Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Dr George Koob, seemingly nicknamed by Republicans as Biden’s alcohol czar, told the Daily Mail that the USDA could revise its alcohol recommendations to match Canada’s guidelines.
Going the Canadian Way?
No matter their gender, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction advised its residents in January to limit their weekly alcohol consumption to two drinks. Currently, the CDC advises Americans to limit their alcohol consumption to one drink for women and two for men each day. When the new guidelines were first revealed earlier this year, Canadian health officials acknowledged that they might be “a little shocking.”
What Made Canada Reform Its Drinking Pattern?
A federal group of specialists issued a study in 2020 warning that drinking increased the risk of cancer and recommending that the daily restriction be reduced to just one beverage. In 2021, the American Cancer Society issued a report warning that alcohol use may be the cause of up to one in every 20 cancer cases in the US, or 25,000 cases each year. It was shown that alcohol increased the chance of both, more frequent malignancies like breast cancer, which is the most common in women, and rarer ones like throat cancer.
More recent studies including 370,000 adults cautioned that increasing a person’s alcohol intake increased their risk of heart disease by 1.4 times. The World Health Organisation and other leading organisations have used the results as justification to warn that even a tiny amount of alcohol consumption can be harmful to one’s health. This rising amount of research, together with their own evaluation of 6,000 studies, persuaded Canadian health officials to change their alcohol recommendations early this year to allow up to two drinks per week.
“Alcohol Infuses Many Lives in Many Positive Ways”
Health sciences expert at Brock University in Canada, Dr Dan Malleck, states, “Alcohol infuses many lives in many positive ways.” “We celebrate accomplishments, mark occasions, bring wine to parties, meeting with friends, commiserate, relax, blow off steam… these are important activities, and part of the texture and tone of many lives,” he further added. Previous research on the dangers of alcohol have been criticised by experts for failing to consider these societal and cultural advantages.
Current Drinking Guidelines by the NIAAA
The USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services update the regulations every five years, with the next one being due in 2025. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism currently defines excessive drinking for men as having four or more drinks on any one day or 14 drinks per week. More than three drinks on any given day or seven drinks per week are considered heavy drinking for women.
Alcohol Intake Nearly as High as During the Civil War
The average American ingested 2.51 gallons of ethanol, the type of alcohol found in beer and wine, in 2021, according to an NIAAA study published in April. This figure is almost as high as it was during the Civil War.
Rethinking Your Daily Drinking?
Koob discussed Canada’s “big experiment” with alcohol advice, noting that if the topic of health advantages is brought up, people may start to rethink the current situation. Koob also said that if alcohol consumption guidelines were to move in any direction, it would be in Canada’s favour. “Most of the benefits people attribute to alcohol, we feel they really have more to do with what someone’s eating rather than what they’re drinking,” he said. “So it really has to do with the Mediterranean diet, socioeconomic status, makes you able to afford that kind of diet and make your own fresh food and so forth,” he continued.
“Alcohol: A Social Lubricant”
However, he did concede to social advantages, referring to alcohol as a “social lubricant”, further adding that he enjoys two glasses of white wine, usually a “buttery Californian Chardonnay,” on a weekly basis.
Uproar Amongst Republicans
Republicans have been left fuming since Koob’s comments causing Biden to be under severe criticism for wanting to take away their beer. People across the country have likened this to environmental campaigns to outlaw ceiling fans and gas stoves, both of which are not federally prohibited.
“Two Beers a Week? What a Joke!”
The Texas Republican Rep. Troy Nehls commented that the rich men north of Richmond are once again recommending what hard-working Americans should and shouldn’t do. Nehls asserted that Biden’s “beer czar” had no business offering “guidance” regarding alcohol usage. “The Democrats are like this. They want to have complete control over your life. 2 beers per week? What an absolute joke,” he said. “Let’s not forget that JFK stole 1,200 Cuban cigars just hours before he banned all imports of Cuban goods into the country,” he further remarked.
Ted Cruz Drinks in Protest
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz lashed out at President Joe Biden’s administration over this latest allegation in a Newsmax interview. In a video that he shared with his 6.1 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, the senator questioned Democrats’ claims that they want to regulate Americans’ lives before further criticising the Biden administration’s efforts to cut the average American’s alcohol use. Cruz then whipped out a bottle of the black brew Shiner Bock, removed the cap, and took a swig. A group of men wearing plaid shirts and cowboy hats were seen standing in solidarity behind him downing their own beer.
Maria Reynolds: “Another Trial Balloon”
Maria Reynolds, a spokesperson for Cruz, referred to this as “yet another trial balloon by the Biden administration for yet another campaign to regulate the behaviour of everyday Americans.”
“Koob’s Comments Undermine the Scientific Rigor and Objectivity of the Entire Dietary Guidelines Process”
Koob’s remarks were slammed by Amanda Berger, vice president of science and health at the Distilled Spirits Council, in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Dr. Koob’s comments calling for a drastic change to the federal recommendations on alcohol before the review of alcohol research has even begun undermining the scientific rigor and objectivity of the entire Dietary Guidelines process,” Berger added. She further remarked, “For more than 30 years, the federal guidance on alcohol consumption has been no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men for those who choose to drink. It is extremely alarming and inappropriate for a federal official to predetermine the outcome of the Dietary Guidelines and suggest changing decades of precedent without the benefit of the scientific review to support such a sweeping move.”
Calling Upon the Experts
William Kerr, a senior scientist at the Public Health Institute’s Alcohol Research Group, told USA TODAY in an email that “people still can and will drink what they want to.” There have been no reliable news sources where Biden wants to restrict Americans to two drinks each week. There is neither any mention of this on the White House website.
“2-Drink Limit Not a Guarantee on Being Implemented in the States”
The two-drink limit is not a guarantee that it will be implemented in the United States, according to Kerr. “One perspective on the guidelines is that the goal is to get people to drink less and reduce alcohol harms,” he further stated.
White House Responds Back
The claim that Biden would forbid Americans from drinking more than two beers a week, according to White House spokesperson Kelly Scully, is “absolutely false.”
Karine Jean-Pierre Laughs off Claims on Beer Slash
Earlier in August, a reporter questioned White House Press Secretary, Jean-Pierre, about Biden’s desire to restrict Americans to two beers per week at a White House press briefing. She laughed the report off before commenting, “Where is this coming from? I’ve not seen the data. I cannot speak to this. I will leave it to the experts and not weigh in.”
White House Clears the Air
On the 1st of September, 2023, the White House cleared the air to beer drinkers by putting out a statement on X, claiming the report on the alleged beer slash as “absolutely false”.
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