How much alcohol can you drink a week and still be healthy?

livemint.com:

How much drinking is bad for you? Though more people are calling themselves sober-curious or are trying zero-proof replacements for alcohol, drinking is a regular part of social life for most of us. A coupe of champagne can add fun to a celebration. A cocktail can take the edge off a tough day.

And a cold beer can liven up a sports game. Yet scientists’ warnings about the potential health problems of even small amounts of alcohol are growing more dire. For moderate drinkers, it can be hard to know what’s actually OK to consume: Is two a day that much worse than one? Are two drinks over a week the same as two in a day? Averaging no more than about one drink a day is relatively low risk, according to scientists who study alcohol.

They warn the risk of cancer rises significantly when you exceed that. Studies have suggested that alcohol contributes to about half a dozen types of cancers, including breast and colorectal, as well as heart and liver disease, among other conditions. The only way to completely avoid related health problems is to stop drinking alcohol.

Plenty of people do cut it out entirely, but for many others, that’s a nonstarter. A U.S. federal dietary committee is currently evaluating alcohol consumption guidelines, which recommend that men consume no more than two drinks a day and, for women, no more than one.

In 2020 a federal committee proposed lowering the recommendations for men in line with the women’s guideline, but it wasn’t ultimately adopted. Newer guidelines from others suggest being even more conservative than that. After assessing a wide range of studies, an influential group of Canadian researchers last year looked at how the risk of dying from anything alcohol-related—including cancer, heart