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Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Molly Knudsen, M.S., RDN is a Registered Dietician Nutritionist with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from Texas Christian University and a master’s in nutrition interventions, communication, and behavior change from Tufts University. She lives in Newport Beach, California, and enjoys connecting people to the food they eat and how it influences health and wellbeing.
Image by EASY-2-SHOOT / Stocksy
August 03, 2024
There’s no doubt that heavy drinking comes with a slew of health concerns1 and that completely abstaining from it eliminates all potential health risks of alcohol.
These discrepancies actually stem from biases in the research itself. How is low or moderate consumption defined? What about abstinence? Did someone formerly drink? So researchers of a new systematic review analyzed data from 107 studies including nearly 5 million participants to show how high-quality studies of alcohol intake and mortality risk (often considered a measure of health and longevity) produce very different results than low-quality studies when it comes to low amounts of alcohol consumption. Here’s what they found.
About the study
- For this systematic review, researchers looked at studies that:
- Followed groups of people over time (whether that was months to several years)
- Captured at least two different levels of alcohol consumption
As each individual study could have a different definition of how they grouped alcohol consumption, researchers of this review standardized groups to be:
- Former drinkers who now abstain
- Current occasional drinkers (up to 1 drink a week)
- Low-volume drinkers (up to 2 drinks a day)
- Medium-volume drinkers (up to 4 drinks a day)
- High-volume drinkers (up to 6 drinks a day)
- Highest-volume drinkers (6 or more drinks a day)
From this pool (of 107 studies), they then identified characteristics, “that might bias results toward low-volume drinkers appearing to live longer than abstainers.” These biases include whether:
- Former or occasional drinkers were classified in the abstainer group
- The study cohort was younger or older
- Participants had certain health concerns at the start of the study
- Measures of alcohol consumption spanned at least 30 days
- People smoked cigarettes
- Researchers accounted for socioeconomic status
And when these high and low-quality studies are pitted against each other, there’s a clear difference.
Quality studies show low-volume drinking is not protective
Overall, analysis of the studies that met the quality criteria found that people who drank up to 2 drinks a day had about the same mortality likelihood as abstainers.
Whereas when the same type of analysis was run only using low-quality studies, researchers found that drinking up to 2 drinks a day was linked to a 16% lower risk of mortality—making some alcohol consumption appear more healthy than none. But this study clearly shows this seemingly beneficial effect is solely because of biases in the research, not because alcohol is actually healthier.
What does this mean? The health benefits of occasional alcohol consumption might not be as significant as once thought.
How much alcohol is ok to drink?
Now, guidelines in the U.S. recommend that women don’t consume more than one and men don’t consume more than two alcoholic drinks a day (so very close to how this study classifies low-volume).
But at the end of the day, less alcohol is better for your health, sleep, mood, brain, and gut. Period.
4 steps to take take if you don’t want alcohol to derail your health
Here are some ways you can still enjoy alcohol (because there can be social benefits to drinking) while prioritizing your health.
- Only drink during special occasions: One way to pare back your alcohol intake is to only drink during special occasions—like a wedding, anniversary, or birthday celebration. These events (likely) aren’t daily or weekly occurrences. So if you are someone who typically unwinds with a glass of wine a night, this is a great place to start.
- Keep to one beverage per occasion: During times you do drink, try sticking to just one beverage (or two spaced out). One drink is equal to 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces (a shot) of spirits.
- Stay hydrated: Hydrating when you’re also drinking alcohol is vital (because it can dehydrate you, but so is drinking enough water daily. Simply staying hydrated can give the liver (the main organ that detoxes alcohol from your system) some much-needed help.
- Bolster detoxification with targeted supplements: Speaking of detoxification, your body keeps these processes on 24/7, and sometimes these pathways need support to run smoothly. mindbodygreen’s liver detox+ is designed to do just that. liver detox+ feeds your main detox organ with potent antioxidants—like glutathione, milk thistle, and NAC, vitamin C, and selenium—to efficiently eliminate toxins before they become a burden.*
The takeaway
For far too long, it was accepted that drinking some alcohol could help you live longer and be healthier. Turns out the benefits of alcohol have long been over-hyped. But you also don’t have to completely abstain from alcohol for optimal health.
Drinking mindfully and taking steps to support your liver can help you keep all the things you love about drinking (the taste, relaxation, or community) and minimize the chances of alcohol-related concerns.
If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medications, consult with your doctor before starting a supplement routine. It is always optimal to consult with a health care provider when considering what supplements are right for you.