National Guidelines
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommend that if you choose to drink, you should drink in moderation.
Moderate alcohol consumption
Moderate alcohol consumption = up to 1 drink per day for female* individuals and up to 2 drinks per day for male* individuals.
Binge drinking
Binge drinking = a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 or higher. For a typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5 or more drinks (male* individuals), or 4 or more drinks (female*), in about 2 hours.
Heavy alcohol use
Heavy alcohol use =
- more than 5 drinks on any day or 15 or more per week for male* individuals
- more than 4 drinks on any day or 8 or more per week for female* individuals
High-Intensity Drinking
High-intensity drinking means consuming two or more times the gender-specific thresholds for binge drinking. This means 10 or more standard drinks (or alcohol drink equivalents) for male* individuals and eight or more for female* individuals.
*Based on sex assigned at birth
Binge drinking and heavy alcohol use can increase an individual's risk for an alcohol use disorder.