For many people, “Dry January” is a time to take a break or cut back on alcohol. But what are the health benefits of drinking less? What if you knew how many minutes of life you could potentially regain by skipping that last drink, or how your weekly alcohol intake measures up compared to smoking cigarettes?
That’s the aim of a new website, KnowAlcohol.ca, launched by researchers with the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Island Medical Program and the University of Victoria’s Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR). The website features a tool and calculator designed to generate personalized estimates of the potential health risks related to an individual’s alcohol use—and the benefits of cutting back.
Using the science behind Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, the Know Alcohol calculator shares individualized risks of alcohol-related disease, including several types of cancers, measures like cigarette equivalency, and minutes of life lost per drink, as well as information about costs and calories related to alcohol—all tailored to individuals based on their age, sex and the amount they drink per week.
Learn more on New website helps you calculate the benefits of drinking less via UBC Faculty of Medicine.
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