Moderate drinking is associated with a lower risk of death, but there’s a big catch
major The report was issued This week found that compared with abstaining from alcohol, moderate drinking is associated with a lower risk of death from any cause and a lower risk of death from heart disease, but is also associated with an increased risk of breast cancer.
Far from settling the debate over whether moderate drinking is healthy or dangerous, the report’s conclusions further complicate the issue.
The report, released Tuesday, was commissioned by Congress and carried out by a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. An update to federal dietary guidelines next year could include new recommendations about how much alcohol people should drink.
the Current guidelines We recommend people limit alcoholic beverages, and say that if they choose to drink, they should do so in moderation, which is two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women.
But over the past few years, mounting evidence has called into question the health benefits of drinking. In 2022, Global Health Organization It was concluded that no amount of alcohol is safe. A Great report This year it was found that heavy drinking is linked to six types of cancer, including cancer of the head, neck, esophagus, liver and stomach.
For the report, the committee reviewed research dating back to 2010 to look at the relationship between moderate drinking and a number of outcomes, including death from any cause, death from heart disease, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, weight changes and cancer. Alzheimer’s disease.
“We looked at this body of literature and were able to come to three conclusions with what we call moderate certainty, and what that means is that we feel comfortable making these conclusions based on the evidence we have,” Dr. Ned Calunge said. Chairman of the NASEM Committee.
Calonge and his team stopped short of linking moderate alcohol consumption to colorectal cancer, saying there was not enough evidence to reach a firm conclusion, although that may change in the future with more research.
The link to cancer should be the most important takeaway from the new report, said Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University.
“Basically what this means is that alcohol is clearly a carcinogen,” Siegel said. “There is no level of moderate or light drinking that can be recommended to people, because at that level it will increase the risk of cancer.”
Dr. Michael Bigoni, a professor of medicine at Duke University, said he hasn’t seen enough evidence to tell people to stop drinking but they shouldn’t start.
“I’m skeptical that low levels of alcohol consumption actually reduce mortality or mortality from cardiovascular disease,” Binnone said. “I wouldn’t advise anyone to start drinking to get the health benefits.”
A second report conducted by a group within the Department of Health and Human Services that will be published in the coming weeks will also help inform the 2025 guidelines.
“I think this report highlights all the things we don’t know,” said Dr. Nicholas Lim, a hepatologist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, adding that he hopes it will lead to better research to clarify the matter. Understanding alcohol and health.