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PHI’s Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk Weighs in on New Alcohol Guidelines
Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, scientist and deputy scientific director at Public Health Institute’s (PHI) Alcohol Research Group, spoke recently with AARP on how the new dietary guidelines provide less specific—and less helpful—guidance on alcohol consumption.
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When the new dietary guidelines were announced earlier this month, they included suggestions on certain foods to eat — like protein and vegetables — and recommendations on foods to limit, such as added sugar. Unlike previous editions, what they didn’t specify was a limit on how much alcohol you can consume.
The 2020-2025 guidelines set moderate drinking limits at two drinks or less a day for men and one drink or less a day for women. But the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans simply say to “consume less alcohol for better health.”
The previous limits were “imperfect but useful as a risk-communication tool,” says Johannes Thrul, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “‘Drink less’ is directionally correct, but without numbers it’s harder for people to translate guidance into behavior.”
Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, a scientist and deputy scientific director of the Public Health Institute’s Alcohol Research Group in Emeryville, California, agrees, saying that “not having anything specific is unhelpful.” She says the “two a day in men” guidance should have been reduced based on evidence that moderate drinking carries harm, adding that other countries have more stringent guidelines.
Asked for comment, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) referred AARP to the current guidelines. A Department of Agriculture (USDA) spokesperson told AARP via email that the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine concluded that less alcohol is better for overall health and that specific populations (like pregnant women) should completely avoid it.
Even at low levels of risk, you are increasing your risk of something, either of an alcohol-related death or an alcohol-related disease.Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk
Deputy Scientific Director, PHI’s Alcohol Research Group
Click on the link below to read the full article.
Originally published by AARP
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