Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), which serves as the primary source of dietary guidance from the federal government, provides recommendations for dietary intake and healthful dietary patterns - including alcohol intake. DGA recommendations are informed by systematic reviews. The last review on alcohol and health conducted for the DGA focused on all-cause mortality in 2020; however, questions related to weight changes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurocognitive health, and lactation have not been examined since 2010.

To inform the next edition of the DGA, Congress tasked the National Academies with convening an expert committee to independently review the evidence on the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and eight health outcomes including obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. The resulting report, Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health, presents the committee's findings and conclusions and does not offer dietary recommendations or advice.

Table of Contents

Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Approach to the Task 3 All-Cause Mortality 4 Weight Change Related to Alcohol Intake 5 Cancer 6 Cardiovascular Disease 7 Neurocognition 8 Maternal Alcohol Consumption During Lactation 9 Future Directions Appendix A: Committee Member Biosketches Appendix B: Public Meeting Agendas Appendix C: Timeline of Screening for Eligibility Appendix D: AMSTAR-2 Tables