Just one alcoholic drink a day raises your risk of more than a dozen health conditions — but it also protects you from a few.
That’s according to a new federal report that has analyzed the effects alcohol has on the body in some of the most granular detail yet, drawing on dozens of studies from around the world.
Overall, researchers found having just one alcoholic drink a week raises the risk of suffering from about 19 health conditions compared to not drinking at all.
These included a higher risk of colon and esophageal cancers and of liver cirrhosis.
But the report also suggested those having one drink a week also had a lower risk of diabetes and no greater risk of heart disease compared to teetotallers.
The findings are from a first draft of a report by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD), the latest in a raft of scientific evidence being used to inform new drinking guidelines for Americans.
Late last month, another report was published from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), which concluded with moderate certainty that drinking was linked to a higher risk of some cancers but a lower risk of death.
Dr Kevin Shield, who was involved with the report, told DailyMail.com: ‘It’s important to note that our report found that no level of alcohol consumption is completely risk-free.
‘The analysis results show that, among drinkers, the lower their alcohol consumption, the lower their risk of mortality.
‘Conversely, as alcohol consumption increases, so does the risk of mortality. So when it comes to alcohol use, less is best for health.’
Below, we break down exactly what the report found when it comes to a daily tipple and your health:
Concerns are being raised that the United States may shift to recommending just two alcoholic beverages per week (stock image)
Current US dietary guidelines recommend men consume no more than two alcoholic drinks per day while women consume no more than one alcoholic drink daily.
But a number of scientists have pushed for this to be lowered — saying more is now known about the harms posed by alcohol.
The US is currently in the process of putting together its new dietary guidelines for the next five years, which will need to be signed off by President-elect Donald Trump — who does not drink — and the likely eventual secretary of Health and Human Services, for which Robert F. Kennedy Junior has been nominated.
Lobbyists for the alcohol industry have pushed back on the new report, saying reports warning of the risks are products of ‘flawed, opaque and unprecedented processes’.
Research shows the proportion of 18- to 34-year-olds that occasionally drink alcohol has fallen from 72 percent to 62 percent in the last two decades.
At the same time, the proportion of drinkers aged 55 years and older has risen 10 percent from 49 percent to 59 percent.
Cancer
The most common types in younger people are breast cancer (15 percent), thyroid (15 percent), testis (eight percent) and melanoma of the skin (seven percent). The remaining 55 percent is attributed to other types of cancer, including colorectal cancer, also known as bowel cancer
The draft report from the ICCPUD is the latest to warn of a potential link between a higher risk of cancer and alcohol consumption.
The report analyzed data on seven cancers — colorectal, female breast, liver, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus [squamous cell type] — and their rates among drinkers compared to those who do not drink.
It found both men and women had a higher lifetime risk of several cancers if they consumed alcohol compared to if they did not drink.
Among men who had just one drink a week, the report said they had a 16 percent higher risk of colon cancer and a six percent higher risk of esophageal cancer compared to those who did not consume alcohol.
But among male heavy drinkers, this surged, with men who had three drinks a day, or 21 a week, having a more than three-fold higher risk of esophageal cancer.
Among women who had just one drink a week, the report said they had a five percent higher risk of pharyngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, laryngeal cancer and a slight increase in their risk of breast cancer compared to those who don’t drink.
But when women were having three alcoholic drinks a day, or 21 a week, the risk for these cancers surged, the report said — including for pharyngeal cancer where it was more than 90 percent higher compared to non-drinkers.
The report said: ‘Increased risk for these cancers begins with any alcohol use and increases with higher levels of use.
‘Women experience a much greater risk of an alcohol-attributable cancer per drink consumed.’
Other reports have issued similar warnings and said that moderate drinking among women leads to a higher risk of breast cancer.
Scientists warn alcohol can cause cancer by triggering increased mutations in cells, raising the risk of them mutating into cancerous cells.
In the body, alcohol is broken down into acetaldehyde — which is a known carcinogen, as declared by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Heart disease
Alcohol consumption does not lower your risk of heart disease, the report found
About 25 years ago, studies suggested drinking small amounts of alcohol had a benefit for heart health.
But this has since been refuted by multiple studies and was also not backed by the ICCPUD report, which said, compared to non-drinkers, those who drink do not have a lower risk of heart disease.
It analyzed data on ischemic heart disease, the most common type suffered by about 13million Americans, which is when the heart muscle doesn’t receive enough oxygen and blood.
It found men who drink two alcoholic beverages a day have ‘no difference in risk’ for heart disease compared to non-drinkers.
Among women who had one alcoholic drink a day, it also found there was ‘no difference in risk’ for heart disease compared to those who do not drink.
Researchers suggest other factors such as obesity, a poor diet and lack of exercise are more likely to impact someone’s risk of ischemic heart disease than alcohol.
The ICCPUD report also suggested low- to moderate drinkers had a lower risk of stroke. This could be because alcohol thins your blood, reducing the chances a blood clot will travel to the brain, which is what causes a stroke.
Among men and women having just one drink per week, researchers found an up to 10 percent lower risk of a stroke compared to those who don’t drink.
If this shifted to one drink a day, or 7 a week, the risk of suffering from a stroke was eight percent lower.
But at two alcoholic drinks per day, or 14 per week, both sexes were found to have an eight percent higher risk of suffering from stroke.
Death
Nationwide, America has a life expectancy of 77.5 years, according to the latest estimates from the CDC
The US has one of the lowest life expectancies among developed countries – at just 77.5 years – and alcohol consumption could cut that number even lower.
The report found men and women who consume more than seven alcoholic drinks a week have a one in 1,000 risk of death from alcohol only.
Those who consume more than nine drinks a week have a one in 100 risk of death, they said.
Dr Keith Humphreys, a researcher in alcohol harms and psychiatrist at Stanford who was not involved in the research, told DailyMail.com: ‘In terms of size of effect, I would say alcohol doesn’t have as much of an effect [as smoking or obesity].
‘Obviously, if you drink 10 pints a day then that is one thing, but that is not what this is about, people agree that 10 pints a day is bad.’
Unintentional and intentional injuries
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Drinking alcohol raises the risk of both unintentional and intentional injuries, the study found.
This is because inebriation reduces inhibitions, and makes it more likely people may engage in risky behavior, such as driving drunk.
The ICCPUD report found men who consume one drink a week had a four percent higher risk for unintentional injuries and a three percent higher risk for road injuries compared to those who do not drink.
But among those who had three drinks a day, or 21 in a week, they found they had a three-fold increased risk of unintentional injuries.
Among women, those who had only one drink a week were not shown to be at significantly higher risk for injury or car accidents.
But for women who had three drinks a day, or 21 in a week, there was also a 117 percent higher risk of injuries.
