New draft alcohol guidelines, released today, recommend healthy Australian women and men drink no more than ten standard drinks a week and no more than four on any one day to reduce their risk of health problems.
This is a change from the previous guidelines, released in 2009, that recommended no more than two standard drinks a day, equating to up to 14 a week. (If you’re unsure what a standard drink looks like, use this handy reference.)
The guidelines also note that for some people – including teens and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding – not drinking is the safest option.
What are the new recommendations based on?
The National Health and Medical Research Council looked at the latest research and did some mathematical modelling to come to these recommendations.
It found the risk of dying from an alcohol-related disease or injury is about one in 100 if you drink no more than ten standard drinks a week and no more than four on any one day.
So, for every 100 people who stay under these limits, one will die from an alcohol-related disease or injury.
This is considered an “acceptable risk”, given drinking alcohol is common and it’s unlikely people will stop drinking altogether. The draft guidelines take into account that, on average, Australian adults have a drink three times a week.
Why did the guidelines need updating?
Recent research has shown there is a clear link between drinking alcohol and a number of health conditions. These include at least seven cancers (liver, oral cavity, pharyngeal, laryngeal, oesophageal, colorectal, liver and breast cancer in women); diabetes; liver disease; brain impairment; mental health problems; and being overweight or obese.
Some previous research suggested low levels of alcohol might be good for you, but we now know these studies were flawed. Better quality studies have found alcohol does not offer health benefits.
The new guidelines are easier to follow than the previous guidelines, which gave recommendations to reduce both short-term harms and longer-term health problems. But some people found these confusing.
Although most Australians drink within the previously recommended limits, one study found one in five adults drank more than the guidelines suggested and almost half could not correctly identify recommended limits.
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