Does it matter what you drink?

Several years ago, researchers at the University of Oxford studied the relationship between people’s self-reported alcohol intake and their brains. They concluded that, when it comes to brain health, there is no such thing as a safe level of alcohol to drink.

More bad news to follow: At the end of the day, alcohol is alcohol, and any amount is bad for our health. Part of this is due to what happens when you have a drink. Your body turns ethanol from alcohol into a substance that can damage your DNA.

Many tissues in our body — including those in the mouth, throat, liver and breasts — can be harmed by this process. In most cases, our body repairs the damaged DNA, but sometimes cancerous mutations can occur. Consequently, excessive drinking ups the risk for developing certain cancers.

As if that weren’t enough, excessive alcohol use is also linked to heart and liver disease, depression, anxiety and memory problems.

Although no alcohol is better than some, there are factors to keep in mind when trying to reduce your exposure to ethanol while drinking responsibly. Beer has less ethanol than wine per ounce, and wine has less than liquors such as vodka and tequila.

Choosing drinks with lower alcohol by volume is a better bet, as is avoiding mixed drinks like cocktails that make it difficult to calculate how much ethanol you’re consuming. Ordering an alcoholic drink that is mixed with caffeine, like an espresso martini, is also not recommended — the energy boost may trick you into misjudging how inebriated you are, leading to overconsumption.

More often than not, opting for something like a diet soda or seltzer can be a much simpler choice.