New Canadian Alcohol Guidelines have been published. They’re much stiffer than the previous guides. And they’re pretty scary for heavier drinkers – which now includes just about everybody.
The gist….
Here’s a point-form digest of the new guidelines, direct from the official website:
Key points from the guidance include:
- There is a continuum of risk associated with weekly alcohol use where the risk of harm is:
- 0 drinks per week — Not drinking has benefits, such as better health, and better sleep.
- 2 standard drinks or less per week — You are likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences for yourself or others at this level.
- 3–6 standard drinks per week — Your risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, increases at this level.
- 7 standard drinks or more per week — Your risk of heart disease or stroke increases significantly at this level.
- Each additional standard drink radically increases the risk of alcohol-related consequences.
- Consuming more than 2 standard drinks per occasion is also associated with an increased risk of harm to self and others, including injuries and violent behaviour.
- When pregnant or trying to get pregnant, there is no known safe amount of alcohol use.
- When breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest.
- No matter where you are on the continuum, for your health, less alcohol is better.
For reference…
The CCSA defines a standard drink as:
- One 12-oz. (341 ml) bottle of 5 per cent alcohol beer or cider
- One 5-oz. (142 ml) glass of 12 per cent alcohol wine
- One 1.5-oz. (43 ml) shot glass of 40 per cent alcohol spirits
Some major changes we all need to be aware of
The above seemed to me the logical place to start our ‘quick-reference guide to the guide’. But it also spotlights some major changes from the previous version of the guidelines:
One thing just about all authorities agree on concerning alcohol consumption, and just about the only recommendation not changing under the new Canadian one is that there is no minimum ‘safe’ amount of alcohol you can drink.
For those who choose to drink:
Just 2 standard drinks per week still carries measurable risk of harm to one’s self and other. That is, the statement is statistically provable.
That recommendation is dramatically reduced from the previous guidelines, which said it was okay for men to have up to 15 standards drinks (evenly spaced) per week and women to have as many as 10. In other words, a couple of blasts a day.
Consuming 3 – to – 6 standard drinks a week presents a ‘moderate’ risk of developing alcohol-related health issues. Think roughly one drink a day.
Downing more than 6 standard drinks per week presents a corresponding increase in risk, plotted on a continuum, of health-related issues arising from conditions such as heart disease and certain cancers.
Bad news for bar and resto owners
Sales of alcoholic beverages has traditionally been considered a ‘gravy’ generator for owners and operators of conventional bars and restaurants. Not to mention governments at various levels, which have traditionally relied on high taxes on alcohol to stuff their coffers.
Businesses such as sports bars, especially, have loved folks coming in to watch pro sporting events on big-screen TVs, while ordering a whole string of high-profit beverages – often beer, followed well back in second place by cocktails. A limit of 2 standard drinks per week would probably mean bars saw their regulars on no more than one or two occasions a week, for much shorter periods of time per visit, and a corresponding disastrous drop in alcohol sales.
In the white-tablecloth dining rooms, alcohol profits have usually been driven by diners ordering entire bottles of wine (for the table; i.e.- two to 4 diners) at mark-ups of 100 percent or more. In jurisdictions which allow diners to bring their own bottles, the resto usually recoups lost profits by charging a corkage fee. And all that involves is opening the bottle and providing some clean glasses.
Bottom line here: If folks adopt the new Canadian consumption guidelines en masse, resto operators will find themselves standing aside helpless, watching their own customers kill the alcoholic golden goose. And government alcohol tax revenues – which have, up to now, been monumental – drying up to a trinkle.
Good news for the health care system
If folks limited themselves to the amount of alcohol recommended under the new guidelines it’s probable that doctors, hospitals and other medical institutions would see significantly fewer cases rooted in booze-related causes. All the more room and resources to accommodate non-booze-related patients.
But that’s all unlikely to happen
Recent learned studies have proven clearly that booze is just as addictive as nicotine, opiates or other ‘hard’ drugs. And even sweet treats. And that guarantees drinkers are likely to keep drinking alcohol at about the same levels they do now.
I ask you: Will new federal guidelines influence your drinking? And, if so, in what way(s)?
~ Maggie J.