Every five years, the The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) jointly issue the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It’s a set of guidelines to help Americans eat and drink in a healthy manner.
In the past, they have recommended limiting alcohol to 2 drinks or fewer per day for men and 1 drink or less per day for women.
This time, instead of providing suggested daily drink limits, they’ve simply said: “consume less alcohol for better overall health.”
Naturally, the vagueness has caused some confusion.
Dr. Oz, now the head of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, gave the explanation that there was no scientific evidence defining the right specific amount of drinks per day to recommend.
But the range of what people think is a “low” level of drinking is wide, particularly among heavy drinkers, whose social groups usually drink as much as they do. So the danger is that people who want to drink in moderation may, in the absence of clear guidance, think that low-risk drinking is at a higher level than doctors would recommend.
Dr. Oz himself said “the implication [of his new standard] is don’t have it for breakfast” - a far lower standard than 1-2 drinks a day.
So in case you were also confused, we thought we’d share some guidance about what this new recommendation really means:
Is there a totally safe drinking limit? No. The World Health Organization said in a January 2023 report that the latest studies show there is no safe level of drinking for your health. Specifically, alcohol consumption is linked to seven different cancers, as well as heart and liver disease. In January 2025, the HHS itself released a draft study showing that even one drink a day can raise the risk of liver, mouth and throat cancers. So the general guideline to “consume less alcohol” is best understood as expressing that no matter what amount you’re drinking, drinking less would be better for your health.
What is the point of suggesting drinking limits, if they’re not totally safe? Many studies have shown that the risk of developing cancer and other health problems from drinking increases the more you drink. Suggested drinking limits are there to define a relatively low-risk level of drinking. We define tolerable risk all the time in our lives. Some of us avoid skiing because of avalanches or swimming in the ocean because of sharks, despite those actually being relatively safe activities. Health agencies who put out recommended limits are trying to define a low level of drinking that results in a likely widely tolerable level of risk among the general public.
What is a low risk drinking limit, and what backs that up? The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction has done some fabulous research that takes a systematic approach to defining “low risk” drinking levels. They show that in a public safety context, people are generally willing to accept a 1 in 1000 risk of premature death for voluntary activities (like swimming, skiing, having unprotected sex, or smoking). Applying that level of risk to data on drinking and health outcomes from the Canadian population, they arrive at 2 standard drinks per week as a truly “low risk” drinking limit. This means if you stick to 2 standard drinks per day or less, your risk of premature death from drinking is 1 in 1000. If you’re willing to accept a higher level of risk, like 1 in 100 risk of premature death, then you could go up to 6 standard drinks a week. The Australian, French, and UK guidelines are based on that higher level of risk.
The goal of any “low-risk” drinking guidance should be to ensure people have a relatively good grasp on how much risk they’re taking on by drinking a certain amount. The Canadian approach is a good way to standardize risk in a way that makes it comparable to other risks we take on by choice. You can decide what level of risk of premature death is worth it to you.
In our app, Drinker’s Helper, we share guidance based on government guidelines in each country. These guidelines are updated regularly, and offer a way to reduce, not eliminate, your long-term health risk from drinking alcohol.
If you want to cut back or quit drinking, we’d love to help. Apart from simply tracking your drinking vs. recommended low risk drinking limits (for free!), you can get tailored peer support groups of similar people, a set of therapeutic exercises to help you develop stronger motivation, and an insightful tracking system to help you reflect on why you drink and why you want to change. We believe you can do it!
