{"id":6032,"date":"2026-08-26T10:55:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T14:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=6032"},"modified":"2026-08-26T10:55:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T14:55:37","slug":"alcohol-liver-health-and-canadas-drinking-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/resource\/alcohol-liver-health-and-canadas-drinking-guidelines\/","title":{"rendered":"Alcool, sant\u00e9 du foie et directives canadiennes en mati\u00e8re de consommation d\u2019alcool"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"resource-topic":[60,46],"resource-type":[27],"class_list":["post-6032","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry","resource-topic-alcohol","resource-topic-fatty-liver-disease-nafld-nash-nafld-in-children","resource-type-blog-post"],"acf":{"type":27,"topic":[60,46],"blocks":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":"Alcohol can have a significant impact on liver health, and drinking more than recommended can increase the risk of liver damage over time. Understanding Canada\u2019s drinking guidelines can help people make informed choices about alcohol and reduce potential health risks.\r\n\r\nWe spoke with\u00a0<strong>Dr. Tim Naimi, <\/strong>director of the University of Victoria\u2019s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and professor at UVic\u2019s Division of Medical Sciences, about Canada\u2019s latest drinking guidelines, alcohol's effect on the body, and ways to reduce harm.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Canada\u2019s drinking guidelines have changed in recent years. Can you explain what the current guidelines say, and why \u201cdrinking less is best\u201d is now the key message?<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nCanada\u2019s Guidance on Alcohol and Health was released in 2023. Rather than focusing on one level of consumption, it examines the spectrum of risk across the drinking continuum. At above two drinks per week the risk of an alcohol-caused death is greater than one in a thousand persons, and at above six drinks per week the risk of an alcohol cause death is greater than one in 100. Overall, in terms of health risks, drinking less is healthier than drinking more. For people who drink but are unable or unwilling to get to the lowest risk level, the main message is that they can really improve health if they can at least reduce their consumption.\r\n<h4><strong>How does alcohol damage the body (and liver) over time, and what conditions can it lead to?<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nWell, alcohol is one of the world\u2019s leading liver toxins, if not its primary liver toxin. Liver damage is related to total dose, but is also tied to the pattern of consumption meaning that drinking a lot in a short amount of time can lead to high blood alcohol concentrations and acute liver inflammation. Of course, alcohol by itself can damage and destroy the liver. The stages of progression start with fatty liver disease, progressing to hepatitis, progressing to fibrosis and cirrhosis and then death from any of the complications of cirrhosis. Those include liver cancer, gastrointestinal bleeding, infections, and altered mental status with coma. In addition to the singular effects of alcohol on the liver, alcohol makes liver injury associated with infectious hepatitis or metabolic associated liver disease worse. So alcohol can act alone or in combination with other liver toxins or liver-related diseases.\r\n<h4><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Are some people more vulnerable to alcohol-related liver damage than others?<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nYes, some are more vulnerable than others. Obviously if you drink alcohol, and particularly if you drink heavily you\u2019re going to be vulnerable to liver disease. Similarly, if you have other conditions like a metabolic syndrome, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hemochromatosis or fat build up in the liver, you\u2019re going to be more vulnerable.\r\n<h4><strong>What are some early warning signs of alcohol-related liver damage, and why is it important not to wait for symptoms?<\/strong><strong>\r\n<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nIn terms of liver disease, prevention is the best approach. In addition to the general benefits of prevention, it is important to remember that a considerable amount of liver damage can occur before any clinical manifestations are apparent or before there any \u201cwarning signs\u201d. If one waits to turn yellow or to have one\u2019s belly swell up from ascites, one\u2019s liver disease may be already quite advanced. So when it comes to liver disease and alcohol, the best thing is not to drink or to drink low amounts so you don\u2019t start the progression of liver disease and have to wait around until \u201cwarning signs\u201d develop. That said, early detection and early treatment of liver disease is important.\r\n<h4><strong>For those who drink alcohol but wants to reduce their risk of negative health affects, what harm-reduction steps would you recommend?<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nThe best form of harm reduction is prevention -- by drinking less alcohol. If that is difficult, professional help in the form of counselling or medications may be needed.","remove_heading_underline":false}],"related_resources":"","title":"","text":"","image":"","landing_page":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/6032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"resource-topic","href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topic\/46"},{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"resource-topic","href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topic\/60"},{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"resource-type","href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-type\/27"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"resource-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-topic?post=6032"},{"taxonomy":"resource-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liver.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-type?post=6032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}