Health Topic

Alcohol

Many people drink alcohol. Drinking too much can take a serious toll on your health. It's important to know how alcohol affects you and how much is too much.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: Drinking

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Alcohol

Many Americans drink alcohol at least occasionally. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans say that adults of legal drinking age should either not drink or drink in moderation. Drinking less is better for your health than drinking more. Also, there are some people who should not drink at all.

If you are going to drink, it's important to know how alcohol affects you and how much is too much.

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. This means that it is a drug that slows down brain activity. It can change your mood, behavior, and self-control. It can cause problems with memory and thinking clearly. Alcohol can also affect your coordination and physical control.

Alcohol also has effects on the other organs in your body. For example, it can raise your blood pressure and heart rate. If you drink too much at once, it could make you throw up.

Alcohol's effects vary from person to person, depending on a variety of factors, including:

  • How much you drink
  • How often you drink
  • Your age
  • Your sex
  • Your genetics
  • Your overall health
  • Whether or not you have a family history of alcohol problems
  • For most women, moderate drinking is no more than 1 standard drink a day
  • For most men, moderate drinking is no more than 2 standard drinks a day

Even though moderate drinking may be safe for many people, there are still risks. Moderate drinking can raise the risk of death from certain cancers and heart diseases.

In the United States, a standard drink is one that contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is found in:

  • 12 ounces of regular beer (5% alcohol content)
  • 5 ounces of wine (12% alcohol content)
  • 1.5 ounces or a "shot" of distilled spirits or liquor (40% alcohol content)

Some people should not drink alcohol at all, including those who:

  • Are in recovery from an alcohol use disorder (AUD)
  • Are are unable to control the amount they drink
  • Are under age 21
  • Are pregnant or trying to become pregnant
  • Are taking medicines that can interact with alcohol
  • Have medical conditions that get can worse if you drink alcohol
  • Are planning on driving
  • Will be operating machinery or doing activities that require skill, coordination, and alertness

If you have questions about whether it is safe for you to drink, talk with your health care provider.

Excessive drinking includes binge drinking and heavy alcohol use:

  • Binge drinking is drinking so much at once that your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level is 0.08% or more: For men, this usually happens after having 5 or more drinks within a few hours.
  • For women, it is usually after about 4 or more drinks within a few hours.
  • For men, having more than 5 drinks on any day or more than 15 drinks per week.
  • For women, having more than 4 drinks on any day or more than 8 drinks per week.

Binge drinking raises your risk of injuries, car crashes, and alcohol overdose. It also puts you at risk of becoming violent or being the victim of violence.

Heavy alcohol use over a long period of time may cause health problems such as:

  • Alcohol use disorder (AUD)
  • Liver diseases, including cirrhosis and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD)
  • Heart diseases
  • Increased risk of certain cancers
  • Increased risk of injuries

Heavy alcohol use can also cause problems at home, at work, and with friends. But treatment can help.

It sits within Substance Use and Disorders and Food and Nutrition.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Alcohol

3,414 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

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Diagnosis and Tests

Prevention and Risk Factors

Related Issues

Statistics and Research

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Alcohol Drinking. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Alcohol, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.