We asked a panel of medical professionals how they find a balance between staying healthy and drinking alcohol.
If you're one of the many who topped up your glass more often this year, new research suggesting there is no safe limit of alcohol makes for a sore head. The study by Imperial College, published last week using MRI scans of thousands of middle-aged people, showed that drinking within British government guidelines - that's 14 units a week - still has adverse effects on the brain and heart. It follows another, from the University of Oxford, which found that all alcohol consumption has a negative effect on the brain because it lowers its volume. Such studies seem to vindicate Britain's growing number of teetotallers, and prompted some experts to say there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. So do doctors still drink? We asked a panel of medical professionals how they find a balance.
'I tried Dry January and it made me feel joyless'
Tim Spector, 62, professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London
As a medical student in the early 1980s, I spent most evenings in our dingy university bar, which was open until 3am. Life revolved around alcohol; beer was 24p a pint. Now I'm 62, I've cut out binge drinking but I still very much enjoy alcohol, as do most of my fellow doctors. I drink roughly two glasses of (usually red) wine each evening. It enhances my pleasure of a meal, and helps my gut microbes.
Three years ago, I tried Dry January with my wife. It was an interesting experiment, but it did make me feel rather joyless. I doubt I'll do it again. Instead, I tend to take one night off from alcohol each week, turning instead to alcohol-free beer or kombucha.
I've weighed everything up, and decided the pleasure I gain from wine far outshines the (relatively small) risks, and there's good evidence that red wine in moderation protects against heart disease. This latest study fails to put the risks of minor drinking into perspective. How does it compare with eating a bacon sandwich, or driving along the motorway?
In my book, Spoon-Fed, I calculate there's roughly one adverse health event for each million bottles of wine drunk. Somebody with my drinking habits should expect life to be shortened by two weeks - a trade-off I'm willing to make.
New study suggesting there is no safe limit for alcohol makes for a sore head. Photo / 123RF
'I pour my own glass'
Jane Ogden, 55, professor of health psychology at the University of Surrey
We live in a world designed to make us less healthy, whether it's peer pressure to drink, food everywhere or a sedentary lifestyle. Once you set boundaries for good behaviours, they perpetuate themselves, so it's good to pin behaviours to certain places or times of day.
Alcohol has always been an enjoyable indulgence for me and I associate it with socialising. So I only drink socially and when I'm out of the house with friends. That limits the times and places that I drink to occasions that are more special.
I make sure to count how much I'm drinking and prefer to pour my own rather than have my glass filled up. Two glasses is a normal night, three is a big night and four a very big night.
That changed slightly in lockdown, because we couldn't go anywhere. But I only drank when I was with my support bubble (my partner).
I never use alcohol as a coping mechanism. It can become dangerous when people use it to manage their mood because it has a depressant effect.
There's a balance between enjoying life and staying healthy in the future.
'There is no health benefit to alcohol'
Xander Van Tulleken, 42, doctor, TV presenter and public health specialist
In my twenties, I cracked open a beer as soon as I got home from work - sometimes more, depending on the type of day I'd had - and I drank to excess on the weekends. Over the years, I've discovered that there is no safe amount of alcohol for our bodies. In 2015 I worked on a documentary, Is Binge Drinking Really That Bad?, with my brother Chris. Via a series of experiments, a group of scientists showed me the harm alcohol does to the brain, gut, blood pressure and heart. It was the first time that scientists had explicitly told me there is nothing healthy about alcohol at all. Even a single glass of red wine, which many people believe has health benefits, will damage your body in some way. The programme totally changed the way I drank, as I began to realise the only benefit of alcohol is it is enjoyable. I'm not teetotal, but I usually only drink when I'm in social situations, like at a wedding, with friends or when I'm out on a date. I also allow myself a low alcohol beer - around 3 per cent - perhaps every other day after work.
I'm concerned at the influence the alcohol industry has on public health messaging, so I try to buy from a company that doesn't pay for science research.
Medical professionals reveal what they really drink. Photo / 123RF
The amount of alcohol I drink has remained stable for a number of years - I mostly stick to no more than 14 units a week.
But I have changed the type of alcohol I go for. I only drink red wine - never white. It's lower in sugars, which is important for our waistlines and our teeth.
As a dietitian, I am also interested in gut health. Our gut microbe community likes the odd glass of red wine because it contains polyphenols - naturally occurring plant compounds that are also found in things like dark chocolate, berries, nuts and seeds.
Gut microbes are also linked with the brain, so I try to improve my gut health in order to support my mental well-being, too.
I try not to save up all my glasses of red for the weekend, but so long as I have a couple of days off alcohol per week I'm not too strict with myself. I have downsized my glasses, too, so that I find I am drinking a manageable amount rather than a third of a bottle of wine. However, I'm not a fanatic about it.
'Heavy drinking is bad for your sex life'
Prof James Goodwin, 72, neuroscientist and author of Supercharge Your Brain: How to Maintain a Healthy Brain Throughout Your Life
There's no such thing as risk-free consumption of alcohol. That said, there is scientific evidence to show a small amount of red wine can help reduce the risk of dementia. The evidence is equivocal, but I think it rests on how much you drink.
I never drink two days in a row and try to have at least two back-to-back days without alcohol every week. That's so my body can detox. I mainly drink low-alcohol beers, like session IPAs, and white wine (red gives me worse hangovers). I have spirits only on the odd occasion, because they contain coloured elements called congeners, which contribute to hangovers. And I'll only have two drinks in a day. When I'm drinking alcohol, I make sure to have a glass of water every hour to counter its effects - alcohol is a diuretic and as you drink it will cause dehydration, which does the brain no favours.
There's another thing to think about as a man - many organs will forgive heavy drinking in our youth, but not testicles. If you pickle them, the odds are they'll malfunction later in life and you'll have all kinds of sexual problems.
Interviews by Cara McGoogan, Alice Hall and Luke Mintz
