Video by melrobbins

Is there any health benefit to drinking alcohol? My opinion is that we shouldn't be thinking of it as a health benefit. So I would never, as a doctor, say to a patient, I think you should start drinking a glass of wine a day for your health. It's true. People used to say that.

Again, this idea of a glass of red wine is healthy. Now, there are many things we do in life that the safest thing would be to do none of it. So if your goal is to have zero risk, you should probably never drive your car, never go skiing, never fly in an airplane, never eat bacon, never go out in the sun.

And people aren't going to live that way. So I think it's really important to understand sort of what are the risks, how does this fit into my overall life, and when should I be concerned, and how can I actually make changes to decrease those risks. And it doesn't have to be that you stop drinking entirely.

And I think that's a really important message because that may not be the goal for people. But if you are feeling like maybe this is causing some problems to me, maybe this is actually counterproductive to my other health goals, making some changes, cutting back, taking a break, those are all really healthy ways that you can start to really explore your relationship with alcohol.

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