There is a lot of controversy surrounding the question of whether drinking alcohol regularly is good or bad for your overall health and longevity. Early widespread beliefs tended to suggest that drinking, especially heavy drinking, was bad for you. More recently, there were popular studies that claimed to show that moderate drinking was actually good for you. Moderate drinking could lead to greater longevity versus abstaining, in particular by lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease. Later studies, however, seemed to call these potential benefits into question.

One study found no benefit to longevity from moderate drinking. The study concluded that “the results support the view that people in the general population who currently are abstinent from alcohol do not necessarily have a shorter survival time than the population with low to moderate alcohol consumption. Increased mortality risks among abstainers might largely be explained by previous alcohol or drug problems, risky drinking, daily smoking, and self-rated health as fair to poor. The findings speak against recommendations to drink alcohol for health reasons.” Basically, people who abstained from alcohol tended to be former alcoholics, smokers or people who were already in poor health. Abstainers who did not have these risk factors showed the same life expectancy as moderate drinkers.

Heavy drinking is less controversial. It is bad for you. According to the CDC, drinking too much can harm your health. Excessive alcohol use led to more than 140,000 deaths and 3.6 million years of potential life lost (YPLL) each year in the United States from 2015 – 2019, shortening the lives of those who died by an average of 26 years. Further, excessive drinking was responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults.

Short-Term Health Risks

Excessive alcohol use has immediate effects that increase the risk of many harmful health conditions. These are most often the result of binge drinking and include the following:

• Injuries, such as motor vehicle crashes, falls, drownings, and burns.
• Violence, including homicide, suicide, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence.
• Alcohol poisoning, a medical emergency that results from high blood alcohol levels.
• Risky sexual behaviors, including unprotected sex or sex with multiple partners. These behaviors can result in unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
• Miscarriage and stillbirth or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) among pregnant women.

Long-Term Health Risks

Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems including:

• High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems.
• Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum.
• Weakening of the immune system, increasing the chances of getting sick.
• Learning and memory problems, including dementia and poor school performance.
• Mental health problems, including depression and anxiety.
• Social problems, including family problems, job-related problems, and unemployment.
• Alcohol use disorders, or alcohol dependence.

By not drinking too much, you can reduce the risk of these short- and long-term health risks. Moderate drinking is defined as 2 drinks or less in a day for men or 1 drink or less in a day for women.

So what is excessive drinking? Excessive drinking includes binge drinking, heavy drinking, and any drinking by pregnant women or people younger than age 21.

Binge drinking, the most common form of excessive drinking, is defined as consuming:

• For women, 4 or more drinks during a single occasion.
• For men, 5 or more drinks during a single occasion.

Heavy drinking is defined as consuming:

• For women, 8 or more drinks per week.
• For men, 15 or more drinks per week.

I, for one, was very happy to believe that drinking in moderation—especially red wine—was good for you. According to the definitions above, however, I was both a binge drinker and a heavy drinker. Typically, I would have 2-4 drinks per day after work and with dinner—a few beers or up to a full bottle of wine. When I went out with friends on weekends, I would generally have 6 or more drinks a night. I would justify this level of drinking by thinking I needed to relax after work or have fun going out. More recently, however, I began to see this as a potential problem. Was I drinking too much? I have since cut back to 0-2 drinks per day with dinner and fewer nights out. I still associate drinking with relaxation and fun, but I have successfully scaled back my drinking to what would be considered a “moderate” level.

How did I reduce my drinking? I found that it is easier to not buy alcohol when I am in the store than to not drink when I have beer and wine at home. So, a little willpower when shopping has helped to curtail my drinking. When I do buy alcohol, I try to remember that the positive effects of drinking on mood—feeling relaxed, less anxious and more confident—peak after a drink or two. Drinking any more leads to the negative effects, including feeling depressed. This requires a little self-awareness, discipline and habit forming.

Are you drinking more than a moderate level? If so, cutting back could add years to your life.