The tougher guidelines, released this week, advise men and women to drink no more than 14 alcohol units a week, which equates to six pints of beer, seven glasses of wine, or about half a bottle of whisky.
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When issuing the guidelines, Davies warned that there is no “safe” level of drinking and that consuming any amount of alcohol on a regular basis carries a health risk for everyone.
Men should limit the amount they drink to the same maximum recommended levels as women as part of the biggest shake-up of alcohol guidelines in 20 years.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: “We have to be very careful to ensure that the public know the risks of drink, so they can take their choice”.
The new limit puts the United Kingdom among the guidance-issuing countries with the lowest recommended weekly alcohol intake.
The previous guidelines came out in 1995 and the links between alcohol and cancer and heart disease were not as well understood then as they are now. The recommendations for women have remained unchanged. People who have more than about four drinks daily run up to triple the risk of contracting cancers of the head and neck than non-drinkers.
It’s said drinking in pregnancy can lead to “long-term harm” to the baby, with the more you drink the greater the risk.
It also says pregnant women should drink no alcohol at all, another revision from the previous guidelines which suggested a small amount was safe.
However, they urge drinkers not to “save up” the 14 units for one day, and spread it across at least three days.
The recommendations say that even moderate drinking is linked to “increased risk of breast cancer, violence, drowning, and injuries from falls and motor vehicle crashes”. The guidelines “seem created to suggest that drinking alcohol in more than tiny quantities is abnormal and risky”.
Their findings support a view shared by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, which determined in 2009 that drinking alcohol can increase the risk of cancers of the mouth and throat, larynx, esophagus, colon, bowel, liver, breast and pancreas.
They should also drink more slowly, consume it with food, and alternate alcohol with water.
The review found that the benefits of alcohol for heart health only apply for women aged 55 and over.
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Pregnant women are now being told they should avoid drinking alcohol completely.
