The Alcohol Guide
Alcohol isn't healthy in any amount.
The old idea that a drink a day is good for you came from a counting mistake: the "non-drinkers" in those studies included people who had quit because they were sick. Fix that, and the benefit disappears while the costs stay. You can still choose to drink, for the dinner and the people. Just weigh it against what it costs, and keep the cost small.
Updated November 15, 2026. 34 guide pages, 42 questions, 10 myths, from 115 published sources.
Less is better, all the way to zero.The careful reviews since 2018 found no amount that's good for you.
If you drink, smaller and earlier.A 5 oz pour with dinner costs a lot less than a big glass at 10pm.
Keep most nights dry.Dry nights are when your sleep, heart rate and liver catch up.
When will tonight's drinks clear?
Bed at 11:00pm
Mostly cleared by 2:50am
That's about 3.8 hours of your sleep with alcohol in your blood (3.1 to 4.9 if your liver runs faster or slower).
Restaurant pour6 oz, 13.5%, 1.35 US drinks- Restaurant pour6 oz, 13.5%, 1.35 US drinks
REM: More REM lost. Your evening is 0.56 g of alcohol per kg of body weight.
The full clock, with the band, the same drinks two hours earlier and what your heart does.
What brings you here?
Everyone comes to alcohol with a reason. Pick yours. They're in order of how many people search for each one.
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A health scare or family historyCancer, your liver, your heart and blood pressure, with and without drinking. Liver · Heart rhythm · Blood pressure · Breast cancer · Dementia
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Dry January, or sober curiousWhat a month off does, and why so many people are drinking less. -
Better sleepWhy you crash at 11 and wake at 3, and how long a drink stays in you. -
Mood and anxietyThe next-day dread people call hangxiety, and what alcohol does to the brain. -
Skin and looksFlushing, rosacea and what a month off can show. -
Fitness and recoveryWhat a big night does to muscle, and what your watch sees the next morning. -
Losing weightWhat alcohol does besides the calories, and 200 calories of beer against food. - On a medicineAntibiotics, sleep medicines, blood thinners and the rest: ask first.
- Trying for a babyHow far ahead to stop, for women and for men, then pregnancy and breastfeeding.
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A parent's or partner's drinkingHow to help someone who drinks too much, and help for you. -
Getting olderWhy the same drink hits harder after 60, and the medicine problem. - On a GLP-1Ozempic, Wegovy and drinking: what has and hasn't been tested.
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MoneyWhat your drinks cost in a year and ten years, and the bill that comes later.
The questions people ask
Is it healthy?
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Are hard seltzers healthy?No. A 12 oz hard seltzer at 5% is one full standard drink, the same alcohol as a beer or a glass of wine. It's sold as low-carb, but the alcohol is the cost. -
Are mocktails healthy?Healthier than cocktails, since there's no alcohol. But one built on soda and juice can match a margarita for calories. Build yours on seltzer with a splash of juice. -
Is beer healthy?No. Beer is alcohol plus carbs, about 153 calories a can with almost no protein or fiber, and it's the drink most tied to gout. Light and non-alcoholic beer cut the cost. - Is kombucha healthy?A fine soda swap, but the health claims are untested: a 2019 review found one human study. It can contain a little alcohol, more as it ferments in the bottle.
How long it lasts
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Does eating before drinking help?Yes. In a lab study, drinking right after breakfast gave a peak about a third lower and cleared about 2 hours sooner than the same drinks on an empty stomach. - How long does alcohol stay in your system?The liver clears a fixed amount an hour, so one US drink takes most adults about 2 to 3.5 hours to mostly leave the blood. Each extra drink adds more.
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How long does it take to sober up?Only time does it. Your liver clears alcohol at its own pace, about 2 to 3.5 hours a drink for most adults, and coffee, a cold shower or a walk don't lower your level. - How long does one drink stay in your system?About 2.1 hours for a 190 lb man and 3.5 for a 130 lb woman, from the first sip, at an average clearing rate. One drink an hour is too fast for most people.
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When can I drive?This site won't tell you when you can drive. Don't drive after drinking.
Your drink
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Does non-alcoholic beer have alcohol?It can have up to 0.5%. A 12 oz bottle at that limit holds about 1.4 g of alcohol, a tenth of a standard drink. Only an alcohol free label means none. -
How many calories in a drink?The alcohol alone has about 7 calories a gram, so about 100 in a standard drink, before the carbs and sugar in beer, wine or a mixer. -
How many drinks in a bottle of wine?About 5 standard drinks at 12% and almost 6 at 13.5%. Split between two people, that's about 2.5 to 3 drinks each, more than most people count. - Is a pint of beer one drink?No. A 16 oz pint of 5% beer is 1.3 standard drinks, and a 16 oz IPA at 7% is almost 2. A 12 oz craft beer at 10% is exactly 2.
Your night
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Does alcohol make you snore?It can. Across 14 trials alcohol added about 2 breathing pauses an hour of sleep, 4 in people who snore and 7 in people with sleep apnea. -
Does alcohol ruin deep sleep?Not the way people think. It adds deep sleep early in the night, then breaks up the second half. REM is the stage it reliably cuts. - Does one drink affect sleep?It can. Across 27 studies even a low dose cut REM sleep, and one drink above usual came with a higher sleeping heart rate in 20,968 WHOOP members.
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How many hours before bed should I stop drinking?For one drink, about 2 to 3.5 hours. Each drink before it moves your last call earlier again. No trial has tested a cutoff, so this is the clearing math.
Your watch
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How long does alcohol raise your resting heart rate?Mostly that night. In a 40-person smartwatch study, three drinking nights raised it from 63.6 to 66.6 bpm, and it was back near normal in the dry days after. - Why is my heart rate high after drinking?Your body is still clearing it. In 20,968 WHOOP members, one drink more than usual, against one less, came with sleeping heart rate 2.4 to 2.8 beats higher.
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Why is my recovery score low after drinking?Recovery and readiness scores lean on overnight heart rate and HRV, and a drinking night moves both the wrong way. No device senses alcohol itself. - Does alcohol lower HRV?Answered on hrv.guide
Your body
- Can you drink on Ozempic?Ask your prescriber. In a 9-week trial, low-dose semaglutide cut drinks per drinking day and craving. Whether a drink hits harder on it hasn't been tested.
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Does alcohol affect your skin?It can. In 82,737 women, drinking raised the risk of rosacea, from 12% higher at 1 to 4 g a day to 53% at 30 g or more. A red face when you drink is a warning sign too. -
Does alcohol cause cancer?Yes. It causes cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus and liver, and raises breast and colorectal cancer risk. Less is lower risk at every level. -
Does alcohol kill gains?A big night can. After hard training, about 8.5 US drinks cut muscle building by 24 to 37% in 8 men. Nobody has tested whether one or two drinks do the same. - Does alcohol raise blood pressure?Answered on bloodpressure.guide
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Does alcohol make you fat?Answered on bodyfat.guide - Does alcohol raise or lower blood sugar?Answered on glucose.guide
- Is any amount safe in pregnancy?The CDC says there's no known safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy or when you're trying to get pregnant.
- Can I drink on my medicines?Ask your pharmacist or prescriber. The 2025-2030 US guidelines say people on medicines that interact with alcohol should avoid it.
How much
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Am I drinking too much?Take the AUDIT-C, the three questions doctors use, scored as published. A score of 3 or more for women or 4 or more for men is a reason to talk with your doctor. -
How many drinks is binge drinking?NIAAA's line is 4 or more drinks for women and 5 or more for men in about two hours. The same counts on any one day, at any pace, are its heavy drinking line. - Is 14 drinks a week too much?For a woman it's well past NIAAA's heavy line of 8 a week. For a man it's one under the line of 15. The 2026 US guidelines just say drink less.
- Is a glass of wine a night too much?A 5 oz glass a night is 7 drinks a week, one under NIAAA's heavy line for women. A 6 oz pour of 13.5% wine makes it about 9.5, over it.
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Does drinking shorten your life?Answered on lifespan.guide
Cutting back
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How do I help someone who drinks too much?Talk when they're sober, be specific and kind, and point them to free help like SAMHSA at 1-800-662-4357. Get support for yourself too, from Al-Anon at 888-425-2666. - Is it dangerous to stop drinking suddenly?It can be, if you drink heavily every day. Withdrawal can start within 8 hours and can become life-threatening, so stop with a doctor's help.
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What happens when you stop drinking for a month?In 94 moderate to heavy drinkers who took a dry month, insulin resistance fell 26%, blood pressure about 6% and weight 1.5%. Night heart rate moves within days.
Your risk, with and without
Alcohol and AFib risk, with and without drinking
In a trial of 140 drinkers with AFib, it came back in 53 of 100 who stopped against 73 of 100 who kept drinking. A drink a day raised new AFib risk 16% in 107,845 people.
Alcohol and blood pressure, with and without drinking
Blood pressure rises in a straight line with alcohol, about 1.25 points at 12 g a day and 4.9 at 48 g. A dry month took it down about 6% in heavy drinkers.
Alcohol and breast cancer risk, with and without drinking
Each drink a day raises breast cancer risk about 7 to 10%. In absolute terms, about 0.7 more women in 100 for each 10 g a day. The numbers, and what cutting back does.
Alcohol and cancer risk, with and without drinking
Of 100 women who barely drink, about 17 get an alcohol-related cancer. At a drink a day it's 19, at two it's 22. For men, 10, 11 and 13. Your odds, drawn as people.
Alcohol and dementia risk, with and without drinking
Light drinkers seemed to have less dementia, but genetics in 2.4 million people found risk rising with every step up in drinking, with no protective dip.
Alcohol and liver disease risk, with and without drinking
Liver damage shows up above about 2 drinks a day. Women at 15 or more drinks a week had 3.4 times the cirrhosis risk of women at 1 or 2, and daily drinking added more.
Myth or fact?
Quick calculators
Tonight's clear time
Your drinks, times and bedtime in: when they're mostly cleared, and how much of your sleep they reach.
When will it be out of my blood?
The curve from your first drink, the time it's mostly cleared, and the one-drink-an-hour myth beside it.
What's in your glass
Guess first, then see any pour in grams and US drinks, as a row of beers.
Last call
Bedtime and the drinks you plan in: the latest time to finish so they're mostly cleared when you sleep.
Your week
Seven nights of drinks in: your week in real US drinks against NIAAA's lines.
What it costs
Your drinks and prices in: what they come to in a year and in ten years.
The guide
Alcohol isn't healthy in any amount
The drink-a-day idea came from a counting mistake. Fixed, the benefit disappears and the costs stay. Why, what alcohol does, and how to weigh it if you drink.
Why one drink a day looked healthy, and why it wasn't
How alcohol causes cancer, from the first sip to broken DNA
What alcohol does to your heart rhythm and blood pressure
What alcohol does to your liver, and how fast it recovers
What alcohol does to your brain and your mood
The two halves of a drinking night
If you still want to drink, how to weigh it and keep the cost small
Ways to stop drinking or cut back that actually work
The best non-alcoholic drinks, from seltzer to NA beer
Alcohol and weight loss, beyond the calories
200 calories of beer vs 200 calories of food
Cutting back and dry stretches, measured on your nights
What's changing
Dry January, does it work and how many people do it?
About 6% of US adults finished Dry January 2025. Those who try drink less six months later, even if they slip, and a month off moved blood pressure, weight and insulin.
Why non-alcoholic beer is booming, and is it any good?
Non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits passed $1 billion in US sales in 2025, and NA beer more than doubled its share of beer since 2021. What's in it and who it suits.
Replace your evening drink with these, and what each one saves
Swap the nightly glass for sparkling water, an NA beer, herbal tea or a walk. A glass of wine a night is about 45,000 calories a year, and the swap keeps the ritual.
What does sober curious mean? The people drinking less
Sober curious means questioning your drinking without a label. It's a real shift: 54% of US adults drink, a record low, and young adults fell from 59% to 50% in 2 years.
