Alcohol Study Highlights Health Risks and Policy Tensions
A study commissioned by President Joe Biden’s administration on alcohol-related health harms was released independently. The previous administration, led by President Donald Trump, did not include the findings in new dietary guidelines due to industry pushback and pressure from a congressional committee.
The study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, confirms that health risks increase with just one drink per day. No amount of alcohol consumption offers protective effects on mortality. Even moderate drinking raises the risk of premature death and over 200 diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.
Previously, Robert Vincent, a former Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration official, criticized the Trump administration for sidelining this vital research. He argued that the conflict stemmed from the clash between scientific evidence and commercial interests. Vincent was laid off as part of a government workforce reduction.
After the researchers released a draft report, the alcohol industry launched campaigns to discredit their findings. The study faced criticism from the House oversight committee, which accused it of bias and predetermined conclusions. Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, assured that the study was considered along with other scientific evidence while forming the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Dr. Timothy Naimi, one of the study’s authors, emphasized the need for the guidelines to mention specific drinking quantities for informed decisions. His research stands in contrast to other government studies that suggested moderate alcohol use might decrease mortality risk from all causes. Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, another study author, noted their focus was on alcohol-specific mortality to avoid confounding factors.
The study’s findings are consistent with recent research calling for decreased alcohol consumption. For instance, a 2019 study in Lancet indicated that moderate drinking increased stroke and high blood pressure risks without health benefits. Older studies suggesting heart benefits had methodological limits, and those benefits mostly vanished upon adjusting for factors like education and healthcare access.
About half of Americans aged 12 or older reported drinking in the past month, making alcohol the most commonly used addictive substance. One drink is roughly a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or a shot of liquor.
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