Debunking Myths About Alcohol Consumption

27. 03. 2026

There are many myths about alcohol consumption in Slovenian society. In this article, you can explore some of the most common ones and learn more about why they aren’t true, as well as how even small changes can benefit your health. We also want to start a conversation about healthy lifestyle choices in our daily lives and encourage reflection on possible changes to improve quality of life. We’ve also focused on myths and truths in our “Cheers to a Life Without Alcohol” campaign.

You can read more about the campaign HERE and watch the videos.

Join us at Alcohol-Free Day events across Slovenia under the slogan “Cheers to Life and Take a Step Toward People.” These events are part of our ongoing effort to debunk myths surrounding alcohol consumption, and we also aim to promote healthy lifestyle choices. This year, too, we will spend these days engaging in numerous activities that will highlight the importance of a responsible approach to alcohol consumption and provide information to support those who wish to change or improve their lifestyle habits.

At these events, we aim to debunk myths, and we invite you to discover which myths about drinking are false and how even small changes can benefit your health. We also want to open a conversation about healthy lifestyle choices in our daily lives and encourage reflection on possible changes to improve quality of life.

Alcohol warms us up in the cold.

When we drink alcohol, the blood vessels under the skin dilate, giving us a sensation of warmth. But this is only a short-lived sensation, because as the blood vessels dilate, the surface area for heat exchange with the environment increases, causing our body heat to be lost more quickly and our body to cool down. The combination of drinking alcohol and cold weather can even be life-threatening. It’s not alcohol that warms you up—it can be your favourite physical activity, whether it’s dancing, running, or simply a walk in nature.

For more information on how to stay warm on colder days, click HERE

Vacation is better with a cocktail in hand.

People often believe that a glass of such a drink will relax and refresh them. But that’s not entirely true. The alcohol in these drinks slows down brain function, which may give us a short-term sense of calm and carefreeness, but it also leads to less self-control, more impulsivity, and impaired understanding and judgment of situations.

In the long term, excessive alcohol consumption damages the brain, increases anxiety, and is a risk factor for the development of depression and other mental disorders. Make your vacation different and add an activity that brings you joy while you’re sober. You can also treat yourself to non-alcoholic versions of drinks that refresh. You can find some recipes HERE.

We only toast with alcohol.

People often attribute medicinal effects to alcohol. The saying “As many drops, so many years…” is widespread… However, alcohol and health do not go hand in hand. In the past, researchers did identify some positive health effects of alcohol, but these have been refuted by numerous more recent, methodologically sound studies. Today we know that alcohol is linked to more than 200 diseases and health conditions. That’s why we’d rather toast to life and to the person, not to alcohol. You can find more about the effects of alcohol on the body HERE. You can read more about how alcohol consumption affects the development of cancer HERE.

Young people need to be taught how to drink, preferably at home.

Many parents believe they can protect their teenager from drinking alcohol by allowing them so-called “safe” first encounters with alcohol at home, under adult supervision. They are convinced that this will prevent the child from experimenting and getting drunk in unfamiliar, less supervised settings. However, research shows that this approach does not work and is not safe. By offering alcohol at home, we are telling the teenager that drinking is perfectly fine for them and that we allow it. Consequently, these teenagers drink more and more frequently when with their peers, since they have also received the message at home that this is acceptable. Instead of offering alcohol, start a conversation with your teenager about drinking alcoholic beverages and encourage critical thinking. Also, don’t forget that you yourself are an important role model when it comes to attitudes toward alcohol.

A glass before bed for better sleep.

Alcohol gives us a short-term sense of calm, which can have a sedative effect, so many believe it will help us sleep. But this isn’t true. Alcohol negatively affects the quality and duration of sleep, disrupts deep sleep with more awakenings, which prevents effective regeneration of the brain and body. For a good night’s sleep, it’s best to spend your evenings without alcohol and find other ways to wind down at the end of the day. You can find more information on how to ensure a good night’s sleep without alcohol HERE. Be sure to also read our article “Alcohol and Sleep,” available HERE.

During pregnancy, a small amount of alcohol has no effect on the development of the unborn child.

When a pregnant woman drinks an alcoholic beverage, her baby also absorbs the alcohol within one minute. The baby has the same or even higher blood alcohol concentration than the mother. All beverages containing alcohol are harmful to the baby and can cause permanent damage throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy. You can read more about this HERE. Every year on September 9, we mark the International FASD Awareness Day—Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder—about which you can read more HERE.

Red wine is good for the blood.

A very common claim, but one that is not accurate. The myth is linked to specific compounds in red wine, particularly the antioxidant resveratrol. However, the concentration of beneficial substances in red wine is nowhere near high enough to expect any positive health effects, and on the other hand, wine also contains alcohol, which has a proven harmful effect on health. Furthermore, resveratrol can also be found in many other natural sources, such as blueberries, dark grapes, chokeberries, and black elderberries. You can read more about this myth HERE.

0.3 shots of spirits help with a cold.

This claim is not true. Alcohol is a toxin that disrupts the functioning of cells in the body and can also cause cancer. Drinking alcohol, especially in large quantities, weakens the immune system and affects various organs, thereby increasing the risk of viral infection, the severity of the infection, and the recovery process. It’s not alcohol, but rather a varied diet, enough sleep, and exercise that will better support our immune system. You can read HERE how to get over a cold as quickly as possible without alcohol.

If I drink once a week to relax, it doesn’t hurt.

Today we know that there is no such thing as risk-free, safe, or even healthy alcohol consumption. As soon as we start drinking alcohol, the risk of harm from drinking begins to rise. The only thing we can say with certainty is that the more alcohol we drink, the greater the likelihood of harm—or, the less alcohol we drink, the safer it is. No alcohol is the only choice that will prevent alcohol-related harm. Read HERE to find out how to relax without alcohol.

I don’t have any problems with alcohol, since most people around me drink more.

In a culture where alcohol is prevalent, such as in Slovenia, where drinking can be present on practically every occasion, it may sometimes seem like we drink less than the people around us, giving us the impression that we ourselves aren’t as at risk in terms of negative consequences.

In reality, however, there is no such thing as safe drinking, which means that with every alcoholic drink we consume, we risk negative consequences. We are also differently susceptible to these consequences, as they are influenced by many factors, which is why we cannot compare ourselves to others in this regard. The safest benchmark, therefore, is not other people, but scientific findings that there is no safe limit for drinking.

Non-alcoholic beer contains no alcohol.

Non-alcoholic beer may contain up to 0.5% alcohol. By law, an alcoholic beverage is any drink containing more than 1.2% alcohol, while a distilled beverage is an alcoholic beverage containing more than 15% alcohol.

If we are not addicted, we do not have a problem with alcohol.

Alcohol addiction is one of the possible negative consequences of frequent alcohol consumption, which brings with it many other harmful effects on health, social relationships, and work capacity. However, this does not mean that the negative consequences of alcohol consumption are not present even before an individual becomes addicted. Even risky drinking can lead to impacts on health, relationships, work performance, and risky behaviors. Diseases and health conditions that can be directly attributed to alcohol include mental and behavioral disorders caused by alcohol consumption, neurodegeneration, alcoholic liver disease, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisoning, etc.

Moderate beer consumption is healthy for our bodies—that is, 600 ml of beer per day.

According to all data from long-term studies collected to date, alcohol is a harmful substance for all organs in the body. We no longer use the term “moderate drinking,” but instead use “low-risk,” “risky,” and “harmful drinking,” because even the smallest amount of alcohol poses a risk, as it can cause changes that may be very dangerous to the human body in the long term.

Moderate beer consumption reduces the risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases by 30%.

We no longer use the term “moderate drinking” but instead use the terms “low-risk,” “risky,” and “harmful drinking.” There are limits to low-risk drinking; studies have shown that if a person consumes alcoholic beverages in this manner over a long period, the risk of adverse effects is lower but still present.

It has been shown that studies claiming that alcohol consumption reduces the risk of heart attack contained significant methodological flaws. More recent research indicates that the overall impact of alcohol on health is negative. Any positive effect that alcohol consumption might have on cardiovascular diseases is only partial and so small that the potential harm to the broader range of cardiovascular diseases and human health as a whole is greater.

Harmful drinking is a pattern of alcohol consumption that is practically an addiction.

Consequences or problems resulting from alcohol consumption can arise very quickly: physical (e.g., vomiting, heartburn, illnesses, injuries…), mental (anxiety, depression, insomnia, …), in relationships with loved ones (problems with a partner, with children, violence, …), social (conflicts at work, with neighbors, friends, job loss, …), financial, legal (traffic violations, lawsuits, …) and not just when we are addicted to alcohol. With every glass we drink, we risk harmful consequences.

You can test your knowledge of the facts and myths about alcohol consumption HERE.

You can also take the anonymous short AUDIT-C questionnaire “Do I drink too much?” HERE.