Too Much?

New studies show that even moderate drinking is a health hazard. Here’s a frank look at the toll alcohol takes on the body

- Brad Badelt

The risks of heavy drinking have been widely understood for decades. Modest alcohol consumption, however—a glass of wine or beer a day, or a shot of liquor—has long been thought of as harmless. Or in the case of red wine, even beneficial. Red wine has been cited as a potential health booster because of an ingredient called resveratrol, which is thought to have powerful antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties that can help protect against cancer, arthritis and other diseases. But growing evidence suggests that having a drink a day might not be so benign after all.

A 2018 study published in The Lancet looked at drinking patterns and health in millions of people (both men and women) from 195 countries. The researchers reported having a drink a day can be modestly beneficial for preventing heart attacks, but that was outweighed by heightened risks of stroke, aortic aneurysm and heart failure.

Overall, the study found that health risks rose with the amount of alcohol consumed. People who had one alcoholic drink a day had a 0.5 per cent higher risk of developing one of 23 alcohol-related health problems than non-drinkers. With two drinks a day, the risk rose by seven per cent. “The safest level of drinking is none,” the study’s authors concluded.

“The health halo around moderate drinking has definitely slipped off,” says Tim Naimi, director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. For starters, Naimi points out, alcohol is a known carcinogen. There is strong evidence that drinking booze—even just a drink a day— increases the risk of a variety of cancers, including in the liver, breast, mouth, throat and colon. Recent studies have found other negative health impacts, as well.

So how does alcohol harm the body? Here’s what happens when you drink.

IT DISRUPTS YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM