LEIF LARSON: A Beer, A Grill, And Guidelines That Finally Make Sense

The Trump administration’s new Dietary Guidelines finally got alcohol right, treating grown adults like grown adults with a science-based, common-sense approach to responsible drinking, and I thought about that for the first time last Saturday, standing over my grill with a cold beer in my hand.

Last weekend was the first real spring afternoon of the year. I’d fired up the grill to cook some burgers and opened a beer that had been chilling in the ice bucket. While my afternoon feast was sizzling, I recalled the Biden-era doctrine that one could call “Alcohol consumption for Dummies.” For years, the official line from the liberal Biden administrations had been two drinks for men, one for women, and not a drop more. Rules that, it turns out, were never really backed by solid science in the first place.

The new guidance, rolled out in January by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, drops those arbitrary numbers and simply urges people to drink responsibly. Dr. Mehmet Oz over at CMS even made the point that alcohol can be a “social lubricant,” that there’s something genuinely healthy about gathering with friends and safely enjoying yourself. Standing there flipping my burgers, I had to agree. This is what responsible adults have been doing at cookouts and weddings, and ball games for generations.

The beer in my hand was about 5% alcohol. A shot of whiskey is closer to 40%. Studies actually show your peak blood alcohol after a beer is a lot lower than after the same amount of alcohol from liquor, which tracks with common sense. Nobody shows up to a family barbecue planning to pound rum and Cokes. They have a beer with their burger, or a glass of wine with dinner, and that’s the whole point. The new guidelines recognize that reality, while also being honest that overconsumption is a real problem, including drunk driving, addiction, damaged health, and telling folks who struggle with alcohol that they shouldn’t drink at all. That’s the right message.

There’s even some evidence that light drinking can do a little good. The American Heart Association has noted that moderate drinking may have some benefits, and a glass of red wine or champagne contains polyphenols that may help with vascular function. It’s part of why you see folks in some European countries enjoying a daily glass of wine and still posting excellent health outcomes. Is wine a superfood? Of course not. But it’s not poison either, and it’s about time a set of federal guidelines acknowledged the difference.