When Less Is More: Health And Social Benefits From Reduced Alcohol Consumption

When Less Is More: Health And Social Benefits From Reduced Alcohol Consumption

In today’s show we’re discussing a brand new report that compiles world class evidence about what happens when alcohol consumption goes down.

Together with Dr Tim Stockwell, we bring you an in-depth view of the science behind the benefits of declining alcohol consumption – on the individual and societal levels.

The report called “When less is more. The health and social benefits from reduced alcohol consumption” is part of the awesome report series “Alcohol and Society”. You can find all other reports on the website and I’ll put more information in the show notes.

We recorded this conversation on March 6, 2025.

Highlights of the show

In today’s show, Tim and host Maik Dünnbier discuss why the researchers group of the Alcohol an Society report series decided to flip the perspective from looking into the harms caused by alcohol to examining the benefits of reduced alcohol consumption.

The new report covers individual and societal dimensions of the benefits of reduced alcohol consumption. Maik and Tim talk about both the individual level and the societal picture to understand what happens when people and populations reduce alcohol consumption.

Tim shares which findings he thinks people should absolutely know about regarding the personal benefits from reduced alcohol use.

As the report shows, discussing the evidence of the positive consequences for people and societies when alcohol consumption falls is not common. Therefore, flipping the perspective from focusing on harms to focusing on what the science says about the good things that happen when alcohol consumption declines is fascinating.

Tim also shares research insights on what governments can do to achieve these benefits.

Our guest

Our guest for today’s conversation is Dr Tim Stockwell. He’s been on the show before.

Tim held the position of director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, at the University of Victoria since its inception in 2004 until 2020. He has also been a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria since 2004. He has published over 400 research papers, book chapters and monographs, plus several books on prevention and treatment issues.

 

The research reports in the Alcohol and Society series are produced by an international group of medical and public health researchers from Canada, Australia, the United States, and Sweden. This group convenes each year without compensation to produce a report about a unique topic concerning alcohol. With the latest report, the series comprises now 11 landmark scientific investigations. The reports have the goal to evaluate the most relevant published scientific research from around the world and to provide a summary of the best knowledge on a highly relevant topics, such as the harm from low-dose alcohol use, or the link between alcohol and blood pressure, or alcohol’s second-hand harms. 

Resources for the episode 

• The Know Alcohol website
• Study by Robin Room and colleagues: Long waves of consumption or a unique social generation? Exploring recent declines in youth alcohol use
• Alcohol policy success in Lithuania: Understanding Lithuania’s Alcohol Policy Success
• Alcohol policy success in Scotland: Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing in Scotland Is Linked with 13% Fall in Alcohol Deaths

Feedback

Your feedback, questions, and suggestions for future topics and guests is most welcome. Please get in touch at: maik.duennbier@movendi.ngo.

You are most welcome to follow Movendi International and Maik Dünnbier on LinkedIn, too.

About The Alcohol Issues Podcast

The Alcohol Issues Podcast is an original production from Movendi International. It’s a show about latest alcohol policy developments, brand new research, and stories that reveal the predatory practices of the alcohol industry. We bring you in-depth conversations with trail-blazing alcohol policy makers, visionary community activists, and leading scientists. We do it all to reshape how the world thinks about alcohol’s impact on society and the benefits of alcohol policy action.