Researchers published an alcohol health study independently on Tuesday after the Trump administration opted not to incorporate their findings into updated dietary guidelines, following resistance from the alcohol industry and a House committee.
Published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, the research aligns with previous scientific work, concluding that health dangers increase with as little as one daily drink and that no amount of alcohol provides mortality protection. The scientists determined that even consumption levels deemed “moderate” elevate risks for early death and over 200 conditions, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.
This research represented one of two federal reviews intended to guide new dietary recommendations. The guidelines, issued earlier this year, recommended drinking “less alcohol for better overall health.” However, the study’s authors argue this guidance lacked specific practical information about drinking dangers.
An official from the study commissioned under President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration claimed President Donald Trump’s Republican administration “sidelined” the work — a charge the Trump administration disputes.
Robert Vincent, a former alcohol policy official with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration who spearheaded the multi-year project, leveled these accusations in an editorial accompanying the study. Vincent lost his position last year during government workforce reductions.
“The challenges confronting alcohol policy today are not rooted in scientific uncertainty,” Vincent wrote. “What remains contested is whether evidence will meaningfully inform policy when it conflicts with commercial interests.”
This controversy highlights growing tensions between medical and scientific communities and the Trump administration, which has challenged established science in policy decisions, dismissed numerous veteran federal scientists, and reduced scientific funding that supporters claim keeps America leading in medical breakthroughs.
Following the researchers’ draft report release last year, the alcohol industry organized opposition, launching efforts to undermine the work’s credibility. The House oversight committee also criticized the research, issuing a report this year labeling it “fraught with bias” and claiming authors reached predetermined conclusions based on previous work and associations.
Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, rejected suggestions the study wasn’t evaluated.
HHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture “reviewed the study alongside the broader body of available scientific evidence and followed the established process for developing the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” she said. “The Guidelines are informed by the totality of the scientific record, not any single report or analysis.”
Vincent told The Associated Press during an interview that researchers underwent thorough conflict screening and the results were scientifically valid. He stated that during his time in the Trump administration, he was “asked to kill the study” but refused. HHS did not immediately address this allegation.
The Trump administration released new dietary guidelines earlier this year recommending consuming “less alcohol for better overall health.” The researchers stated they don’t challenge this advice but believe their results support more detailed and stronger recommendations that current adult drinkers limit consumption to one drink or less daily.
“I’m glad that they had a message that corresponds with our science, and that is that less is best,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, director of the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and one of the study’s authors. “But giving people quantity information is necessary to make a truly informative guideline.”
The study contrasted with other government-commissioned research used to inform dietary guidelines, which found moderate alcohol consumption linked to reduced all-cause mortality risk but increased disease risks.
Priscilla Martinez-Matyszczyk, one of the new study’s authors and a deputy scientific director at the Public Health Institute’s Alcohol Research Group, explained their research focused on alcohol-attributed mortality rather than all-cause mortality to eliminate confounding variables.
Martinez-Matyszczyk also responded to concerns raised by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz regarding the new guidelines: that drinking serves as “a social lubricant that brings people together” and while abstinence is preferable, socializing offers health advantages.
“I don’t know of any studies that have teased out the social effect from the health effect,” she said.
The new results are “in line with the latest science that basically shows less is better when it comes to health,” Naimi said.
For instance, a 2019 Lancet study determined that moderate drinking marginally increased stroke and hypertension risks while providing no health protection.
Moderate consumption was previously believed to benefit heart health, but improved research methods have debunked this notion. Earlier studies compared groups based on consumption levels rather than randomly assigning drinking habits, preventing cause-and-effect conclusions. When researchers controlled for factors like education, income, and healthcare access, the benefits typically vanished.
Approximately half of Americans aged 12 and older consumed alcohol within the past month, researchers noted, making it the nation’s most widely used addictive substance. One drink equals roughly one 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce wine glass, or one liquor shot.
