New UK alcohol guidelines
England’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, has effectively rubbished studies on the potential health benefits of drinking red wine, following new government guidance that there is no safe level of drinking.
Risks outweigh any potential gain, according to the first full review of alcohol guidelines for England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 1995. Scotland also set the same limit.
On the assumption that most people will not go tee-total, the review also cut its guidance on the maximum amount people should drink in a week, to 14 units. This should be spaced out, it says.
A 175ml glass of wine at 13% abv is 2.3 units, according to the Drinkaware charity.
It is the first time the drinking limit has been set at the same level for both men and women. Men previously had a limit of three to four units per day, and women two to three units.
Government advice also says that everyone should have some alcohol-free days per week.
Dame Sally Davies said the link between drinking and certain cancers was now better understood than in the 1990s. Those drinking no more than 14 units in a week have a low chance of alcohol-related disease, she said.
The drinks industry’s self-regulatory body, The Portman Group, criticised the new advice.
‘What is surprising is that the UK is breaking with established international precedent by recommending the same guidelines for men and women,’ said the industry-funded group’s chief executive, Henry Ashworth.
‘It also means that UK men are now being advised to drink significantly less than their European counterparts.’
Ashworth said guidelines were important for consumers to make informed choices, but said, ‘More than four in five adults drink within the current lower risk guidelines.’
In an article published in the February issue of Decanter magazine, Dr Michael Apstein – a gastroenterologist and wine writer – argues that the effects of alcohol on the body vary depending on the individual and the context.
英國：所有酒類都有致癌風險
英國政府事隔廿年後再次公布飲酒指南，建議國民少喝酒，因為所有酒類都會增加罹患癌症和其他疾病的風險，包括一般認為對健康有益的紅葡萄酒。
英國政府首席醫療官莎莉．戴維斯在八日公布的報告中指出，民眾每周飲酒不應超過十四個單位（一單位相當於八克純酒精），也就是六品脫的啤酒（一品脫為四七三毫升）或七杯葡萄酒。
英國一九九五年公布飲酒指南，建議男性每周飲酒應少於廿一單位，女性少於十四單位。但政府公布指南後被批評管太多。
新指南對男女的飲酒限制量相同。戴維斯說：「任何人經常飲酒都有健康風險，不過男性或女性每周飲酒不超過十四單位，罹患癌症或肝病的風險低。」
報告建議不要一次喝十四單位的酒，可以分幾次喝，而且孕婦完全不應喝酒。
一般認為喝適量紅酒有降低罹癌、心臟病和預防喪失記憶的好處，新指南推翻了這種看法，表示即便每天只喝一杯紅酒，罹患乳癌風險也會增加百分之十三。
之前的研究指出，紅酒的抗氧化劑可降低心臟病風險和預防記憶喪失，但新指南指出，喝酒的壞處多於好處。
英國癌症協會指出，喝酒對心臟健康有益的說法，只適用於五十五歲以上的女性，而且一周只限於兩杯葡萄酒。
飲酒過量是英國最大的健康問題之一，首相卡麥隆曾計畫定最低酒價，但在二○一三年被駁回。
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