Doctors reveal what reasonable alcohol consumption looks like and who should avoid it

According to a recent survey, 40% of adults decide to drink less alcohol by 2026, so some may struggle to find a healthy balance.

Health experts agree that each person’s relationship with alcohol is unique, based on history, tolerance and lifestyle.

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a Pennsylvania-based oncologist and author of the new book “Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life,” has noted that doing certain activities, such as eating ice cream or drinking alcohol, may not be healthy to do every day, but they can provide some benefits in moderation.

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“There’s been a lot of research done on alcohol,” he said in a recent interview with “News Sunday Morning.” “The safest level is probably zero. There are some studies… where it’s half a cup a day, three cups a week.”

“On the other hand, 60% [to] “65% of the public drinks,” he continued. “You don’t go from 65% to zero, so you have to give people reasonable advice.”

Emanuel advised against excessive drinking or drinking alone, both of which are “really bad for you.”

“[But] “If you use alcohol as a lubricant for social interaction, which a lot of people do, it’s probably a good thing,” he said. “You’re getting some benefit from the social interaction.”

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When social drinking becomes risky

While the stress-relieving factors of drinking may be helpful for some, consuming alcoholic beverages can be risky for those predisposed to addiction, experts warn.

On a recent episode of “The Huberman Lab” podcast, Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine, discussed the fine line between indulging for pleasure and potentially fostering a problem.

According to Huberman, who is also a neuroscientist at Stanford University, up to 10% of people experience alcohol as a “dopaminergic,” making them feel “spectacularly good.”

Others may drink and experience a signal to stop, such as dizziness, nausea, “blackouts,” severe hangovers, or other negative effects.

“The safest level is probably zero.”

“Some people can actually have five or six drinks and the next day they’re at work working hard,” he said. “The conversation becomes very difficult to have, because it seems like how people will react is very individual.”

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High risk groups

According to Huberman, one of the biggest risk factors for becoming an alcoholic is having your first drink before the age of 14.

“I think some people have their first drink and it’s like a magic elixir for their physiology,” he said. “And there are very few things that can make someone like that stop drinking, except the risk of losing everything.”

Humphreys said the biggest indicator of personal risk is whether alcoholism runs in someone’s family, especially if their parents were alcoholics.

“The father-son bond is the strongest seen in genetics,” he said. “Men drink more than women…whether or not they have a problem with alcohol.”

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Drinking alcohol has been shown to be especially harmful for women, substantially increasing the risk of developing hormone-related cancers.

Risk versus benefit

For those not predisposed to addiction, Huberman noted that some studies suggest that certain types of consumption are okay in moderation, such as drinking red wine or having a maximum of two drinks per week.

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“I would love to believe [red wine] “It’s healthy,” Humphreys responded. “It’s not… Why would there be a benefit to red wine that isn’t found in other alcoholic beverages?”

“There may be some cardiac benefits, but we can’t live our lives as single organs. We have a whole body,” he continued. “If that’s true, it’s less than the risk of cancer. So the net result is that you’re not going to get any reduction in mortality from drinking alcohol.”

Drinking two drinks a week, such as a 12-ounce beer, a 4-ounce glass of wine, or a 1-ounce shot of liquor, poses only a “very small risk” of health complications, but it’s not something Humphreys would recommend, as it’s “just not good for you,” he said.

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However, despite the risks, experts recognized the social and stress-relieving benefits of having a drink.

“Getting together with friends is fun and enriching,” Humphreys said. “Good food and good wine taste good, and I value those things. And there are a lot of other decisions that we make like that where we take some risk because we’re worried about something else.”

“It’s probably dangerous for someone my age to climb the side of a mountain, but if the view is spectacular, I can say, ‘Oh, I’ll take that risk.'”

“Good food and good wine taste good and I value those things.”

What has become most dangerous about social drinking, according to Humphreys, is that some people feel they need to explain themselves when they stop.

Huberman echoed: “If you don’t drink at parties or turn down an offer of alcohol, people think something is wrong with you.”

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Given recent data on the risks of alcohol consumption, Humphreys said it should be easy to say no, much like choosing not to smoke a cigarette.

“I think health is one of the reasons why people still accept it as a legitimate right [reason] to change behavior,” he added.