Experts and researchers weigh in on drinking habits, highlighting that personal history, biology and social context shape how alcohol affects us, while pointing out clear risks for people with addiction vulnerability and certain health concerns.
With a sizable portion of adults saying they plan to cut back on booze next year, the conversation about moderation is back in the spotlight. Drinking isn’t one-size-fits-all; tolerance, family history and life stage all matter when deciding what “moderation” looks like for you.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the oncologist and author, frames alcohol as something people can enjoy but should treat cautiously. “There has been a lot of research on alcohol,” he said in a recent interview with “CBS Sunday Morning.” “The safest level is probably zero. There are some studies … where it’s half a cup a day, three cups a week.”
Emanuel is realistic about human behavior and urges practical guidance rather than moralizing. “On the other hand, 60% [to] 65% of the public drinks,” he went on. “You’re not going from 65% to zero, so you have to give people reasonable advice.”
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He cautions against the classic red flags: binge-drinking and solitary drinking, both of which he calls “really bad for you.” But he also acknowledges a social role for alcohol, noting that when it lubricates human connection it can have positive effects on wellbeing.
“[But] if you’re using alcohol as a lubricant for social interaction, which many people do, that’s probably good,” he said. “You’re getting some benefit from the social interaction.”
Conversations on the science side go deeper into individual susceptibility, and a recent podcast episode dug into the brain chemistry involved. According to Dr. Andrew Huberman, up to 10% of people experience alcohol as a “dopaminergic,” making them feel “spectacularly good.”
That intense reward response helps explain why some people can spiral quickly while others stop at one or two drinks. People who feel a pronounced positive hit from alcohol may have a harder time dialing back, whereas others get dizzy or nauseous and self-limit.
“Some people really can drink five or six drinks, and then the next day they’re at work hammering away,” he said. “The conversation becomes very difficult to have, because it sounds like it’s highly individual how people will react.”
Risk factors for developing alcohol use disorder are stark and measurable, and age of first drink stands out as especially important. “I find that some people will have their first drink, and it’s like a magic elixir for their physiology,” he said. “And there are very few things that can get somebody like that to stop drinking, except the risk of losing everything.”
Family history is another strong predictor. “The father-to-son link is the strongest one you see in genetics,” he said. “Men drink more than women do … whether they’ve got an alcohol problem or not.”
Biology also intersects with sex-specific risks: for women, alcohol can raise the chance of hormone-related cancers in ways that are meaningful at population level. That calculus complicates any claim that light drinking is clearly protective.
“I would love to believe [red wine] is healthy,” Humphreys responded. “It’s not … Why would there be a benefit to red wine that wasn’t in other alcoholic beverages?”
“There might be some cardiac benefits, but we don’t get to live our lives as single organs. We have a whole body,” he went on. “If that’s true, it’s smaller than the cancer risk. So, your net is you’re not going to get any mortality reduction from drinking alcohol.”
Even small amounts still carry some risk, though that risk can be described as modest at very low levels. Drinking two drinks per week — such as a 12-ounce beer, 4-ounce glass of wine or a 1-ounce shot of liquor — poses only a “very small risk” of health complications, but it’s not something Humphreys would recommend, as it’s “just not good for you,” he said.
Experts do recognize social and emotional value in sharing a drink, and they accept that people sometimes trade small risks for quality of life. “Getting together with friends is enjoyable, enriching,” Humphreys said. “Good food and good wine taste good, and I value those things. And there are many other decisions we make like that where we endure some risk because we care about something else.”
“It’s dangerous for someone my age to hike up a mountainside probably, but if the view is spectacular, I can say, ‘Oh, I’m going to accept that risk.’”
What many clinicians find frustrating is the social pressure around abstaining, where saying no to alcohol can invite awkward scrutiny. Huberman echoed that point bluntly: “If you don’t drink at parties, or you refuse an offer of alcohol, people think there’s something wrong with you.”
Still, public health experts say health reasons remain a legitimate and accepted basis for changing drinking habits. “Health is a reason people still accept, I think, as a legitimate [reason] for changing behavior,” he added.
