"At a time when alcohol-related fatalities have increased 30% over the last decade now claiming approximately 178,000 American lives annually the federal government has missed a critical opportunity to safeguard the nation's health. Alcohol hasn't changed, but our understanding of its risks has evolved considerably. Decades of research and federal advisory findings indicate that no amount of alcohol is truly safe for health, yet the updated dietary guidelines fail to clearly warn the public or provide sufficient information for people to make informed choices."
"Some omissions are stark. For example, the updated dietary guidelines fail to address the well-established link between alcohol and cancer risk. Alcohol is a known carcinogen linked to several types of cancer, including breast, colon and liver cancer. In addition, the update eliminates the definition of a standard drink and does away with longstanding thresholds for lower-risk drinking, such as the recommended number of drinks per day that men and women should not exceed."
"Finally, the dietary guidelines fail to state that people under age 21 should not consume alcohol at all. Adolescence and young adulthood are key developmental periods. The younger a person starts drinking regularly, the greater their chance of developing an alcohol-use disorder. As an alcohol researcher, I am quite concerned about the lack of transparency regarding the risks of daily alcohol consumption."
Alcohol-related fatalities have increased 30% over the last decade, now claiming approximately 178,000 American lives annually. Decades of research and federal advisory findings indicate that no amount of alcohol is safe for health. The updated federal dietary guidelines omit clear warnings, fail to address the well-established alcohol–cancer link, remove the definition of a standard drink, and eliminate longstanding lower-risk drinking thresholds. The guidelines also do not state that people under age 21 should not consume alcohol, despite adolescence and young adulthood being key developmental periods and early drinking increasing risk for alcohol-use disorder. Research estimates daily drinking risks ranging from 1 in 1,000 for one drink to 1 in 25 for two drinks per day for men.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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