This study found daily and weekly limits may be much, much higher than they should be.
Having a drink or two is something millions of people in North America do to relax at the end of the day. Getting to the bottom of research around how healthy this practice really is, is akin to trying to determine whether or not you should be drinking that cup of coffee with your breakfast each morning. It all depends on what research was done today and who you read. Some say a bit of alcohol is great and others warn you to avoid the substance with a ten-foot pole.
What’s new? A recent study done by researchers at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, is now saying that a few drinks here and there may be worse for you than once thought. In fact, they go so far as to argue the current standards for safe drinking really aren’t all that safe at all, when it comes to your heart.
If you don’t drink now, don’t start. If you do, drink less.
According to the study’s author, Dr. Bethany Wong, most people should be drinking far less than they might be doing right now.
“To minimize the risk of alcohol causing harm to the heart, if you don’t drink, don’t start,” she said. “If you do drink, limit your weekly consumption to less than one bottle of wine or less than three-and-a-half 500 ml cans of 4.5% beer.”
The current volumen guidelines issued by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in the US state men shouldn’t drink more than 14 drinks per week and women, 7 drinks. That breaks down to no more than 4 drinks a day for men and 3 drinks daily for women. Clearly, this presents a very large discrepancy. Wong’s recommendations place the daily limit as a new weekly recommendation, suggesting the set guidelines could be way over what may be healthy to consume.
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The danger alcohol poses to your heart
Wong states her research suggests drinking more than 70 g of alcohol per week is associated with a progression to symptomatic heart failure in people of European descent. Long-term heavy alcohol use is known to cause something called alcoholic cardiomyopathy, which is a type of heart failure. She also says her team’s work didn’t uncover any actual benefits to consuming low amounts of alcohol, contrary to some existing studies.
The US isn’t the only country to have alcohol consumption guidelines that are currently much different from these current suggestions. For example, in Ireland, people who are at risk of developing heart failure or pre-heart failure are advised to drink no more than 17 units of alcohol per week if you’re a man, and 11 units if you’re a woman. This is more than three to four times Wong’s suggested weekly limit. Wong points out that people with different genetic backgrounds can respond differently to alcohol but her message may certainly be a wake up call.
How to drink less
If you’re interested in cutting back on your alcohol consumption, consider having an honest chat with your doctor as a first step. They can advise you on a safe route to take. You might also consider these eleven tips offered by Harvard Health that can lead to drinking less.
For more on the study described above, click here to read about it on ScienceDaily.com.
photo credits: 5PH/Shutterstock;com
