Alcohol & Health
Treatment
Helping Alcoholics
Medically Reviewed by Dr P. E. Pancoast, MD
In this article
Drinking a small amount of alcohol each day should be safe. However, a daily drinking habit might be an indication of a problem.
People who need to drink daily have a higher risk of developing an alcohol use disorder (AUD). In some cases, daily drinking indicates AUD has already developed.
Alcohol can have long-term effects on your body, and drinking daily can have a significant impact on your health. The more you drink, the more likely you are to suffer from certain health consequences.
Although drinking beer daily may not mean you’re an alcoholic, it can indicate a drinking problem. Speak to a doctor if you start to notice a problem with alcohol.
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Daily beer consumption affects your body in a variety of ways and causes health problems, including:
Beer increases caloric and carbs intake and might prevent fat burning. It also contains phytoestrogens, which may increase the risk of storing belly fat.
Excessive alcohol consumption causes a spike in heart rate, which is especially dangerous for people with existing heart conditions and high blood pressure.
A 2018 study published in the April issue of The Lancet found that people who had 10 or more drinks per week died of cardiovascular disease one to two years earlier than people consuming five drinks or fewer per week.
Having 18 drinks or more per week cuts life expectancy by 4 to 5 years.
Excessive alcohol intake causes liver injury and leads to liver disease. Initially, a person develops fatty liver, where excess fat is stored in the liver, which later leads to ongoing liver inflammation (hepatitis). Finally, when scar tissue accumulates from chronic hepatitis/inflammation, the person develops cirrhosis.
Long-term excessive beer consumption can lead to alcoholic neuropathy. Nerve damage is associated with long periods of drinking too much, as well as nutritional deficiencies caused by over-drinking.
Heavy alcohol consumption causes memory lapses. This can occur after one night of binge drinking. Long-term heavy drinking can also lead to permanent memory loss and dementia.
Erectile dysfunction has a higher prevalence in those who drink excessively.
The damage caused by daily alcohol consumption varies from person to person. The severity of the damage also varies based on your gender and other factors.
Guidelines exist to help people determine how much beer is healthy to consume. Unfortunately, these are general guidelines and don’t apply to everyone.
Although general guidelines are helpful for some people, many medical experts believe otherwise. They believe it’s better to take a more personalized approach to alcohol consumption.9
As you get to know your body better and how it responds to alcohol, you might find the guidelines too liberal. Your threshold for alcohol consumption varies based on:
Heavy drinking can vary depending on the person’s gender. NIAAA defines heavy drinking as the following:
The threshold for moderate drinking also depends on a person’s gender. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, moderate drinking is considered as:
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Whether you’re drinking beer or hard liquors, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic health diseases. The serious negative effects of drinking beer every day include:
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Despite the risks someone faces as a heavy drinker, beer offers a variety of health benefits when consumed in moderation. For example:
Beer contains more B vitamins, folate, niacin, phosphorus, and protein than wine. It offers the same amount of antioxidants as wine. It also contains fiber and prebiotics.
A study published in the journal European Association for the Study Diabetes determined that moderate drinkers (those who drink no more than two drinks per day) were less likely to develop diabetes than people who never drink. However, drinking more than two alcoholic drinks daily increases the risk of developing diabetes.
Male beer drinkers had less than a 20 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
Wine is the usual choice for boosting heart health, but beer offers similar benefits. One American Heart Association study found that moderate drinkers had the slowest decline in HDL (good) cholesterol.
Researchers from Loyola University in Chicago found that moderate drinkers had a 23 percent lower risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Some believe this is linked to beer’s ability to raise good cholesterol, which is beneficial for brain health.
One study published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research found that hops, which are found in beer, have anti-inflammatory properties.
Whether you want to reduce how much beer you’re drinking because you are concerned about addiction or solely because you want to improve your physical risks, there are several things you can do.
For example:
Recognizing when drinking beer daily has become a drinking problem is challenging for some people.
Some of the signs you have a drinking problem include:
If you’ve tried to cut back on drinking and you’ve been unsuccessful, it’s likely time to seek professional support. There are many treatment options available. For instance:
It doesn’t matter if you’ve developed an alcohol use disorder (AUD) or are unsure how to reduce your alcohol consumption despite wanting to do so. If you have trouble controlling your drinking habits on your own, it’s very appropriate to seek treatment and support from medical professionals and trusted loved ones.
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