Rethinking your drınking?
If you're considering cutting back, here are tips to get started
If you're not ready to give up drinking entirely, cutting back can lower the likelihood of these harms.
When experts talk about the dangers of excessive drinking, we often assume those warnings apply mostly to people with alcohol use disorder, a health issue some-times referred to as alcoholism.
But people who don't meet formal criteria for this disorder can still experience toxic effects and suffer other serious harms from alcohol, says Dr. John F. Kelly, professor of psychiatry in addiction medicine at Harvard Medical School. And as research turns up new evidence about alcohol, many people are considering the benefits of drinking less, even if they're not ready to stop imbibing entirely.
How alcohol use affects your body
This depends on how much you drink. Drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol (defined as one drink per day for women and two for men) increases your risk for developing:
■ liver disease
■ several types of cancer including breast, liver and colon cancer
■ cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation.
What if you're not drinking daily?
"Even people who only drink on weekends can have serious accidents if they become intoxicated — for example, by falling or driving under the influence," Kelly says.
What's more, growing evidence suggests that even small amounts of alcohol may harm your health.
How cutting down on alcohol can help you
If you're not ready to give up drinking entirely, cutting back can lower the likelihood of these harms. For example, cutting down on alcohol, or stopping entirely, is linked with lower cancer risks, according to a report from the American Association for Cancer Research.
You also might notice some immediate benefits, like sleeping more soundly, memory improvements and generally feeling more mentally sharp. And because you'll be taking in fewer calories, you also may shed some weight.
5 tips for cutting back on alcohol
1 Keep a drinking diary
Tracking how much alcohol you drink can help you target your efforts to drink less. It's also a good idea to put your reasons for cutting back in writing: for example, "I'd like to sleep better;" "I feel sharper;" "better heart health is important to me." That practice can reinforce your resolve to follow through with your plan.
2 Try alcohol-free days — or a month of not drinking
Taking a break from alcohol can be a good way to start, allowing your brain and body to recalibrate. Decide not to drink a day or two each week. You may want to abstain for a week or a month, to see how you feel physically and emotionally without alcohol in your life.
3 Drink slowly and with food
Sip your drink. Alternate alcoholic drinks with nonalcoholic alternatives like sparkling water, soda or juice. Don't drink on an empty stomach, because you'll feel intoxicated more quickly. That can lower your inhibitions and break your resolve to stick to lower amounts of alcohol, Kelly says. Drinking with a meal slows alcohol absorption and appears to minimize the drug's health risks.
4 Try low-alcohol or zero-alcohol substitutes
Alcohol-free beer, nonalcoholic distilled spirits and similar products have become more widely available in recent years. It's a result of the alcohol industry's response to the sober-curious movement gaining momentum.
5 Compare alcohol contents
While light beers have fewer calories, they don't necessarily have much less alcohol than regular beer. The average light beer is about 4.3% alcohol, versus 5.0% in regular beer.
Also, be aware that some craft or specialty beers contain far higher amounts of alcohol — up to 12% or 14% or even higher. Beverages that combine wine or hard liquor with seltzer or other mixers also vary widely in their alcohol content.
How to cut down on temptation
Three more tips can help you meet success when changing drinking habits.
■ Don't keep alcohol in your house: Making your home an alcohol-free zone takes away the risk of immediate temptation.
■ Guard against temptation: Steer clear of people and places that make you want to drink. If you associate drinking with certain events, such as holidays or vacations, make a plan for managing these situations in advance.
■ Check in with your feelings: When you're worried, lonely or angry, you might be tempted to reach for a drink. "Think about other ways you might alleviate those feelings, such as going for a walk or calling a friend," Kelly suggests.
Finally, try an interactive tool from the Centers for Disease Control and prevention (cdc. gov/drink-less-be-your-best) which can help you make a personalized plan to drink less.
New research says health risks accelerate after 1 drink per day
According to a study published June 8 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, adults should stick to one drink per day (generally 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits), or seven drinks total a week, if they hope to avoid the worst of health effects associated with alcohol. And even that rate is not devoid of risk, the study's authors caution.
After conducting a large-scale review of more than 7,200 studies on alcohol-related disease, the authors found that the risk of serious illness or death from alcohol begins with drinking habits generally considered "moderate" by Americans. Seven drinks per week gives you a 1 in 1,000 lifetime risk of death, while adding just two more — for a total of nine drinks — increases that risk to 1 in 100.
If you stick to old federal guidelines, which set a limit of two drinks a day or 14 drinks per week, that stat surges to a whopping 1 in 25 risk of death. These rates were fairly consistent, with relatively small variation, among men and women.
"No protective effect of drinking was observed even at low levels," study co-author Katherine M. Keyes, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, said "Even moderate levels of consumption increase the risk of premature death and disability."
New dietary guidelines laid out by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Health and Human Services in January recommend people "consume less alcohol for better overall health" without specifying or defining consumption limits.
— Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today
