Know the safe amount of alcohol consumption – 02/12/2023 – Equilíbrio

A recent change in the recommendation for alcohol consumption in Canada drew attention to its rigor – according to the document, the only safe amount of alcohol is zero, not a drop.

Unlike Canada, Brazil does not have a consensus determined by a national medical entity, but follows the recommendation of the WHO (World Health Organization), which also states that there is no pattern of alcohol consumption that is absolutely safe.

Currently, there are no official definitions for standard dose and moderate consumption in Brazil.

The CISA (Health and Alcohol Information Center) considers that a standard dose corresponds to 14g of pure ethanol in the Brazilian context. This corresponds to 350ml of beer (5% alcohol), 150ml of wine (12% alcohol) or 45ml of distillate (such as vodka, cachaça and tequila, with approximately 40% alcohol).

The WHO, on the other hand, defines a standard dose of 10g of pure ethanol, and recommends that men and women do not exceed two doses per day and that they refrain from drinking at least two days a week.

According to the Canadian guideline, the amount of one dose for women and two doses for men as a limit is also considered a low amount, but per week, not per day, as indicated by the WHO.

“It is necessary to consider that Canada is a power in terms of guidelines [diretrizes] of health. In the field of marijuana commercialization, it was the first country with a large economy to legalize it, and very serious studies are being carried out”, evaluates Arthur Guerra, psychiatrist and president of CISA.

“This one on alcohol is a tough and strong recommendation — and of course I’m not against it, these are considerations based on medical studies. But you also have to consider the sociocultural point of view — depending on the country, it’s something very easy to be broken. If a couple shares a bottle of wine at a celebratory dinner, it’s already out of bounds,” says Guerra.

“This moderate consumption, however, takes into account the body of a completely healthy person – without any chronic disease, such as diabetes and hypertension, which reach about 9% and 26% of Brazilians, respectively, or even individuals who have a family history of alcoholism”, points out Álvaro Pulchinelli, toxicologist at Fleury Medicina e Saúde.

“So, recommendations such as those of the WHO and the Canadian ones, which are quite strict, reflect the truth for the majority of the population, since there are no well-defined values ​​of what would be the safe consumption of alcohol in all situations”, adds the doctor .

According to the president of CISA, the same goes for those with psychiatric illnesses.

“Patients with diseases such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, should not consume alcohol. [bebedeira] and regular is totally contraindicated”, says Guerra.

“The indicative moderate consumption, however, takes into account the body of a completely healthy person — without any chronic disease, such as diabetes and hypertension, which affect about 9% and 26% of Brazilians, respectively, or even individuals who have a history of of alcoholism”, points out Álvaro Pulchinelli, toxicologist at Fleury Medicina e Saúde.

“So, recommendations such as those of the WHO and the Canadian ones, which are quite strict, reflect the truth for the majority of the population, since there are no well-defined values ​​of what would be the safe consumption of alcohol in all situations”, adds the doctor .

There is no point in making “savings” on the drink limit

The way each one consumes their drinks must also be taken into account.

“Of course, people would be at a loss with large amounts of weekly intake, or with that amount when the individual says he won’t drink for the whole week. Oh, so I can discount everything on Saturday? No, that’s not how it works. It’s not bank savings, you say, oh, I saved and now I can spend”, says the toxicologist.

Pulchinelli points out that those who drink “heavy” on the weekend and that he has as much risk as the chronic “drinker”.

“Anyone who exaggerates on a single day stresses the body twice: by the alcohol itself and by the overload. That’s why the guidelines started to talk about a daily limit instead of a weekly limit.”

Risks of excessive or prolonged alcohol consumption

Alcohol consumption is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and injuries, according to the WHO.

Among the comorbidities, the habit is linked to a greater risk of serious non-communicable diseases, such as liver cirrhosis, some types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, in addition to injuries resulting from violence and traffic accidents, as well as alcohol dependence.

Another data from the World Health Organization indicates that around 80% of deaths in which alcohol was an “important factor” occurred in three of the most populous countries: the United States (36.9%), Brazil (24.8%) and Mexico (18.4%).

For people with the disease, in addition to health risks, alcohol addiction can result in damage to other people, such as family and friends, difficulty in maintaining relationships, whether professional or personal, and financial losses.

This text was originally published here