Not sure about grabbing that beer? You’re not alone. Americans are reaching for alcohol at record lows, according to a new Gallup survey.
The survey, out Aug. 20, found the number of Americans who say they drink alcohol sits at 54% for the second consecutive year − and health concerns appear to be a major factor.
“Fifty-one percent of U.S. adults now believe drinking one or two alcoholic beverages a day is bad for one’s health,” the survey results noted. “The figure is essentially unchanged from last year’s record-high 53%.”
In 2001, only 27% considered moderate drinking bad for one’s health, according to Gallup.
If you had to pick either healthy or unhealthy, a drink a day would fall under unhealthy, but it also might be statistically irrelevant due to having such a small impact.
I do think its worth noting that alcohol does actually change its effects the more you drink though. The effects of intoxication don’t just increase, they cascade to other parts of the brain. Someone who consistently stays under one drink is essentially on a different drug than someone who draws the line at three.
So the point of the recent research is they find no benefits at any level, at or less than 1 a day very little impact. Also it’s large population studies so and all cause mortality so exact relations are not in the studies… And I could have many practices of infrequent drinkers it be interesting to control for before loosing sleep over a drink some evenings… And a non alcoholic drink others. (Although avoiding alcohol late in the evening improves sleep so)