What Happens to Your Body When You Drink Just One Beer or Wine Every Day, New White House Report Shows

Just one alcoholic drink a day increases your risk for more than a dozen health problems, but it also protects you from some health problems.

That is according to a new federal report that analyzed the effects of alcohol on the body in the most granular detail yet, based on dozens of studies from around the world.

Overall, researchers found that they drank only one alcoholic drink per week increases the risk of about 19 health problems compared to not drinking at all.

These include a higher risk of colon and esophageal cancer and of liver cirrhosis.

But the report also suggested that those who drank one drink a week also had a lower risk of diabetes and no greater risk of heart disease compared to teetotalers.

The findings come from an early version of a report from the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD), the latest in a series of scientific evidence used to inform new drinking guidelines for Americans.

Late last month, another report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) concluded with moderate certainty that drinking was associated with a higher risk of certain cancers, but a lower risk of death.

Dr. Kevin Shield, who was involved in the report, told DailyMail.com: ‘It is important to note that our report shows that no level of alcohol consumption is completely risk-free.

‘The analysis results show that among drinkers: the lower their alcohol consumption, the lower their risk of mortality.

‘Conversely, as alcohol consumption increases, the mortality risk also increases. So when it comes to alcohol consumption, less is best for your health.”

Below we outline exactly what the report found when it comes to a daily drink and your health:

Current U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that men consume no more than two alcoholic drinks per day, while women consume no more than one alcoholic drink per day.

But a number of scientists have urged a reduction in this – saying more is now known about the damage alcohol causes.

The US is currently drafting new dietary guidelines for the next five years, to be signed by newly elected President Donald Trump – who does not drink – and the likely eventual Secretary of Health and Human Services, for which Robert F. Kennedy is Junior nominated.

Alcohol industry lobbyists have pushed back on the new report, saying reports warning of the risks are the product of “flawed, opaque and unprecedented processes.”

Research shows that the share of 18 to 34 year olds who occasionally drink alcohol has fallen from 72 percent to 62 percent over the past twenty years.

At the same time, the share of drinkers aged 55 and over has increased by 10 percent, from 49 percent to 59 percent.

Cancer

The ICCPUD draft report is the latest to warn of a possible link between a higher risk of cancer and alcohol consumption.

The report analyzed data on seven cancers – colorectal, female breast, liver, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and esophageal cancer (squamous cell type) – and their rates among drinkers compared with those who don’t drink.

It showed that both men and women had a higher risk of several types of cancer when they drank alcohol than when they did not drink.

Among men who drank just one drink a week, the report said they had a 16 percent higher risk of colon cancer and a six percent higher risk of oesophageal cancer compared to those who did not consume alcohol.

But this increased sharply among male heavy drinkers: men who drank three drinks a day, or 21 a week, had a more than three times higher risk of esophageal cancer.

Among women who drank just one drink a week, the report said they had a five percent higher risk of throat cancer, oesophageal cancer, laryngeal cancer and a slight increase in their risk of breast cancer compared to those who did not drink.

But when women drank three alcoholic drinks a day, or 21 a week, the risk of these cancers soared, the report said – including for throat cancer, where it was more than 90 percent higher compared to non-drinkers.

The report states: ‘The increased risk of these cancers starts with any alcohol consumption and increases with higher consumption.

‘Women have a much greater risk of alcohol-attributable cancer per drink consumed.’

Other reports have issued similar warnings, saying that moderate alcohol consumption among women leads to a higher risk of breast cancer.

Scientists warn that alcohol can cause cancer by causing increased mutations in cells, increasing the risk of them mutating into cancer cells.

In the body, alcohol is broken down into acetaldehyde – a known carcinogen, as stated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Heart disease

About 25 years ago, studies suggested that drinking small amounts of alcohol had a benefit for heart health.

But this has since been refuted by multiple studies and was also not supported by the ICCPUD report, which found that those who drink, compared to non-drinkers, do not have a lower risk of heart disease.

It analyzed data on ischemic heart disease, the most common type affecting about 13 million Americans, in which the heart muscle does not receive enough oxygen and blood.

It found that men who drink two alcoholic drinks a day have ‘no difference in risk’ of heart disease compared to non-drinkers.

Among women who drank one alcoholic drink a day, it also found there was ‘no difference in risk’ of heart disease compared to those who didn’t drink.

Researchers suggest that other factors, such as obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise, are more likely to influence a person’s risk of ischemic heart disease than alcohol.

The ICCPUD report also suggested that low to moderate drinkers had a lower risk of stroke. This may be because alcohol thins your blood, making it less likely that a blood clot will travel to the brain, causing a stroke.

Among men and women who drank just one drink per week, researchers found an up to 10 percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who did not drink.

If this shifted to one drink a day, or seven a week, the risk of stroke was eight percent lower.

But two alcoholic drinks a day, or fourteen a week, showed that both sexes were eight percent more likely to have a stroke.

Dead

The US has one of the lowest life expectancies among developed countries (just 77.5 years) and alcohol consumption could reduce that number even further.

The report shows that men and women who consume more than seven alcoholic drinks a week have a one in 1,000 risk of dying from alcohol alone.

Those who consume more than nine drinks a week have a one-in-100 risk of death, they said.

Dr. Keith Humphreys, an alcohol harm researcher and psychiatrist at Stanford who was not involved in the study, told DailyMail.com: ‘In terms of the size of the effect, I would say alcohol doesn’t have that big of an effect (if smoking). or obesity).

‘If you drink ten pints a day, that is of course one thing, but that is not the point here. People agree that ten pints a day is bad.’

Accidental and intentional injuries

Drinking alcohol increases the risk of both unintentional and intentional injuries, the study found.

This is because drunkenness reduces inhibitions and makes people more likely to engage in risky behavior, such as driving drunk.

The ICCPUD report shows that men who consume one drink per week have a four percent higher risk of unintentional injuries and a three percent higher risk of road traffic injuries, compared to those who do not drink.

But among those who drank three drinks a day, or 21 in a week, they found they had a threefold increased risk of unintentional injuries.

In women, those who drank just one drink per week were not found to have a significantly higher risk of injury or car accidents.

But for women who drank three drinks a day, or 21 in a week, there was also a 117 percent higher risk of injury.