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

TUESDAY, June 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) — 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.”