- It was thought that drinking alcohol in moderation was healthy, but research now suggests that there is no safe level.
- Alcohol damage expert Richard Piper drank heavily.
- His “standard dry” rule helped him reduce the risks of drinking without sobering up.
At the age of 52, Richard Piper runs often, feels full of energy, weighs less and enjoys concerts and vacations more than at the age of 42. He attributes this to what he calls “naturally dry.”
Piper told Business Insider that he drank heavily every day for years. But after becoming CEO of the charity Alcohol Change UK in 2017, he realized he needed to tackle his drinking habits.
He joined the growing number of people drinking less, especially Gen Zers and millennials. A survey of US adults conducted by Gallop between 2021 and 2023 found that 62% of respondents aged 18 to 34 drank alcohol, up from 72% between 2001 and 2003. A separate Gallup poll published earlier this year , found that 86% of US adults surveyed thought alcohol was “very” (33%) or “somewhat” (53%) harmful.
Being dry by default means Piper will drink on rare occasions rather than on most days, such as when there is no non-alcoholic alternative available to a beer he likes.
He prefers standard dryness over sobriety because he doesn’t have to follow “permanent lifelong rules,” he said, but he can reduce the risk of alcohol-related harm.
“There’s no such thing as healthy drinking,” Piper said. “But there is more risky drinking, or there is less risky drinking. And the less you drink, the healthier it is.”
Piper usually drinks non-alcoholic beer, but occasionally he also drinks an alcoholic beer. Niall Carson/PA images via Getty Images
Research shows that all drinking is harmful, even in moderation
There is some evidence that moderate drinking could be better for you then don’t drink. But more recent studies have shown that the data suggesting this was wrong, because people are more likely to stop drinking when they are sick or dealing with an addiction, skewing the results.
There is increasing evidence that no amount of alcohol is safe. A 2021 study published in the European Journal of Public Health found that light to moderate alcohol consumption caused 13.3% of alcohol-related cancers in the European Union in 2017. That was defined as two shots of liquor, just under two bottles of beer (20.2 ounces), or just over a glass (6.76 ounces) of wine per day.
Drinking doesn’t just pose 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 causes many of us to do things we otherwise wouldn’t do,” Piper said.
You don’t have to stop drinking to reduce health risks
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults avoid drinking or drink moderately, meaning fewer than one to two drinks per day.
Piper said one to two units of alcohol per week is a really low risk of dying from alcohol and alcohol-related problems, in line with Canadian guidelines.
People should make sure the benefits of drinking outweigh the risks, and generally most people would see benefits from drinking less, he said. Benefits can include losing weight, saving money, sleeping better, relieving depression and anxiety, having more energy, and things you can’t see, like a lower risk of cancer.
“The less you drink, the better for your health, your mental health and your well-being,” he said, even if you don’t give it up completely.
“Make sure you have a really good reason to go for a drink,” he said. “And it’s always good to have a few days off a week. Alcohol should be on the edge of our lives, not the center.”