Scientists Say That Government Drinking Guidelines Probably Aren’t Accurate

As science lurches between studies that tell us we should never drink alcohol ever for risk of certain and painful death, and others saying that actually, the odd weekend bender might be good for your heart, it'd be useful to have a set of steadfast, government-approved guidelines to inform of exactly how much we can drink per week without veering into Father Jack territory.

Good job we have official advice from the Department of Health to clearly outline safe alcohol consumption levels, then! Guzzle no more than this six pints a week or seven glasses of wine, and you'll be fine. Easy.

Well, maybe not. A new study from Stanford University has found that alcohol guidelines vary wildly from country to country, making it near impossible for drinkers to rate their booze consumption and suggesting that perhaps, no one really knows what constitutes a safe level of alcohol consumption.

The problem, researchers from the university's Medical School say, is that each country has a different definition of low-risk drinking—the amount of alcohol that can be consumed per day or week without experiencing adverse health effects. Some countries also assign these daily or weekly limits for men and women while others don't differentiate by gender.

Published online yesterday in health journal Addiction, the study gives the example of Australian drinking guidelines, which advise both men and women to drink no more than 20 grams of alcohol per day. In the United States, women are told they can drink a maximum of 42 grams per day but not exceed 98 grams a week. American men, on the other hand, are allotted 56 grams per day and up to 196 grams per week. In Chile, men and women can drink 56 grams of alcohol every day and still be considered low-risk drinkers.

Following new guidelines released by the Department of Health earlier this year, men and women in the UK are advised to drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week which, as well as conflicting with US and Australian limits, is a totally different alcohol measuring system. See? Confusing.

Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford and lead author in the study said in a press release: "There's a substantial chance for misunderstanding. A study of the health effects of low-risk drinking in France could be misinterpreted by researchers in the United States who may use a different definition of drinking levels. Inconsistent guidelines are also likely to increase skepticism among the public about their accuracy. It is not possible that every country is correct; maybe they are all wrong."

Things got more worrying when Humphreys and his team compared the amount of alcohol in the "standard drink" of 37 different countries. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines this as a beverage containing 10 grams of alcohol, many countries say different. In the UK and Iceland, a standard drink contains 8 grams of alcohol but in the US, it's 14 grams—around the amount in a 5-ounce glass of wine. Those party animals in Austria, meanwhile, view 20 grams of alcohol as a standard drink.

Humphreys added: "What constitutes a 'standard drink' in each country is far from standard, despite the WHO's recommendation. But in many cases, these guidelines are adopted as public health policy and even printed onto alcoholic beverages without knowing whether people read them, understand them, or change their behaviour as a result."

The study concludes that such global variability in drinking advice reveals a need for more research on responsible alcohol consumption and how this may differ between countries.

Failing that, we could all try being teetotal. But even then, not all the experts agree.