canada’s new drinking guidelines don’t consider the social benefits of alcohol. but should they?

this month, the canadian centre on substance use and addiction issued   revised recommendations   for lower-risk alcohol consumption. the   new guidelines   state that no amount of alcohol is “safe” and that individuals should drink no more than two standard drinks per week in order to minimize their risk for chronic diseases, such as cancer.

the report   also acknowledges the reality that 40 per cent of canadians, aged 15 and older, drink more than six standard drinks per week – meaning that many of us exceed the new recommendations for low-risk alcohol consumption.

given   the role that alcohol plays   in many of our lives, it’s of little surprise that people are reacting to these new recommendations with a fair   degree of skepticism . at the heart of the   emerging debate   are two contradictory truths:

1. the more alcohol you drink the greater risk you subject yourself to; and,
2. you can still have good reasons for drinking more than public health officials say you should.

risk-taking isn’t always about risk

for example, people who engage in risky sexual behaviours describe   feelings of intimacy and connection with their sexual partners . those who drink alcohol or use other drugs report that these substances help them unwind — making it easier to come out of their shell and   connect with friends and family .

in other words, people derive benefit from these   stigmatized activities .

considering the social benefits of alcohol

for thousands of years, our ancestors have derived benefits from alcohol — whether those benefits be the added nutrition from being able to eat and metabolize   fermenting fruit from the forest floor   or its   benefits   as a so-called “ social lubricant .”

however, the authors of the new guidelines and the studies that underlie them   often ignore these benefits   arguing that they are inconsequential to health.

however, as the lead researcher on a   national study   aiming to develop   canadian social connection guidelines , i would argue that the social benefits of alcohol use are fundamentally important to the development of public health guidelines for alcohol consumption.

just as   most people   do not know that alcohol increases your risk for cancer,   most of us also don’t realize   that   poor social health is just as, if not more, harmful than smoking, drinking, being obese, sedentary living and exposure to poor air quality .

in fact, the list of diseases and conditions that have been   linked to social disconnection is expansive   and includes   depression and anxiety ,   psychotic disorders ,   cardiovascular disease ,   cancer ,   diabetes ,   neurocognitive impairments ,   poorer immune response ,   inflammation   and   poor metabolism .

while decades of research have warned about the dangers of loneliness and social isolation, public health bodies have not fully embraced the need to   prioritize social connection .

reconciling harms and benefits

reconciling   the benefits and consequences of alcohol is certainly a challenge . this is especially difficult given that many studies on alcohol risk fail to capture meaningful dimensions of social life.

for example, studies rarely account for   the social context of drinking   when measuring the impact of alcohol on poor health. similarly, the fact that many   drinkers may have been exposed to high levels of second-hand smoke   has not been fully accounted for in estimating its health consequences.

measuring these   potential confounders   is especially important given that even if alcohol doubles or triples your risk for a given cancer,   the risk in the first place may have been extremely low . measuring very small changes in risk is hard. more and better studies are still needed.