Men should limit alcohol consumption to 1 drink a day: gov’t report
Men shouldn't drink more than one alcoholic beverage a day, according to a recently released government report on dietary guidelines.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture posted the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s final report on nutrition topics on Wednesday, which seeks to develop the official 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
According to the executive summary of the report, “evidence points to a general rule that drinking less is better for health than drinking more.”
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“Therefore, the focus should remain on reducing consumption among those who drink, particularly among those who drink in ways that increase the risk of harms,” explained the summary.
“The Committee concluded that no evidence exists to relax current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations, and there is evidence to tighten them for men such that recommended limits for both men and women who drink would be 1 drink per day on days when alcohol is consumed.”
This is a change from current standards, which say men should limit themselves to two drinks a day when consuming alcohol, while women should restrict themselves to one drink.
The summary also noted that “binge drinking” is becoming an increasing habit in the United States and that “alcohol has little nutritional value.”
“Alcohol consumption and binge drinking are increasing in the United States, and excessive alcohol consumption is a leading behavioral risk factor for a variety of morbidity and mortality outcomes, social harms, and economic costs,” noted the summary.
“As a nation, our collective health would be better if people generally drank less,” Dr. Timothy Naimi of Boston University and member of the committee, told The Associated Press.
The report recommending a tightening of drinking for American men comes weeks after Canadian researchers released a study concluding that even moderate drinking could be harmful.
Last month, researchers headed by professor Adam Sherk of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, concluded that drinking within Canadian guidelines posed health risks for both men and women.
“Despite the comparatively high level of these guidelines, drinkers adhering to these limits were still exposed to increased hospital stays for both genders and increased mortality in men,” the researchers concluded.
The Canadian study said that many countries have low-risk drinking guidelines on alcohol consumption, with North American standards generally being higher compared to other nations.
“Adherence to guidelines did not eliminate alcohol-caused harm: those drinking within guidelines nonetheless experienced 140 more deaths and 3,663 more hospital stays than if they had chosen to abstain from alcohol,” the researchers added.
