Alcoholic Beverages

Alcoholic beverages supply calories, but few basic nutrients. Heavy drinking can cause:

  • Cirrhosis of the liver
  • High blood pressure
  • Some cancers
  • Injury
  • Death

No more than one drink per day is recommended for most women. A drink consists of one of the following:

  • 12 ounces of regular beer
  • 5 ounces of wine
  • 1.5 ounces of hard liquor

Moderate drinking (no more than one drink per day) may provide some health benefits, especially for the heart and circulatory system. Talk to your doctor about whether this could benefit you.

Too much alcohol makes it harder to fit the good nutrients into your calorie count without gaining weight. You should not drink alcohol if:

  • You cannot control how much you drink
  • You take medications that interact with alcohol
  • You have a medical condition that gets worse with alcohol
  • You are driving or taking part in an activity that requires attention

Comments are closed.