In the past couple years, amidst all the unknowns of pandemic life?on top of the regular stresses of parenting young kids (and the quite irregular stresses of parenting said kids through said pandemic)?I have found myself really, really looking forward to that glass of Pinot Noir by the end of the day. 
And it appears I?m not alone.
Several studies from the last couple of years have revealed a drastic uptick in alcohol consumption among North Americans since 2020, particularly among women and parents of young kids. 
But, despite my several-night-a-week habit, I was OK, I told myself. I was still within the safe limits outlined in Health Canada?s 2011 Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines, which stipulate ten drinks a week, or two a day, for women and 15 a week, or three a day, for men. (Although, let?s be honest. Sometimes it was more than that.) But in late August, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) published a new report stating that, based on two years of research and 5,000 peer-reviewed studies, our limits should be lower. 
A lot lower. Like 80 percent lower.
According to the report, anything more than two drinks a week presents an increased risk of some very scary health outcomes, most notably cancer and cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, the stated risks become ?increasingly high? after six drinks a week or more, says the report. Especially for women.  
And as someone who admittedly relies on alcohol from time to time to chill out after a ...