{"id":7024780,"date":"2026-08-03T11:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/to-drink-or-not-to-drink\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T11:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:43:08","slug":"to-drink-or-not-to-drink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7024780","title":{"rendered":"To Drink or Not to Drink?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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17 Feb<\/span> Your Well-Being: To Drink or Not to Drink?<\/h2>\n

Recent studies <\/span>show that even <\/span>moderate alcohol consumption may <\/span>not be healthy<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Leslie Pepper<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Have you been enjoying\u00a0a daily glass\u2014or two\u2014of wine, thinking you\u2019re doing something good for yourself? That\u2019s not surprising, as for years, Americans have been getting the message that moderate drinking is healthy for your heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the paradigm on alcohol and health may be shifting, as a nightly glass of Merlot might not be healthy after all, according to a\u00a0series<\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0recent<\/span>\u00a0studies<\/span>. In January, outgoing US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, said alcohol should carry a warning label noting its link to cancer, like cigarettes.<\/span><\/p>\n

As people become more aware of the risks, alcohol consumption has hit a 90-year low in the United States. Just 45 percent of Americans drink, according to a recent Pew study.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk of dying from alcohol-related causes starts in as little as one drink a day for both men and women, with the risks of seven types of cancer increasing with any use of alcohol,\u201d says Christopher W.\u00a0Kahler, PhD, director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. \u201cEvidence that the risk of breast cancer increases at even low levels of drinking is particularly strong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That means that nobody should start drinking or continue to drink because they believe it has health benefits, he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Conflicting information<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But should you stop drinking altogether? The evidence is still conflicting, says Bubu A. Banini, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (digestive diseases) at Yale School of Medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome studies have shown that moderate alcohol use is linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke,\u201d says Banini.<\/span><\/p>\n

So why all the inconsistent information? A number of reasons contribute to the confusion. First, the way we\u2019ve studied alcohol and health has been problematic. Double-blind studies, in which neither the participants nor the researchers know who gets an intervention and who receives a placebo, are considered the gold standard in health studies: the anonymity removes any possibility of bias. But double-blind studies on alcohol\u2019s effects on health don\u2019t exist. After all, it would be tough to \u201cblind\u201d who in a group is drinking alcohol and who is drinking, say, clear juice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of this, the studies that have been done on alcohol and heart disease have been mostly observational. But observational studies are prone to several limitations, stresses Banini.\u00a0For example, when looking at groups of people who did and didn\u2019t drink alcohol, the groups are so different (in behavior, genetics, age, weight, the presence of diabetes or hypertension, etc.), that the benefits that have been attributed to drinking may just as likely have been the result of other differences between teetotalers and moderate drinkers. And even if you look within the group of nondrinkers, there are differences: some people have no history of drinking, while others have had moderate or significant alcohol use before quitting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol use are thought to be due mainly to antioxidants in red wine. \u201cIt is worthy of note, however, that these antioxidants may also be derived from nonalcoholic sources such as grapes, blueberries, and certain other foods,\u201d says Banini.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of all of this confusion, experts disagree on what amount of alcohol, if any, is safe or healthy to consume.<\/span><\/p>\n

Health and other concerns<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

We do know categorically that alcohol can be dangerous in several ways, including the following:<\/span><\/p>\n