Drinking less alcohol
Last reviewed 25 August 2026 · Evidence-graded review — see Methodology
If you drink, drinking less is one of the highest-value changes available, and it costs nothing. The evidence that alcohol raises the risk of several cancers, stroke, hypertension and liver disease is about as firm as evidence in this field gets. There is also no protective amount; the old idea that a daily drink helps your heart has not survived better studies.
A combined analysis of individual data from 83 prospective studies and close to 600,000 current drinkers found risk of stroke, coronary disease (outside light drinking), fatal hypertensive disease and several cancers rising monotonically with intake. The WHO states plainly that no level of consumption is safe for health. Guidelines converge on the same advice: the less you drink, the lower your risk.
Doing it: Track what you actually drink for two weeks; most people undercount. Then set a weekly ceiling you can live with and keep several alcohol-free days. If cutting back feels hard, that itself is worth mentioning to your GP.
Who it suits: Anyone who drinks. People with liver disease, a personal or strong family history of breast or bowel cancer, or high blood pressure have the most to gain.
Sources
- Wood AM, et al. Risk thresholds for alcohol consumption: combined analysis of individual-participant data for 599 912 current drinkers in 83 prospective studies. Lancet. 2018;391:1513–1523.
- WHO fact sheet on alcohol.
Next in diet: Cutting ultra-processed food →
Prefer to start with what a blood test can tell you? All 48 diagnostic tests, ranked →