OAN’s Abril Elfi
3:25 PM – Friday, August 25, 2023
Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) George Koob has reported that officials could soon tell Americans to limit to only two drinks per week.
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On Thursday, Koob announced that the United States could potentially follow Canada’s footsteps on establishing alcohol guidelines and placing restrictions on alcohol consumption.
“I mean, [alcohol consumption guidelines] are not going to go up, I’m pretty sure. So if [guidelines] go in any direction, it would be toward Canada,” Koob said.
In Canada, the Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction recommends that their residents have no more than two drinks per week regardless of their gender.
However, in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that men limit to two drinks per day and women to one drink per day.
Koob has been under fire with other health officials after his statement.
In a statement to The National Desk (TND), Distilled Spirits Council Vice President of Science and Health Amanda Berger, called the possibility “extremely alarming and inappropriate.”
“Dr. Koob’s comments calling for a drastic change to the federal recommendations on alcohol before the review of alcohol research has even begun undermines the scientific rigor and objectivity of the entire Dietary Guidelines process,” Berger said. “It is extremely alarming and inappropriate for a federal official to predetermine the outcome of the Dietary Guidelines and suggest changing decades of precedent without the benefit of the scientific review to support such a sweeping move.”
The NIAAA has reportedly defined heavy drinking for men as those who have more than four drinks per day or 14 drinks per week.
For women, heavy drinking is defined as more than three drinks on any given day or seven drinks per week
Reportedly, U.S. alcohol consumption guidelines are under review but cannot be updated until 2025.
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By: OAN
