Alcohol Drinking Levels Defined

Published:  08/31/2018

Alcohol consumption, even moderate has been linked to cancer, memory loss and dementia.

How do we define what Moderate, Binge, Heavy and Risky Drinking is?

Moderate alcohol consumption:

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, moderate drinking is up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men. This definition is referring to the amount consumed on any single day and is not intended as an average over several days. http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/faqs.htm#moderateDrinking

Binge Drinking:

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels to 0.08 g/dL. This typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men—in about 2 hours. http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/moderate-binge-drinking

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration which conducts the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health defines binge drinking as drinking 5 or more alcoholic drinks on the same occasion on at least 1 day in the past 30 days.

Heavy Drinking:

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration defines heavy drinking as drinking 5 or more drinks on the same occasion on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days.

Risky Drinking:

Risky drinking has been defined as consumption of large amounts (greater than 4 standard drinks) of alcohol on a single occasion, as well as drinking in situations likely to result in harm for young people.

One Drink Equivalent Defined:

  • One 12 oz. beer
  • One shot of 80 Proof liquor or
  • One 4-5 oz glass of wine
Crego, A. et al."Binge Drinking Affects Attentional and Visual Working Memory Processing in Young University Students." Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Published Online: 10 Aug 2009.Fan, AZ, et al."Association of Lifetime Alcohol Drinking Trajectories with Cardiometabolic Risk" Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. January 2008.

French, MT, et al,"Easing The Pain of an Economic Downturn: Macroeconomic Conditions and Excessive Alcohol Consumption." Health Economics 12 September 2011.

Gmel G., et al.,"Alcohol-attributable injuries in admissions to a Swiss emergency room--an analysis of the link between volume of drinking, drinking patterns and pre-attendance drinking" Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research January 2005.

Goudriaan, A. E., et. al."Decision Making and Binge Drinking: A Longitudinal Study" Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research June 2007.

Hutton, H.E., et al."The Relationship between Recent Alcohol Use and Sexual Behaviors: Gender Differences Among STD Clinic Patients." Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research November 2008.

McQueeny, T."Possible Brain Damage in Young Adult Binge-Drinkers. Presented at the 34th annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism. June 2011.

Nixon, K., and Crews, F.T. Binge ethanol exposure decreases neurogenesis in adult rat hippocampus. Journal of Neurochemistry 83(5):1087-1093, 2002. Herrera, D.G.; Yague, A.G.; Johnsen-Soriano, S.; et al. Selective impairment of hippocampal neurogenesis by chronic alcoholism: Protective effects of an antioxidant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the U.S.A. 100(13):7919-7924, 2003

Gansler, D.A.; Harris, G.J.; Oscar-Berman, M.; et al. Hypoperfusion of inferior frontal brain regions in abstinent alcoholics: A pilot SPECT study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 61:32-37, 2000.


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