More than 10 years ago, an organization in the United Kingdom called Alcohol Change U.K. kicked off a Dry January campaign to encourage U.K. residents to abstain from drinking alcohol for January.
Fast forward to today, the initiative has become a global trend. This year, some 11 million U.K. residents will participate, and surveys find more than 200 million Americans attempt to give up alcohol for January.
This year, Dry January comes as governments across the globe reassess guidelines for how much alcohol is safe to consume. Last year, the World Health Organization published a new statement on alcohol consumption: No amount of alcohol is safe to consume. Canada followed suit, advising residents to have no more than two drinks per week, a decrease from the previous recommended limit of 15 drinks for men and 10 for women. (Australia published similar recommendations in 2020.) In the U.S., the National Institutes of Health has convened a panel to reevaluate the evidence on alcohol consumption and will publish new guidelines later this year.
A growing body of evidence suggests this is a wise move. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that alcohol consumption is responsible for some 140,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Their research found premature deaths typically involved adults aged 35 or older and were primarily related to the health consequences caused by too much drinking over time, such as cancer, liver disease, and heart disease.
Research shows that even moderate alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. A large study published in The Lancet found that alcohol consumption is connected to more than 60 diseases among men in China, including many conditions that were not previously connected with alcohol use, including gout, cataract, and gastric ulcer.
But alcohol’s biggest threat is that it leads to cancer. Large studies show that alcohol is connected to a significant proportion of cancer cases, including breast, bowel, stomach, pancreatic, throat, and liver cancers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies alcohol as a group 1 carcinogen, the highest risk group, which also includes asbestos, radiation, and tobacco.
What’s going on here? Molecular research shows that alcohol damages DNA in cells and prevents the body from repairing the damage, causing damaged cells to reproduce and create a tumor.
While the U.S. awaits updated alcohol consumption guidelines based on the most recent evidence, adhering to the new Canadian guidelines may be the best evidence-based solution.
The Canadian guidance recommends that two drinks or fewer per week will likely avoid health consequences related to alcohol consumption. It says that consuming three to six drinks per week increases the risk of developing cancer, and seven or more drinks per week also significantly increases the risk of heart disease or stroke.
The guidelines also recommended drinking no more than two drinks on any one occasion and abstaining from alcohol when pregnant or breastfeeding.
The take-home message: The latest evidence finds that alcohol consumption at any level increases the risk of developing serious health problems.
