For decades, studies suggested that moderate alcohol intake could protect the heart, reduce diabetes risk, or even help you live longer. Newer research tells a different story.
A 2025 Gallup poll found that the U.S. drinking rate was at a new low, with only 54 percent of respondents reporting that they drank alcohol, and those who did say they are drinking less.
Declines in alcohol consumption do not appear to be caused by people shifting to other mood-altering substances — in particular, recreational marijuana, which is now legal in about half of U.S. states.
Although marijuana use is higher today than a decade ago, it has been fairly steady over the past four years and thus doesn’t appear to be a factor in people choosing not to drink alcohol.
For the first time in Gallup’s trend, a majority of Americans, 53%, say drinking in moderation, or “one or two drinks a day,” is bad for one’s health. Just 6% say it’s good for one’s health, while 37% believe it makes no difference. Today’s belief that moderate alcohol consumption is unhealthy follows increases from 28% in 2018 and 39% in 2023 to 45% a year ago. By contrast, from 2001 through 2011, the percentage with this view hovered near 25%, roughly equal to those who considered drinking beneficial.
Drinking has also declined 11 points among non-Hispanic White adults, while it has been fairly steady at around 50% among people of color.
The consecutive declines in Americans’ reported drinking the past few years are unmatched in Gallup’s trend and coincide with recent research indicating that any level of alcohol consumption may negatively affect health. This has been a sharp reversal from previous recommendations that moderate drinking could offer some protective benefits.
Americans’ drinking habits are shifting amid the medical world’s reappraisal of alcohol’s health effects.
