According to the most recent dietary guidelines for Americans, if alcohol is consumed by those of legal drinking age, it should be only in moderation. This is defined as no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men. Women achieve higher concentrations of alcohol in the blood and become more impaired after drinking equal amounts of alcohol. They also appear to eliminate alcohol from the blood faster than men. For those who opt to consume alcohol, moderate consumption can be incorporated into most healthy eating patterns.
High-risk drinking occurs when four or more drinks are consumed on any day or eight or more drinks are consumed per week by women and five or more drinks are consumed on any day or 15 or more drinks are consumed per week by men. Binge drinking refers to the consumption of four or more alcoholic drinks by women and five or more alcoholic drinks by men within about 2 hours.
Excessive alcohol consumption includes binge drinking, heavy drinking (eight or more drinks a week by women, 15 or more drinks a week by men), and any drinking by pregnant women or individuals younger than 21 years.
For more on alcohol use, read here.
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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Stephen Soreff. Fast Five Quiz: Alcohol Use and Abuse - Medscape - Jan 03, 2019.
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