New Dietary Guideline for Alcohol
The USDA has proposed new Dietary Guidelines for Americans that include significant changes on alcohol that concern many public health experts. The 2005 USDA alcohol guidelines defined “moderate” drinking as follows:
Men – no more than two drinks per day
Women – no more than one drink per day
The new 2010 USDA alcohol guidelines is now defining alcohol consumption on a weekly basis:
Men – No more than 14 drinks per week (no more than 4 drinks on any given day)
Women – No more than 7 drinks per week (no more than 3 drinks a day for women)
This does not add up with the old guidelines. For example, the old guidelines for men says they should drink no more than two drinks per day. Multiply that times seven days which equals 14 drinks per week. But the catch is that the new guidelines allows for four drinks per day for men (even though it states no more than 14 drinks per week), which seems like the alcohol consumption is greater. A person could disregard the weekly alcohol consumption guidelines and stick with the daily consumption guidelines which increase for both men and women.
You can submit written comments online (up to 2000 characters, attachments allowed). The USDA does consider all comments seriously before releasing the final version later in the year. But time is very short: the deadline is Thursday, July 15 at 5 pm E.D.T.
What do you think?
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