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Alcohol and your health

Can alcohol affect my physical health?

Yes, alcohol can affect your physical health. The risk of developing alcohol-related health conditions increases when consuming more than 2 standard drinks per week (Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction).1

Some short and long-term health effects of alcohol include1:

Alcohol and cancer risk1,2,3,4

Alcohol has been classified as a group 1 carcinogen (cancer-causing substance), and recent and emerging research has linked alcohol to several different types of cancer including:

No amount of alcohol is safe to consume but, as noted in Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health (CCSA). The risk of developing cancer related to alcohol use increases with the amount of alcohol consumed beyond 2 standard drinks per week.

Can alcohol affect my mental health?

Alcohol can affect your mental health. Alcohol is a “depressant”, which is a drug that slow down messages between your body and your brain.

Since alcohol is a depressant, some people find it releases tension and reduces inhibition. When alcohol is in your system, it can change your thinking and behaviour. Alcohol can make some people feel outgoing, happy, or excited. For others, alcohol can make them feel sad, hostile, or violent.

Alcohol use disorder

People who drink too much or too often may develop a medical condition called alcohol use disorder (AUD). What is considered too much drinking or too often varies from person to person. When people develop an AUD, they may feel like they “need” to drink alcohol to function or survive, and drinking may become an important—or even the most important— factor in their life.

Like other substance use disorders, AUD is a mental health disorder. Diagnosis is made by the presence of specific signs or symptoms. The severity of the condition (mild, moderate, or severe) depends on how many of these signs you experience:

Dependence on alcohol happens when a person develops a tolerance to alcohol. This means the person will need more alcohol to achieve the same effect. When a person is dependent on alcohol, they may also experience symptoms of withdrawal, such as tremors, nausea, or sleeplessness, when alcohol is stopped. In cases of severe dependence, a person in withdrawal may develop a condition called “delirium tremens”. This condition can be dangerous and even fatal, especially if alcohol use is stopped abruptly. Symptoms of delirium tremens include confusion, very high body temperature, and/or seizures. Alcohol dependence can result in clinical depression and can increase the risk of suicide. AUD and alcohol dependence are treatable conditions, and treatment varies depending on the severity.

If you are concerned about your drinking or the drinking of someone you care about, help is available.

Health impacts for youth1

Alcohol is the most used psychoactive substance among youth and is the leading cause of death and social issues among young people. When consuming alcohol there are much higher risks for injuries, aggression, and violence (including intimate partner violence). These risks are especially prevalent amongst youth because binge drinking is common in this demographic, and the risks associated with alcohol increase with the amount of alcohol consumed in one sitting.

Additionally, the impacts of alcohol on the developing brain can have long-term effects on things like mental health and academic performance.

Health impacts for pregnant and breast/chestfeeding people1,5

Drinking alcohol while pregnant can have negative impacts on the fetus. Some of the risks of using alcohol while pregnant include complications, birth defects and abnormalities, such as:

Longer-term effects include learning difficulties, and health and social effects with lifelong impacts such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) (Health Canada).

Using alcohol while breast/chestfeeding can also have negative impacts on your child because alcohol passes through breast/human milk. Alcohol can affect infant sleep patterns, cause difficulties with breast/chestfeeding and lead to an early end to breast/chestfeeding or a decrease in milk production.

  1. Paradis, C., Butt, P., Shield, K., Poole, N., Wells, S., Naimi, T., Sherk, A., & the Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines Scientific Expert Panels. (2023). Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health: Final Report. Ottawa, Ont.: Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. https://ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2023-01/CCSA_Canadas_Guidance_on_Alcohol_and_Health_Final_Report_en.pdf
  2. Anderson, B.O., Berdzuli, N., Ilbawi, A., Kestel, D., Kluge, H.P., Krech, R., Mikkelsen, B., Neufeld, M., Poznyak, V., Rekve, D., Slama, S., Tello, J., & Ferriera-Borges, C. (2023). Health and cancer risks associated with low levels of alcohol consumption. The Lancet, 8(1), E6-E7. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00317-6
  3. Ontario Health, & Public Health Ontario (PHO). (2023). Burden of Health Conditions Attributable to Smoking and Alcohol by Public Health Unit in Ontario. Toronto: King’s Printer for Ontario. https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/Documents/B/2023/burden-health-smoking-alcohol-report.pdf?rev=2bbb255245404a3599a1e11e0f34709c&sc_lang=enh
  4. World Health Organization (WHO). (2018). Global status report on alcohol and health 2018. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/274603
  5. Centre for Excellence on Women’s Health (CEWH). (2023). Thinking about pregnancy? A booklet to reflect on alcohol use before you are pregnant. https://cewh.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Preconception-Booklet-Thinking-About-Pregnancy-Nov.-25.pdf

This item was last modified on September 19, 2024