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Alcohol use: Weighing risks and benefits

what is moderate drinking

During pregnancy, drinking may cause the unborn baby to have brain damage and other problems. Heavy drinking also may result in alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Throughout the 10,000 or so years that humans have been drinking fermented beverages, they’ve also been arguing about their merits and demerits. The debate still simmers today, with a lively back-and-forth over whether alcohol is good for you or bad for you.

Most people can consider either:

what is moderate drinking

Excessive wean off alcohol 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. Drinking also adds calories that can contribute to weight gain. And drinking raises the risk of problems in the digestive system. For example, it may be used to define the risk of illness or injury based on the number of drinks a person has in a week. Loose use of the terms “moderate” and “a drink” has fueled some of the ongoing debate about alcohol’s impact on health.

An enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase helps metabolize alcohol. One variant of this enzyme, called alcohol dehydrogenase type 1C (ADH1C), comes in two “flavors.” One quickly breaks down alcohol, the other does it more slowly. 44 Those with one gene for the slow-acting enzyme and one for the faster enzyme fall in between.

Studies have found that with the same amount of drink, blood alcohol concentrations are at their highest just before menstruation and at their lowest on the first day after menstruation. Alcohol misuse refers drinking in a manner, situation, amount, or frequency that could cause harm to the person who drinks or to those around them. Alcohol misuse includes binge drinking and heavy alcohol use. When you stop drinking alcohol entirely, even as a moderate drinker, you allow your body and mind a chance to heal.

And the truth is, everyone may be affected by alcohol differently. But here’s what the experts have to say about drinking in moderation — the good, the bad, and the ugly — and your health. The less alcohol you drink, the lower your risk for these health effects, including several types of cancer. Excessive alcohol use is a term used to describe four ways that people drink alcohol that can negatively impact health. Not everyone who likes to drink alcohol stops at just one. When it comes to drinking alcohol and expecting a health benefit, moderation is the key.

Decide how many days a week you’ll drink and how much you’ll drink on those days. It’s also a good idea to have some days when you don’t drink at all. Moderate drinking is having one drink or less in a day for women, or two drinks or less in a day for men. In the U.S., 1 drink is usually considered to be 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1½ ounces of spirits (hard liquor such as gin or whiskey). 3 Each delivers about 12 to 14 grams of alcohol on average, but there is a wider range now that microbrews and wine are being produced with higher alcohol content.

Moderate drinking increases health risks compared to not drinking

  1. When trying to moderate alcohol intake over the course of an evening or a week, it helps to know how much alcohol is in each drink you consume.
  2. 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.
  3. Alcohol misuse refers drinking in a manner, situation, amount, or frequency that could cause harm to the person who drinks or to those around them.
  4. The definition of heavy drinking is based on a person’s sex.
  5. Researchers thought if they could find key mechanism, science might someday unlock benefits minus harm that comes with alcohol.

In general, risks exceed benefits until middle age, when cardiovascular disease begins to account for an increasingly large share of the burden of disease and death. Alcohol misuse—which includes binge drinking and heavy alcohol use—over time increases central nervous system depression the risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. It encompasses the conditions that some people refer to as alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, alcohol addiction, and the colloquial term, alcoholism.

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However, it is important to note that many studies making these claims are inconclusive. In 2012, results of a study of swine with high cholesterol levels suggested that moderate consumption of both vodka and wine may reduce cymbalta and alcohol cardiovascular risk, with wine offering greater protection. Women usually have lower levels of alcohol dehydrogenase (AHD) than men. Consequently, alcohol remains in a woman’s system longer and builds up faster. The threshold for safe alcohol consumption is closely linked to body weight.

Lasting changes in the brain caused by alcohol misuse perpetuate AUD and make individuals vulnerable to relapse. For example, any amount of drinking increases the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. As consumption goes up, the risk goes up for these cancers. However, a prospective study following almost 15,000 men at four-year periods found only an increased risk of minor weight gain with higher intakes of alcohol. 19 Compared to those who did not change their alcohol intake, those who increased their intake by 2 or more drinks a day gained a little more than a half-pound.

One standard drink in the U.S. contains around 14 grams of pure alcohol. People who have had problems with alcohol in the past may want to consult a doctor or therapist for help regulating their behaviors around drinking. This information on drinking in moderation was adapted from materials from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans must cover alcohol misuse screening and counseling.