February is National Heart Health Month and so we’re joining the conversation by sharing tips and resources about the effects of overindulging in alcohol. We hope you will sincerely take this series to heart and use the information shared here to help yourself and someone you love.
As a DWI and Substance Abuse Agency, we know that the key to preventing drinking and driving is to limit alcohol use. Incidentally, that is the same advice that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) gives as one of the ways to prevent heart disease and other health issues. According to the CDC, excessive or binge drinking has both short-term and long-term effects on your physical and mental health. Excessive alcohol use has immediate effects that increase the risk of many harmful health conditions such as alcohol poisoning, low blood pressure and body temperature, coma, respiratory depression, or even death. In fact, liver cirrhosis, is among the 15 leading causes of all deaths in the United States.
To prevent the risks and consequences of drinking too much alcohol, the CDC advises you to drink in moderation. What does that mean? For women, this means no more than one drink per day. For men, no more than 2 drinks per day.
To give you an idea of what is considered one drink, a standard drink is any drink that contains 0.6 ounces (14.0 grams or 1.2 tablespoons) of pure alcohol. So, the CDC recommends that women drink no more than .6 ounces of alcohol and men no more than .12 ounces of alcohol within a 24 hour period in order to maintain a healthy heart.
What .6 ounces looks like
According to the CDC, the following drinks contain about 0.6 ounces of alcohol:
- 12-ounces of regular beer or wine cooler.
- 8-ounces of malt liquor.
- 5-ounces of wine.
- 1.5-ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor (e.g., gin, rum, vodka, whiskey).
(Source)
Let’s be clear. The CDC is not saying you have to stop drinking. However, it’s not safe or healthy to drink too much, since too much alcohol can impair your judgment and eventually lead to more health risks, including heart disease. As always, we remind you to be responsible and take care of yourself. Happy Heart Health Month!