in one regular beer, five ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.

This means two to five drinks per week are recommended.

Peter KleinPeter Klein

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