- Drinking alcohol in moderation was thought to be healthy, but research now suggests there is no safe level.
- Alcohol harm expert Richard Piper used to drink heavily.
- His 'dry by default' rule helped him reduce the risks of drinking without going sober.
At 52, Richard Piper runs often, feels full of energy, weighs less, and enjoys concerts and holidays more than he did at 42. He puts this down to being what he calls "dry by default."
Piper told Business Insider that he drank heavily daily for years. But after becoming the CEO of harm reduction charity Alcohol Change UK in 2017, he realized he needed to address his drinking habits.
He joined the growing number of people who are drinking less, particularly Gen Zers and millennials. A survey of US adults carried out by Gallop between 2021 and 2023 found that 62% of respondents aged 18 to 34 drank alcohol, down from 72% between 2001 and 2003. A separate Gallup poll published earlier this year found that 86% of the US adults surveyed thought that alcohol was "very" (33%) or "somewhat" (53%) harmful.
Being "dry by default" means Piper will drink on rare occasions rather than most days, for example when non-alcoholic alternative to a beer he likes isn't available.
He prefers being dry by default to sober because he doesn't have to follow "permanent lifelong rules," he said, but he can lower his risk of alcohol-related harm.
"There is no such thing as healthy drinking," Piper said. "But there's more risky drinking, or there's less risky drinking. And the less you drink, the healthier it is."
Research suggests all drinking is harmful — even in moderation
Some evidence suggests that moderate drinking could be better for you than not drinking. But more recent studies have indicated that the data that pointed to this was flawed, because people are more likely to stop drinking if they're ill or dealing with addiction, skewing the results.
Now, growing evidence suggests that no amount of alcohol is safe. A 2021 study published in the European Journal of Public Health found that in 2017, light to moderate drinking caused 13.3% of cancers related to alcohol in the European Union. That was defined as two shots of spirits, just under two bottles of beer (20.2 ounces), or a little more than a glass (6.76 ounces) of wine a day.
Drinking doesn't only bring health risks. "Alcohol can lead to poor decision-making — about getting home safely, about who you talk to, and what you say to them — and makes many of us do things that we wouldn't do otherwise," Piper said.
You don't have to quit drinking to lower the health risks
The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends adults don't drink, or drink moderately, meaning fewer than one to two drinks a day.
Piper said that one to two units of alcohol a week is genuinely low risk for dying from alcohol and alcohol-related issues, in line with Canada's guidelines.
People should make sure that the benefits of drinking outweigh the risks, and generally, most people would see benefits from drinking less, he said. Benefits might include losing weight, saving money, sleeping better, easing depression and anxiety, having more energy, and things you can't see, such as lower cancer risks.
"Basically the less you drink, the better for your health, your mental health, and your well-being," he said, even if you don't give up completely.
"Make sure you have a really good reason for having a drink," he said. "And it's always good to have a few days off a week. Alcohol should be on the periphery of our lives, not at the center."