The first of two major reports that will inform the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ alcohol consumption recommendations has found that moderate drinking is better than not drinking for certain health issues.
Headlines have already proclaimed the study a win for the bev-alc industry, but that doesn’t mean anyone (specifically women) should be taking a victory lap. The study, which analyzed existing studies to answer eight key questions, “concluded with moderate certainty that consuming a moderate amount of alcohol is associated with a higher risk of female breast cancer compared to never consuming alcohol,” according to a press release.
Below is a breakdown of the study and how it might impact the guidelines, which due to their new process this round – and among downward bev-alc sales – has caused a stir among beer and spirits trade groups.
Ned Calonge – chair of the Committee on Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health, which authored the report – noted in the report that Americans have “a long and complex societal relationship with alcohol consumption” and acknowledged there is room for the substance in everyday interactions.
“For many, drinking alcoholic beverages is part of daily life and in many social scenarios, including watching sporting events, celebrating important life events and achievements, convening socially, as part of meals, and accompanying other activities pursued for entertainment and enjoyment,” Calonge wrote.
He also gave a nod to the broader bev-alc and adjacent industries: “There is also a major economy revolving around alcoholic beverages, ranging from farming to provide ingredients, industry for manufacturing and packaging, distribution, sales, and marketing efforts that support consumer access, and the service industry that provides public and social settings for consumption,” Calonge wrote.
The 230-page report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released this week doesn’t offer recommendations. Rather, it combed through scientific studies from the past five to 15 years for evidence connecting moderate drinking and cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurocognition, weight, and death due to any cause (all-cause mortality). It also graded the quality of the evidence, specifying that conclusions were of lower or higher certainty based on insufficient or inconsistent evidence.
So what did the report find? Heavy drinking is, for sure, bad. “However, the association of moderate alcohol consumption with all-cause mortality is less clear,” reads the report. The study defined moderate drinking as the daily consumption of between zero and two drinks containing about 14 grams of alcohol.
An analysis of eight studies found that moderate drinkers had a 16% lower risk of all-cause mortality than non-drinkers. Other highlights include:
- Moderate drinking was associated with a lower risk of heart attack, stroke (low certainty) and cardiovascular disease mortality (moderate certainty) as compared to never drinking.
- Consuming a moderate amount of alcohol was associated with a higher risk of breast cancer as compared to never drinking (moderate certainty). No conclusion on the associations between moderate drinking and risk of certain other cancers, but moderate drinkers who drank more have a higher risk of colorectal cancer (low certainty) when compared to moderate drinkers who consumed less alcohol. (This is a contrast from the World Heath Org’s latest statement).
- There was insufficient evidence to make a conclusion on alcohol’s impact on weight (with some exceptions), neurocognitive issues, and lactation.
With the committee’s reviews limited by a “consistent set of research gaps,” the new report certainly doesn’t offer drinkers a crystal-clear picture. It should also be noted that the NASEM committee has been criticized for including researchers with financial ties to the alcohol beverage industry and whose research does not focus on alcohol and health.
The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) report – which has been the focus of opposition from bev-alc trade groups – is expected to be released next month. That will help determine if, like other countries and agencies, the U.S. will also dim alcohol’s healthy halo.