Canada issues stringent new alcohol health recommendations
Canada’s new national guidelines propose that residents consume no more than two alcoholic beverages each week, stating that “any amount of alcohol is bad for your health.”
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) announced Tuesday’s recommendations following two years of study, a review of roughly 6,000 papers, and a survey of around 1,000 members of the public.
The analysis, which was partially financed by Health Canada, indicates that consuming more than two “normal” drinks each week increases the chance of undesirable consequences, such as different malignancies.
A “standard” drink in Canada is a bottle of beer, a glass of wine, a single shot of liquor, or a bottle of cider.
This new CCSA paper is an update to a 2011 report titled Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines for Canada. Previously, recommendations advised a maximum of 10 drinks per week for women and 15 drinks per week for males, highlighting the dramatic shift in guidance from health professionals.
Dr. Peter Butt, the co-chair of the project that establishes Canada’s alcohol guidelines, stated, “The principles that we want to establish are that people have a right to know that drinking less is better and that there are harm reduction strategies that people can use to reduce their drinking in order to improve their health and well-being.”
Erin Hobin, a member of the panel of experts responsible for drafting the guidelines, stated, “The most important takeaway from this new advice is that consuming any amount of alcohol is unhealthy.
And the less you drink, the better.”
Dr. Hobin acknowledged that the recommendations may appear “shocking” to members of the public, but he explained, “I think it’s very new information for the public that at three standard drinks per week, the risk for head and neck cancers increases by 15% and increases further with each additional drink.”
In the meanwhile, the Canadian alcohol industry is seeking to repel proposals for obligatory health warnings on bottle and container labels.
Beer Canada’s president, CJ Helie, told CTV News that the industry’s voluntary advice to drink in moderation rendered health warning labels superfluous.
“A lot of Canadian brewers, including a number of our members, have voluntary health warning labels or pictographs on packaging concerning cautions against drinking while pregnant and driving under the influence,” he explained.
In comparison to other nations, Canada’s new alcohol advice is on the more cautious end of the range. Australia’s 2020 standards indicated a maximum of 10 drinks per week, with France’s rules recommending the same amount.
The United Kingdom advises consuming no more than 14 units of alcohol each week, or around six “normal” drinks.
Other research has indicated that red wine in particular may have unique health benefits. In the INTERSTROKE study, health data from 32 countries showed that drinking moderate amounts of wine may lower the chance of having a stroke.
And a group of researchers from the University of Naples Federico II in Italy found that drinking two glasses of wine a day lowers the risk of heart disease by 32%. However, the larger the intake, the greater the risk of cardiovascular disease.
