In the United States, people younger than age 21 are not legally able to drink alcohol. The investigators reported in the journal BMC Medicine that people who drank from 2 to 7 glasses of wine per week were much less likely to be diagnosed with clinical depression. Women usually have lower levels of alcohol dehydrogenase (AHD) than men. Consequently, alcohol remains in a woman’s system longer and builds up faster.
- Past studies may have masked the health benefits of not drinking at all.
- 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).
- According to those definitions, “ beer” includes strong beer (i.e., beer with an alcohol content greater than 3.2 percent), beer with an alcohol content of up to 3.2 percent, ale, malt liquor, and similar types of beverages.
Shifting Benefits and Risks
“The fundamental issue is who is in the comparison group,” says psychiatrist Sarah Hartz of Washington University in St. Louis. 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. By 2022 the World Heart Federation stated that alcohol did not protect people. When alcohol is consumed, it passes from the stomach and intestines into the bloodstream, where it distributes itself evenly throughout all the water in the body’s tissues and fluids. Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach increases the rate of absorption, resulting in higher blood alcohol level, compared to drinking on a full stomach.
Alcohol Use and Your Health
In 2012, results of a study of swine with high cholesterol levels suggested that moderate consumption of both vodka and wine may reduce cardiovascular risk, with wine offering greater protection. In 2015, 26.9 percent of people in the United States reported binge drinking in the past month. Past studies may have masked the health benefits of not drinking at all. Keep in mind, too, that alcoholic drinks contribute little to no other nutritional value.
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They’re typically straight-up calories, nothing more—and if you order a fruity- or soda-based beverage you’ll add even more “empty” calories. It found that drinking moderately reduces stress, tension, self-consciousness and even depression. On the flip side, moderate drinking also can increase happiness, euphoria and carefree feelings. A review study (and meta-analysis), which was published in 2011 in the journal BMJ, showed that drinking alcohol significantly raised HDL cholesterol, yet didn’t raise total cholesterol, LDL or triglycerides.
Is moderation still the golden rule, or is every sip now a gamble? 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. An Italian review of studies published in the European Journal of Epidemiology found that moderate wine and beer consumption reduced the risk of cardiovascular events, but spirits did not.
Consuming moderate amounts of certain types of alcohol, such as wine, has shown some benefits. However, it is important to note that many studies making these claims are inconclusive. One standard drink in the U.S. contains around 14 grams of pure alcohol. 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.
Based on this definition, most people who consume alcohol would likely consider themselves moderate drinkers, regardless of the actual alcohol amounts they consume. Department of Health and Human Services, the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide recommendations on what the average American should eat and drink to promote health and help prevent chronic disease. According to the guidelines, adults of legal drinking age can choose not to drink or to drink in moderation by limiting intake to two drinks or less in a day for men and one drink or less in a day for women when alcohol is consumed. There are some adults who should not drink alcohol, such as women who are pregnant. Adults who choose to drink, and are not among the individuals listed below who should not drink, are encouraged to limit daily intakes to align with the Dietary Guidelines. People who do not drink should not start drinking for any reason.
For example, separate QF questions for different periods within a given timeframe (e.g., each month within the past year) produce higher estimates than does one global QF question (e.g., consumption during the entire year). Similarly, beverage-specific questions or questions asking for consumption in different contexts (e.g., in bars, at home, or at parties and fetal alcohol syndrome famous people celebrations) produce higher estimates than do global questions asking about total alcohol consumption. The perspective of epidemiological sociology is the synthesis of several epidemiological approaches to the study of alcohol use and abuse and their consequences. Here, use and consequences are studied independently rather than as one psychiatric condition.
The threshold for safe alcohol consumption is closely linked to body weight. Excessive alcohol use can harm people who drink and those around them. You and your community can take steps to improve everyone’s health and quality of life.
