New guidelines for alcohol consumption, published today, reduce the recommended drinking levels for men to the same as women, advise that no level of alcohol is safe during pregnancy and warn that any level of alcohol consumption can increase cancer risk. This is the first full review of alcohol consumption guidelines that has been published since 1995.
Reduced limits for men
According to the new guidelines, men should not drink more than 14 units of alcohol each week – around 6 pints of beer. This is the same level as for women. Previous guidelines were 21 units for men and 14 units for women per week.
The new guidelines move away from daily unit limits towards weekly limits, in order to demonstrate that it is not safe to drink every day.
No drinking during pregnancy
The new guidelines state that pregnant women should not drink any alcohol at all. Previously they were advised to drink no more than 1 to 2 units of alcohol once or twice a week.
Cancer risk from any level of drinking
In the original guidelines, published in 1995, the links between alcohol and cancer were not properly understood. Now the message is that there is no safe level of drinking - the cancer risks start from regular drinking at any level and further increase with higher drinking levels.
Less binge drinking and introducing tee-total days
Another new element of the alcohol guidelines advises people not to ‘save up’ all 14 units for one heavy drinking session. If you must drink 14 units a week you should drink moderately over 3 or more days, and have some alcohol-free days.
On single drinking episodes the Chief Medical Officers give the following recommendations:
- Limit the total amount of alcohol you drink on any occasion
- Drink more slowly, such as with food, and alternate alcoholic drinks with water
- When drinking make sure you have people you know around, and make sure you can get home safely.
CRI Medical Director statement
Prun Bijral, CRI's Medical Director, says:
“The fact that the government is reforming the limits that people can drink to decrease the risk of harm is a step in the right direction.
The guidelines have been designed to give people clarity around how much alcohol they can safely drink. However, they cannot account for individual differences like genetic factors, or the impact of binge drinking. What we really need is more public health messaging around changing people's perceptions of the potential harmful effects of alcohol, similar to the public health drive we've seen in tobacco which has been so successful.”
Chief Medical Officer for England statement
Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, said:
“Drinking any level of alcohol regularly carries a health risk for anyone, but if men and women limit their intake to no more than 14 units a week it keeps the risk of illness like cancer and liver disease low.
I want pregnant women to be very clear that they should avoid alcohol as a precaution. Although the risk of harm to the baby is low if they have drunk small amounts of alcohol before becoming aware of the pregnancy, there is no ‘safe’ level of alcohol to drink when you are pregnant.
What we are aiming to do with these guidelines is give the public the latest and most up to date scientific information so that they can make informed decisions about their own drinking and the level of risk they are prepared to take.”
Health benefits of drinking
In contrast to previous messages, the expert development group that put together the guidelines concluded that people should not justify drinking alcohol using health reasons. Any minimal heart health benefits of alcohol would only apply for women aged 55+.
For more information please see the gov.uk website.
Read Mike Pattinson's response to the new guidelines.
If you think you might have a problem with alcohol, please visit this page for advice, or find your local service.