USA Today: PHI’s Dr. William Kerr Comments on the Health Risks of Drinking More Than One Alcoholic Beverage a Day

“A spirited debate is playing out in Washington, D.C., over what the government should tell Americans about spirits.

Federal dietary guidelines are getting an update this year, including guidance on how much alcohol Americans can safely drink. The current guidelines suggest a daily limit of two drinks for men, one for women.

The alcohol industry wants that language preserved. But alcohol safety groups, joined by many researchers, say the guidance is bad advice. Both sides are attacking the science behind a pair of reports prepared to help federal regulators craft new guidelines. Feb. 14 is the last day for public comment.

Stockwell points to Canada’s new alcohol guidelines, which suggest a healthy limit of two drinks a week. Other voices suggest a more moderate fix: Change America’s guidelines to recommend no more than one drink a day for anyone, regardless of gender.

Alcohol industry leaders would rather let the old guidance stand.

“I don’t think the science is there for changing the number from two to one,” said Laura Catena, a winemaker, physician and author. Catena says the current guidelines, read as a whole, are “fantastic.”

“I personally subscribe to the view that the guidelines are outdated and too high, and the evidence doesn’t support them,” said Tim Stockwell, a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

Are two drinks a day too many?

The full Dietary Guidelines for Americans on alcohol, which few Americans read, offers abundant cautions. Drinking more alcohol raises your risk of dying from drink[ing], the guidelines say. Even if you follow the one drink/two drinks limit, they say, you could face a higher risk of cancer and other diseases.

Health risks rise from one to two drinks a day

The study, published last month, assesses the risk of dying from alcohol at one and two drinks a day. At one drink a day, the risk is infinitesimal: A roughly 1 in 1,000 chance of alcohol-related death.

At two drinks a day, the lifetime risk rises to about one in 25. The largest single peril is not disease, the study says, but “unintentional injuries,” such as falling down stairs while intoxicated. There’s a smaller risk of alcohol-related cancer and cirrhosis – and a small benefit in reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. The heart benefit diminishes, and other disease risks rise, with heavier drinking.

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Originally published by USA Today