(TNND) — Fewer Americans are drinkers, with Gallup reporting the lowest level of alcohol consumption in its tracking that goes back over 80 years.

Just 54% of American adults told Gallup this year that they consume alcohol, a new low and down from 58% a year ago.

Over 70% of Americans were drinkers back in the 1970s. And the share remained above 60% from 1997 through 2023.

But the popularity of drinking has taken a dip in the last couple of years.

At the same time, more Americans are now saying that even drinking in moderation is bad for their health.

A Gallup-record 53% said moderate alcohol consumption is unhealthy this year, up from 45% a year ago and up from 28% a decade ago.

Now, 37% of people said moderate drinking makes no difference in their health, compared to 52% a decade ago.

And fewer people see moderate drinking as good for their health, down to just 6% after registering as high as 25% in Gallup tracking on that question since 2001.

“I'm not surprised. It mirrors a better understanding of alcohol consumption in the medical literature, and it also mirrors what I see in practice that people are not drinking as much,” said Dr. Joshua Septimus, a primary care physician at Houston Methodist.

Septimus said he’s been practicing for over two decades.

He remembered patients years ago telling him that they disliked red wine but forced themselves to drink a glass each night, because they thought it was good for them.

Septimus said he tried to discourage that behavior, because he was skeptical of the alleged benefits.

Septimus himself is a wine drinker, he said.

But he doesn’t pretend the wine itself is good for him.

He said the social benefits and enjoyment outweigh the health risks for the amount he drinks. And he said he exercises regularly and eats a healthy diet.

“The risks for alcohol in moderation, meaning one drink a day for women, two drinks a day for men, the risks are real,” Septimus said. “I don't want to minimize them, but they are just so small. And so, one has to make a judgment about what they want to take risks with.”

There is no safe amount of alcohol, he said.

But the health risks of moderate drinking are much lower than with other habits, such as smoking, he said.

The Gallup survey, published Wednesday, found that just 50% of young adults consume alcohol.

Fifty-seven percent of men and 51% of women told Gallup that they’re drinkers.

And the average number of drinks people reported consuming over the past seven days was down to 2.8, the lowest figure Gallup has recorded since 1996.

A decade ago, the average was 4.5 drinks over the previous week.

Septimus said young people are not socializing like they used to, which could account for the lower drinking rates among people 18-34.

“It doesn't take a lot to pull them out of the bar scene and onto the computer screen, and they're not drinking,” Septimus said.

The doctor said that health concerns are likely an important factor in the declining drinking rates but not the only factor.

He also said some people are replacing alcohol consumption with THC consumption, noting increased access to the chemical in cannabis that causes a high.

Septimus said it’s never OK to drink in excess, and there’s a big difference between a drink or two a day compared to six or seven drinks a day.

“I think you can't talk about drinking without talking about alcoholism,” he said. “People really need to appreciate that alcoholism is a plague. There are many people who are predisposed to alcoholism just genetically, and it is terrible. It destroys people. It destroys their families, destroys their careers.”

Septimus said alcohol consumption also increases the risk of cancer and liver disease.

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Many Americans are overweight, which might include some degree of metabolic-associated liver disease, or fatty liver disease. He said for those folks, drinking alcohol is like “pouring kerosene on a fire” for their risk of developing liver problems.

Septimus also said the ethanol in alcoholic drinks isn’t the only concern, noting the calories that can come from added ingredients in mixed drinks.

A margarita might get up to 1,000 calories, while a glass of wine might come in at 120 calories, he said.

He said drinking wine might be less harmful than drinking other alcoholic beverages, though he also said the evidence is poorly understood.

“But if you were to really put me to the corner and say, ‘All right, pick the one alcoholic beverage that's the least harmful,’ I would say red wine, then white wine, and then beer and spirits are kind of in the other category, and then avoiding the mixers,” he said.