Moderate Drinking Raises Health Risks While Offering Few Benefits

Among both men and women, drinking just one alcoholic beverage a day increases the risk of liver cirrhosis, esophageal cancer, oral cancer and injuries of various kinds, according to a federal analysis issued on Tuesday.

Women face a higher risk of developing liver cancer even at this modest level of drinking. Drinking two drinks a day — double the U.S. Dietary Guidelines’ recommendation for women but the current amount condoned for men — increases the odds of a death caused by alcohol for both men and women.

The report, prepared by a scientific review panel under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services, is one of two dueling assessments that will be used to shape the influential U.S. Dietary Guidelines this year.

For years now, there have been fears among some scientists that the harms of moderate drinking have been underestimated, particularly the risk of cancer, the leading cause of death of Americans under 85, according to the American Cancer Society.

In December, a review by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, a nongovernmental body, came to conclusions that differ from this latest report, saying that moderate drinking was linked to fewer heart attack and stroke deaths, and fewer deaths overall, compared with no drinking.

The National Academies’ analysis acknowledged that moderate drinking in women was linked to a small but significant increase in breast cancer but said there was insufficient evidence to tie alcohol to other cancers.