• Posted June 9, 2026

How Much Alcohol Is Actually Safe? A New Study Challenges Old Advice

The debate on "healthy drinking" has shifted again, according to a study released independently today, after the Trump administration decided not to include its findings in new dietary guidelines.

The study — published June 8 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs — concluded that even one drink a day increases health risks. Even "moderate" drinking raises the risk of early death and more than 200 diseases, including cancer and heart disease, researchers found. 

Further, no amount of alcohol can protect against premature death, they said.

“This study provides the most comprehensive U.S. estimates to date of lifetime risks of alcohol-attributable mortality and morbidity, showing that even moderate levels of consumption increase the risk of premature death and disability,” study co-author Katherine Keyes said in a news release. “No protective effect of drinking was observed even at low levels.” Keyes is a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. 

The Biden administration commissioned the study to investigate alcohol-related health harms, according to the Associated Press. Its findings were intended to inform new dietary guidelines.

The guidelines, released earlier this year, suggest Americans consume “less alcohol for better overall health,” without detailing the risks of even moderate drinking.

Researchers said their findings support a more forceful recommendation that adults consume no more than one drink a day.

“I’m glad that they had a message that corresponds with our science, and that is that less is best,” study co-author Dr. Timothy Naimi, director of the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, told AP News. “But giving people quantity information is necessary to make a truly informative guideline.”

In an editorial published alongside the study, Robert Vincent, a former alcohol policy official who led the effort, accused the Trump administration of “sidelining” the findings.

“The Alcohol Intake and Health report was explicitly invited to inform alcohol guidance during development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030,” he wrote. “Despite the study’s adherence to its mandate, its findings were sidelined.”

Vincent was laid off last year after a government downsizing. He told AP News that he was "asked to kill the study" during his tenure in the Trump administration — a claim the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not immediately address.

HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard denied allegations that the study was not considered. 

She said HHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture "reviewed the study alongside the broader body of available scientific evidence and followed the established process for developing the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans."

The guidelines, Hilliard added, "are informed by the totality of the scientific record, not any single report or analysis." 

A draft of the study released last year quickly came under fire. 

The alcohol industry launched campaigns discrediting it, and the House oversight committee said it was "fraught with bias." The committee charged the authors with having predetermined conclusions based on their past research and affiliations. 

Vincent told AP that the findings were based on scientific evidence and researchers had been thoroughly vetted for conflicts.

The study also stood out against other government-commissioned research to help inform the new dietary guidelines. That research linked moderate alcohol use with a decreased risk of premature death from all causes but also an increased risk of some diseases, according to AP. 

Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in the U.S. About half of Americans aged 12 or older had a drink within the past month, researchers told AP News.

For context, one drink roughly translates to 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of spirits, although those amounts can vary with alcohol concentration, researchers said in a news release.

“Having a clearer threshold helps people better understand what level of drinking is associated with increased risk and make more informed decisions when drinking," they said.

More information

Stanford Medicine has more on alcohol consumption and your health.

SOURCES: The Associated Press, June 9, 2026; Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health news release, June 8, 2026