Doctor points out uncomfortable truth for people who drink between one and 13 units of alcohol a week

It's become more apparent than ever in recent years that alcohol is having a big impact on our mental and physical health.

There are more and more young people who are giving it up entirely as millions embrace a more health-focused lifestyle, with many speaking about the benefits of sobriety online.

It's certainly ingrained into British culture that we start drinking from an early age, but it might have been doing some serious damage to our bodies.

While it's not good to fear-monger and suggest that one beer is going to change your life for the worse, it can also be a slippery slope into alcoholism if we become totally reliant on drinking in our everyday lives.

Now, a doctor has taken to TikTok to share some of the uncomfortable truths around drinking, and perhaps the main concern is that we cannot truly quantify what is a 'safe' amount.

Although drinking one beer a week is always going to be far better for our bodies than drinking 10, research around alcohol suggests that even that cannot be considered to be truly safe.

Doctor Sermed Mezher explained: “The Government says drink less than 14 units of alcohol per week. They're not saying that is a safe limit, so what are they saying?”

He continued: “Let's look at the facts. The consumption of alcoholic drinks is intertwined with human history, stemming back likely thousands of years across multiple cultures from far east to west.

“But our modern-day lens shows us that not all traditions are good for us. In fact, with alcohol, it is quite the opposite.

“And in 2023, the World Health Organisation published a position statement that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. But why? Well because alcohol is one of the most studied substances on the planet.

“And for us to say that there is a safe level of consumption, there needs to be a point of regular drinking that does not have negative health consequences. And the research cannot support that.”

So really, unless you're sober, nobody is safe from the health risks that come with alcohol, although it's perhaps only if you're experiencing regular symptoms or consistently forgetting your nights out that you need to be seriously concerned.

Dr Mezher said: “You may then say, what about the health benefits of alcohol - antioxidants like resveratrol in red wine? While the early studies which showed a benefit actually were flawed because those who were in the abstinent group had been previous drinkers, not abstinent their whole lives.

“And there's a big difference between somebody that is and someone who's only not been drinking for a week, but had a pint a day before that.”

He added: “When the government says drink less than 14 units per week, what they're saying is that this is a realistic target for many people considering how intertwined alcohol is with culture.

“If you're really wanting to maximise your health, then we cannot recommend a safe drinking level at all.”

Considering that health issues such as liver disease, brain damage and various cancers have all been linked to drinking alcohol, perhaps it is best to just cut it out altogether.