Health
Doctors reveal what ‘reasonable’ drinking looks like — and who should avoid alcohol
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With 40% of adults resolving to drink less alcohol in 2026, according to a recent survey, some may be struggling to find a healthy balance.
Health experts agree that each person’s relationship with alcohol is unique, based on history, tolerance and lifestyle.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a Pennsylvania-based oncologist and author of the new book “Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life,” has noted that indulging in certain activities – like eating ice cream or drinking alcohol – may not be healthy to do every day, but can provide some benefits in moderation.
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“There has been a lot of research on alcohol,” he said in a recent interview with “CBS Sunday Morning.” “The safest level is probably zero. There are some studies … where it’s half a cup a day, three cups a week.”
“On the other hand, 60% [to] 65% of the public drinks,” he went on. “You’re not going from 65% to zero, so you have to give people reasonable advice.”
A doctor shared “reasonable” drinking advice for striking a balanced relationship with alcohol. (iStock)
Emanuel advised against binge-drinking or drinking alone, both of which are “really bad for you.”
“[But] if you’re using alcohol as a lubricant for social interaction, which many people do, that’s probably good,” he said. “You’re getting some benefit from the social interaction.”
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When social drinking becomes risky
While drinking’s stress-relieving factors may be helpful for some, indulging in alcoholic drinks can be risky for those with a pre-disposition to addiction, experts caution.
In a recent episode of “The Huberman Lab” podcast, Dr. Andrew Huberman and guest Dr. Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine, discussed the fine line between indulging for pleasure and potentially fostering an issue.
Experiences with alcohol can be different for every individual, experts say. (iStock)
According to Huberman, who is also a Stanford University neuroscientist, up to 10% of people experience alcohol as a “dopaminergic,” making them feel “spectacularly good.”
Others may drink and experience a cue to stop, like dizziness, nausea, “blacking out,” severe hangovers or other negative effects.
“The safest level is probably zero.”
“Some people really can drink five or six drinks, and then the next day they’re at work hammering away,” he said. “The conversation becomes very difficult to have, because it sounds like it’s highly individual how people will react.”
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High-risk groups
One of the greatest risk factors for becoming an alcoholic is having your first drink before the age of 14, according to Huberman.
“I find that some people will have their first drink, and it’s like a magic elixir for their physiology,” he said. “And there are very few things that can get somebody like that to stop drinking, except the risk of losing everything.”
While drinking’s stress-relieving factors may be helpful for some, indulging in alcoholic drinks can be risky for those with a pre-disposition to addiction, experts caution. (iStock)
Humphreys said the biggest indicator of personal risk is whether alcoholism runs in someone’s family — particularly if their parents were alcoholics.
“The father-to-son link is the strongest one you see in genetics,” he said. “Men drink more than women do … whether they’ve got an alcohol problem or not.”
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Drinking alcohol has been shown to be particularly harmful for women, as the risk of developing hormone-related cancers substantially increases.
Risk vs. benefit
For those who are not predisposed to addiction, Huberman noted that some studies suggest that certain types of consumption are OK in moderation, such as drinking red wine or having a maximum of two drinks per week.
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“I would love to believe [red wine] is healthy,” Humphreys responded. “It’s not … Why would there be a benefit to red wine that wasn’t in other alcoholic beverages?”
“There might be some cardiac benefits, but we don’t get to live our lives as single organs. We have a whole body,” he went on. “If that’s true, it’s smaller than the cancer risk. So, your net is you’re not going to get any mortality reduction from drinking alcohol.”
“I would love to believe [red wine] is healthy,” one expert said. “It’s not … Why would there be a benefit to red wine that wasn’t in other alcoholic beverages?” (iStock)
Drinking two drinks per week — such as a 12-ounce beer, 4-ounce glass of wine or a 1-ounce shot of liquor — poses only a “very small risk” of health complications, but it’s not something Humphreys would recommend, as it’s “just not good for you,” he said.
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Despite the risks, however, the experts acknowledged the stress-relieving and social benefits of having a drink.
“Getting together with friends is enjoyable, enriching,” Humphreys said. “Good food and good wine taste good, and I value those things. And there are many other decisions we make like that where we endure some risk because we care about something else.”
“It’s dangerous for someone my age to hike up a mountainside probably, but if the view is spectacular, I can say, ‘Oh, I’m going to accept that risk.’”
“Good food and good wine taste good, and I value those things.”
What’s become most dangerous about social drinking, according to Humphreys, is that some people feel they need to explain themselves when they stop.
Huberman echoed, “If you don’t drink at parties, or you refuse an offer of alcohol, people think there’s something wrong with you.”
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Given recent data on the risks of alcohol consumption, Humphreys said it should be simple to say no, much like opting not to smoke a cigarette.
“Health is a reason people still accept, I think, as a legitimate [reason] for changing behavior,” he added.
Ants can be a nuisance. Just ask officials at a hospital in Canada who are dealing with an “appearance of ants within the operating room” that has forced them to indefinitely suspend some surgeries there.
The ants appeared recently at Carman Memorial Hospital in Carman Manitoba, according to a statement from Southern Health-Santé Sud, the provincial authority that oversees the hospital.
It was not clear when the hospital would resume operations, but Southern Health said on Friday that a “limited number of elective surgeries” had been postponed and that the hospital was working with patients to reschedule them. Portage Online, a local news website, reported that 16 operations had been postponed, citing information from Southern Health.
It’s not the first time ants have disrupted operations at the hospital. The insects appeared there in August 2024, but “the issue resolved within a few weeks,” Southern Health said. They returned last summer. But with their reappearance this week, the hospital said it was taking more drastic measures. The hospital serves the area around Carman, a town with a population of around 3,000 residents about 47 miles southwest of Winnipeg.
“Any factor that could impact the safety or integrity of the operating room environment requires the suspension of surgical activity until the issue can be resolved,” Southern Health said. “The safety of patients, staff and physicians is paramount.”
The hospital is working with exterminators “to identify the source of the ants and implement additional measures and support a long-term resolution.” Southern Health told Portage Online that exterminators had “surveyed and cleaned drains, opened walls and sealed cracks.”
“Several methods have been used to bait the ants in an effort to find where they are originating from,” the authority said.
In a separate statement to the CBC, Southern Health said that it believed that an ant colony had made its home near the hospital and that they appeared to be “simply seeking food sources inside buildings as ants are known to do.”
The hospital also told the CBC that the ant problem at the hospital did not amount to an “infestation.”
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The U.S. government is moving to evacuate American passengers from a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, with plans to transport them to a military base in Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring, federal health officials said Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk to the American public remains extremely low as officials move forward with a medical repatriation flight for passengers aboard the M/V Hondius.
President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that the situation appears to be under control, pointing to the virus being difficult to transmit.
“We have very good people looking at it. It seems to be okay. They know the virus very well. They’ve worked with it for a long time. They know it very well. Not easy to pass on. So we hope that’s true,” he said.
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Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
“We seem to have things under very good control. They know that virus very well. It’s been around a long time. Not easily transferable, unlike COVID. But we’ll see. We have very good people studying it very closely.”
The outbreak has escalated over several weeks, beginning with a passenger who became sick in early April and later resulting in at least three deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
Cases are now reported across multiple countries after passengers disembarked in Africa and Europe, prompting health officials to trace contacts globally.
Authorities in Cape Verde at one point blocked passengers from leaving the ship, underscoring concerns about containment.
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An ambulance evacuates patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship to the airport in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
Hantavirus is a rare but potentially deadly disease typically spread through contact with infected rodents or their droppings, according to the CDC. While most strains do not spread between people, health officials say the Andes virus — identified in some cases linked to the cruise ship — is the only known strain capable of limited person-to-person transmission.
The vessel is expected to dock in Spain’s Canary Islands, where international teams are coordinating next steps for passengers and crew.
A CDC team has been deployed to the Canary Islands to assess potential exposure among American passengers and determine monitoring needs.
Returning passengers are expected to be flown on a U.S. government medical repatriation flight to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
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They will then be transported to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for further monitoring.
Additional CDC personnel will be stationed at Offutt Air Force Base to support health assessments.
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From tracking sleep and steps to monitoring heart rate, temperature and stress levels, wearable devices like smartwatches and rings are growing in popularity as wellness tools.
Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade recently used one of these — an Oura ring — to track his metrics from the early morning hours through a demanding work schedule and reported the results live on “Fox & Friends.”
“I just got four hours and one minute [of sleep], but I have some REM sleep, 14%, over 20% of deep sleep. Feeling pretty good, I feel pretty fresh,” Kilmeade shared during his first early morning update, reviewing the stats from his ring.
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Throughout the day, the wearable tracked his physiological responses to various environments, from the stress of a live television broadcast to the physical exertion of a workout.
Wearable devices are changing cardiology’s landscape, helping detect conditions like atrial fibrillation early, a cardiologist said. (iStock)
Kilmeade observed the data in real time, noting, “You see the stress level spike just a little bit … as I make my way over to radio, my activity is going to pick up.”
By the end of his day, which included a trip to West Point and hours spent in a car, the device provided a summary of Kilmeade’s activity levels and heart rate stability.
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Dr. Craig Basman, a New Jersey cardiologist, joined the program to interpret the data and discuss the clinical implications of such technology.
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Basman immediately addressed Kilmeade’s limited rest. “Well, I don’t think you have to be a cardiologist to diagnose him with suboptimal sleep,” he said.
The cardiologist urged users to treat the data as a catalyst for lifestyle changes. (iStock)
However, the doctor highlighted the broader potential of these tools, explaining that “these wearable devices are changing the landscape of cardiology” and that “the future is bright, not just for preventative care … but also screening and detection of actual cardiovascular pathology.”
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The cardiologist urged users to treat the data as a catalyst for lifestyle changes, noting that he wouldn’t recommend detection tools unless you’re “going to do something about it.”
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Regarding the accuracy of the technology, Basman said there is “robust data” to suggest that the numbers are “incredibly accurate” for a lot of the metrics people are viewing, specifically data like resting heart rate and heart rate variability.
Wearable health tech like watches and rings can track sleep, heart rate and stress. (iStock)
He also mentioned that some devices can detect serious conditions like atrial fibrillation, which affects millions and can often go undetected during a standard physical exam.
For younger individuals, wearables can serve as a “great primary prevention tool,” according to the doctor, given that plaque can begin to develop in the arteries as early as the 20s and 30s.
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For the older population, the devices act more as a “screening tool for actual existing cardiac pathology,” he added.
Anyone concerned about wearable health data should consult a doctor for medical guidance.
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