This is general information, not medical advice. Always discuss your blood values with your doctor.
- 1
No protection, and risk rises with the amount
Older studies suggested that a glass a day protects, but they often compared drinkers with people who had quit, frequently for health reasons. That distorts the picture. A meta-analysis of 107 cohort studies with 4.8 million participants (Zhao et al., 2023) found, after correcting for this, no significant protection at low intake (under 25 g of alcohol a day) compared with people who never drank. Mortality risk did rise from 25 g a day in women and from 45 g a day in men. A standard drink contains 10 g of alcohol in Belgium.
- 2
Where is the limit? Around 100 grams a week
An individual-participant analysis of 599,912 drinkers in 83 studies (Wood et al., Lancet 2018) found the lowest mortality risk at or below about 100 g of alcohol a week, roughly ten standard drinks. For cardiovascular diseases other than heart attack, there was no threshold below which drinking less stopped being linked to lower risk. Only for heart attack was more alcohol linked to lower risk. The authors conclude that the limits in most guidelines are too high. These are observational studies: they show an association, not a cause.
- 3
Muscle recovery: heavy drinking after training blunts muscle building
In a randomised cross-over trial in 8 active men (Parr et al., PLoS One 2014), participants drank 1.5 g of alcohol per kilo of body weight after hard training, about 12 standard drinks. Muscle protein synthesis was lower than with protein alone, even when 25 g of protein was taken with it. Note: this is a high dose in a small study. Less is known about moderate amounts, so the evidence mainly concerns heavy drinking sessions after training.
- 4
Sleep: you fall asleep faster, but the night is worse
A meta-analysis of 27 studies in healthy adults (Gardiner et al., Sleep Medicine Reviews 2025) found that REM sleep is disrupted even after a low dose (up to 0.5 g per kilo of body weight, about two standard drinks according to the authors), and that this gets worse the more you drink. High doses may shorten the time to fall asleep but worsen the REM disruption. For total sleep time and sleep efficiency, the uncertainty was too large to conclude anything. Sleep is part of recovery, so this matters for your training too.
In practice
The research points to about 100 g a week (roughly ten standard drinks) as an upper limit, and less is better. Avoid drinking heavily after training and right before bed. If you have a medical condition or take medication, discuss alcohol with your doctor.
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Updated in October 2026
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