TUESDAY, June 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Two drinks a day is associated with a significantly higher risk of premature alcohol-related death, according to a study published online June 8.Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research.
Sinead George, of the University of Toronto, and colleagues estimated the lifetime risk of alcohol-related death and disease in the United States based on average weekly alcohol consumption over a person’s lifetime and assessed the health effects of alcohol consumption. The analysis included combined exposure data from the National Health Survey, relative risks, population data from the US Census Bureau, mortality data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and morbidity data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
The researchers found that at low levels of consumption, there was no net protective effect of alcohol consumption on health. From relatively low levels, increased mortality and disease risk have been associated with alcohol consumption. For example, men consuming more than 6.5 and women consuming more than 7.0 drinks per week had a lifetime risk of alcohol-related death of >1:1,000. These risks increased to 1:100 at >8.5 drinks per week for men, and at >14 drinks per week for men (the upper limit of previous dietary guidelines for men), the risk of alcohol-related death was 1:25. There was also an effect of alcohol consumption on risk. For more than one drink per occasion, higher consumption was associated with a gradual increase in the risk of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and injury.
“Having clearer thresholds will help people better understand what levels of drinking are associated with increased risk and make informed decisions about when to drink,” lead author Kevin Shield, PhD, also of the University of Toronto, said in a statement.
