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What 'drinking in moderation' really means

Dr. Elizabeth Meade outlines the effects alcohol can have on your health.
Credit: Thinkstock

"How much am I drinking and what are my patterns of drinking, are they healthy and normal?"

Dr. Elizabeth Meade of Swedish Hospital recommends asking yourself this question if you're wondering what "drinking in moderation" means for you.

"It depends on how big the person is, and it depends on lots of different things," says Dr. Meade.

Often times people try to base their alcohol consumption based on the idea of "moderate drinking."

Dr. Meade says that moderation has different definitions for men and women. "When we talk about moderate drinking, it's up to two drinks per man, per day, and up to one drink per woman, per day."

With so many studies around drinking, it's hard to know what is appropriate and healthy when it comes to alcohol consumption.

WATCH: How alcohol affects women differently than men

"I think sometimes people interpret that as, if I'm a woman I should be having a drink every day." Dr. Meade says some people think this is true, especially when they hear that wine contains antioxidants, but emphasizes, "really [there's an] upper limit of what we consider moderate drinking."

What if you're pregnant? Many new studies question whether or not pregnant women need to completely abstain from alcohol.

Several official medical groups recommend no drinking while pregnant, Dr. Meade emphasizes. "There are some conflicting studies about alcohol, small amounts maybe later in pregnancy, but there's just not enough information to say that we think any level is safe."

She says alcohol mainly affects the child's brain, which is why pregnant women should avoid drinking if they don't want the extra risks.

Beyond pregnancy, drinking can also create a high risk for certain kinds of cancer.

"There are different types of cancer, but certainly in women I think the association with breast cancer is something to be really mindful of, and we've seen that association even in women who don't drink a lot every day," says Dr. Meade.

To sum it up, Dr. Meade says that alcohol consumption is more like a spectrum for most consumers. "People think of it as black and white, either 'I'm an alcoholic' or 'I'm a social drinker' but there's actually a lot in-between. There's a lot of patterns of unhealthy alcohol consumption that aren't necessarily alcohol addition or alcoholism."

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