Canada Cuts Alcohol Guidance to Two Drinks Per Week: 'Any Amount of Alcohol Is Not Good'

Vanessa Etienne
·2 min read
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Canadians are being urged to limit their alcohol consumption to two drinks per week, according to a new national guidance.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) updated its guidance on alcohol and health, recommending that women should limit consumption to two standard drinks per week and men should limit consumption to six standard drinks per week.

The country defines a standard drink as a bottle of beer or cider (12 oz., 5% alcohol), glass of wine (5 oz., 12% alcohol), or a shot glass of spirits (1.5 oz., 40% alcohol).

"The main message from this new guidance is that any amount of alcohol is not good for your health," said Erin Hobin, senior scientist with Public Health Ontario and a member of the expert panel that developed the guidelines, per BBC. "And if you drink, less is better."

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The updated guidance comes after two years of research, funded by Health Canada, that involved nearly 6,000 peer-reviewed studies and about 1,000 surveys about the impact of alcohol consumption.

The previous guidance, which was released in 2011, recommended no more than two drinks per day. The CCSA states now that consuming more than two alcoholic drinks per week increases the risk for a stroke or cancer. Hobin explained that the risk for head and neck cancers increases by 15% at three standard drinks per week.

Recent studies also show that no amount of alcohol is safe, and that even low levels of drinking slightly increases the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, according to The New York Times.

"The evidence is clear that every drink counts," Alexander Caudarella, CEO of the CCSA, said in a statement. "It's also clear that it's never too late to make changes. Any reduction in alcohol use can be beneficial. Health professionals can now better determine an individual's risk and collaborate with their patients to improve their health."