Dr. Tiffany Di Pietro discusses a study of 330,000 people that found light-to-moderate drinking, defined as 3-7 drinks weekly for women and 3-14 for men, was associated with lower cardiovascular risk and all-cause mortality. The research relied on self-reported data and couldn't fully account for confounding factors like smoking and obesity.
So, are you craving a nice cold brew after your 9-to-5? Well, now science is telling us to go for it. A new study finds light to moderate drinking might have protective effects against cardiovascular disease, which could prolong life. But hitting the bottle too hard could lead to death, cancer, and heart problems. Let's bring in board-certified cardiologist and preventive health expert, Dr. Tiffany Sizemore. And Dr. Sizemore, it's good to see you again. Thanks so much for joining us.
Good to see you.
Thank you. You are a scientific advisor for the U.S. Distilled Spirits Council. Yes. How would you define light to moderate drinking?
So, from this study, which was 330,000 people, I don't even wanna say the word patients, people, from interviews that were done at home, okay? Just like you get sent surveys at your house. And out of the 330,000 people, they ranked light, moderate, heavy drinking. Light for women was between 3 and 7 drinks in a week on average, and for men was between 3 and 14 drinks a week on average. So about 1 for women and 2 for men a day.
And what are the positives?
Cardiovascular risk and all-cause death were significantly decreased in patients and people who drink a light to moderate amount of alcohol consistently. Heavy binge drinkers, obviously, it's out the window. Drinking more than 14 per week for men or 7 per week for women. But cardio— it makes my job so much easier. Cardiovascular— when I can tell patients, "You're good to drink." That's a scream.
We always told my— the kind of town GP told my great-aunt Irene that, that she should take a drink in the evening, and as she began to suffer from dementia, we found her passed out on the floor and thought she was dead, and she'd had 4 shots of bourbon. So she was like out cold. But what is the benefit? Is it just that it relaxes people?
You know, we actually don't 100% know yet, which is kind of interesting. There probably has something to do with some arterial dilation, helps blood flow, but we really don't We really don't know.
So it's not relaxation?
It could be, it could be.
Well, since we don't know the exact mechanism, let me ask the question that's probably on everyone's mind. I want to believe this study. Right. But if you go back, there seems to be like every 5 or 6 years there's a study that seems to contradict the last study. What makes this definitive?
So when we look at studies, and that's a very good point, you have to look at the way in which the study was done, okay? And you have to look at confounding factors. So you have to look at, okay, were people also smoking? Were they also obese? And you have to take the study as a whole. And what this study did that's so kind of landmark is they were able to tease out all of the other risk factors, okay? So we know that if you smoke, it doesn't matter how much you drink, you're gonna die, okay? We also know if you're morbidly obese. So they were able to tease out all these factors basically and say, okay, these are self-reported estimates, okay? And by self-reported estimates, and that is the one possible flaw with the study is you're relying on people for their own recall. But people, when they're just writing something down and mailing it in, they're typ— they are typically quite honest. Same thing in a doctor's office.
Except about smoking now, people lie about smoking. Well, because they never want it on record.
Right.
It's a pox on their person.
Your insurance will go up.
Right, and it's like if there's any record that you've ever told anyone you smoke, it will come back to haunt you in myriad ways.
For sure.
And they probably underestimate the amount they drink, you know, for similar kinds of things.
Which, if you think about it for this reason, you know, it's probably maybe, if they were underestimating, it's probably a good thing.
Yeah, it gives you a margin of safety on this.
You get a little margin of error on this.
And I use that rule of thumb: if my patients say they have 2 a day, it's probably 3.
Yeah, you're right.
All right, Dr. Tiffany Di Pietro, great to have you here. Thanks, thanks so much for being here. Coming up, the
