Photo/Illutration The health ministry has released a draft of guidelines on alcohol consumption. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The health ministry’s revised draft of Japan’s first “guidelines on health-conscious drinking” warns that consuming a mug of beer or a glass of sake a day increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer.

The draft, released on Nov. 22, stresses that “even small amounts of alcohol raise the chances of developing hypertension, esophageal cancer in men and hemorrhagic stroke in women.”

“It is important to keep alcohol consumption as low as possible,” the draft says.

The guidelines warn that heavy drinking over a long period of time raises the risk of alcohol addiction, lifestyle-related diseases, liver disease and cancer.

Specifically, the draft warns against consuming 20 grams of pure alcohol per day, or 150 grams per week. Twenty grams of pure alcohol is equivalent to 500 milliliters of beer or a glass of sake.

That daily amount also increases the risk of lifestyle-related diseases among women. For men, that risk rises with daily consumption of 40 grams or more of alcohol.

Although per capita alcohol consumption has declined in recent years in Japan, the total number of patients being treated for alcoholism has not changed that much, the ministry said.

In 2017, there were an estimated 46,000 alcoholics in the country, down from 47,000 in 1996, according to a ministry survey.

The ministry has promoted measures to deal with alcohol-related health problems since 2013, when a law concerning alcohol and health disorders was enacted. The legislation calls for “specific and easy-to-understand” guidelines, including safe levels of alcohol consumption.

Many local governments and other authorities have set 20 grams per day as a “moderate” amount of drinking, compared with 28 grams for men in the United States and 30 grams in Russia.

The ministry in July presented a preliminary draft of the guidelines that did not include the “20 grams” level. The draft was revised after health experts criticized the ministry for “going against the global trend toward reducing alcohol consumption.”

The new draft guidelines explain that women and elderly people are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol because they have a relatively low water content in their bodies.

Excessive drinking “increases the risk of developing dementia” among the elderly and “reduces brain functions” in the young, the draft guidelines say.

Body constitution also makes a difference, the draft guidelines say, warning that alcohol-consuming people with weak degrading enzymes are “at a very high risk of mouth and esophageal cancer and other cancers.”

The draft guidelines also give examples of alcohol-related scenarios that should be avoided, such as “drinking more than 60 grams” at one session, “drinking to relieve anxiety or insomnia,” and “drinking after taking medications.”

The draft recommends “eating before or during drinking” and “drinking water in between drinks.”

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