Is Alcohol Beneficial for Your Health? A New Report Adds to the Uncertainty.

 The report was published in advance of an update to the federal dietary guidelines scheduled for next year, which may include new recommendations on alcohol consumption.

Dec. 20, 2024, 4:00 PM GMT+6

Far from settling the debate over whether drinking in moderation is healthy or dangerous, the report’s conclusions further muddied the issue.

A significant report released this week found that, compared to abstaining from alcohol, moderate drinking was associated with a lower risk of death from all causes and heart disease, but it also presented an increased risk of breast cancer.

Rather than providing clarity on whether moderate drinking is beneficial or harmful, the findings have complicated the ongoing debate.

The report, which was published on Tuesday, was commissioned by Congress and conducted by a committee from the N

The current guidelines suggest limiting alcohol intake, with moderation defined as up to two drinks per day for men and one for women.

However, over the past few years, growing evidence has raised doubts about the health benefits of alcohol. In 2022, the World Health Organization stated that no level of alcohol consumption is considered safe. A comprehensive report earlier this year found that heavy drinking is linked to an increased risk of six types of cancer, including those of the head and neck, esophagus, liver, and stomach.

For this latest report, the committee reviewed research dating back to 2010 to examine the effects of moderate drinking on various outcomes, including death from all causes, heart disease, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, weight changes, and Alzheimer's disease. “We reviewed the available literature and were able to draw three conclusions with what we call moderate certainty, meaning we are confident in these findings based on the evidence at hand,” said Dr. Ned Calonge, chair of the NASEM committee.

Calonge and his team refrained from linking moderate drinking to colorectal cancer due to insufficient evidence, though this could change with further research.

Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of public health at Tufts University, emphasized the cancer risk as the key takeaway from the report. “What this essentially shows is that alcohol is a known carcinogen,” Siegel said. “There is no safe level of drinking, even at moderate or light levels, since it still increases cancer risk.”

Dr. Michael Pignone, a professor of medicine at Duke University, expressed skepticism about the claim that low levels of alcohol consumption reduce mortality or cardiovascular risk. He advised against starting drinking for health reasons. “I haven't seen enough evidence to recommend people stop drinking, but I wouldn’t advise anyone to start,” Pignone said.

A second report, set to be published by a group within the Department of Health and Human Services in the coming weeks, will also contribute to shaping the 2025 dietary guidelines.

“This report highlights how much we still don’t know,” said Dr. Nicholas Lim, a hepatologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He hopes it will encourage more research to improve our understanding of alcohol’s impact on health.