Canada’s new alcohol guidelines say ‘no amount’ is healthy

Canada’s new alcohol guidelines say ‘no amount’ is healthy

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/canada-s-new-alcohol-guidelines-say-no-amount-is-healthy

2023-01-19

NEW YORK - Canadian health officials have overhauled their guidelines for alcohol consumption, warning that no amount is healthy and recommending that people reduce drinking as much as possible.

The new guidelines, issued on Tuesday, represent a major shift from the previous ones introduced in 2011, which recommended that women consume no more than 10 drinks per week and that men limit themselves to 15.

The experts who developed the guidelines said the new approach builds on growing evidence, after decades of sometimes conflicting research, that even small amounts of alcohol can have serious health consequences.

Instead of recommending that people limit themselves to a specific number of drinks per week, the guidelines outline a “continuum of risk” associated with drinking even a few glasses of wine or beer over a seven-day period.

The risk is “low” for people who consume two standard drinks or fewer per week; “moderate” for those who consume between three and six standard drinks per week; and “increasingly high” for those who consume seven or more standard drinks per week, according to the guidelines, which were issued in a report by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.

The report defines a standard drink as a 12-ounce bottle of beer that is 5 per cent alcohol, a five-ounce glass of wine that is 12 per cent alcohol or a 1.5-ounce shot glass of a spirit that is 40 per cent alcohol.

“Research shows that no amount or kind of alcohol is good for your health,” the report states.

Recent research has found that even low levels of drinking slightly increase the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, and the risk goes up significantly for people who drink excessively.

Dr Catherine Paradis, interim associate director of research at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, said that consumption of even two drinks per week has been associated with an elevated risk of seven types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, as well as cardiovascular disease.

The good news, the report said, is that any reduction in alcohol consumption is beneficial. This is true even for those who do not cut their drinking to low or moderate levels.

To encourage consumers to cut down on their drinking, the report recommended that all alcoholic beverages sold in Canada come with warning labels, similar to those on cigarettes. NYTIMES

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