The mulled wine and apple cider at your local holiday market weren’t the only things brewing this holiday season. A heated debate is on about whether you should avoid alcohol completely or if you should drink small amounts for a healthy lifestyle.

Studies have shown that moderate drinkers have a lower risk of heart-related diseases compared to nondrinkers. This might lead you to believe that drinking in moderation is healthy. But the World Health Organization reports that no amount of alcohol is safe, because of the health complications it causes. While more research is needed to settle this debate, there are a few important considerations that researchers and policymakers need to solve first.

The most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggests abstaining from alcohol altogether or limiting your consumption to no more than a single standard drink per day. In the U.S. guidelines, a “standard drink” is 14 grams. But many people don’t know what a standard drink is—and that can be a major problem. When you know the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV) from the label, you can calculate the number of standard drinks in your bottle. Unfortunately, this calculation is cumbersome, and it will make your eyes glaze over. It’s also hard to convince people to pull out their calculators every time they have a drink.

To make things more confusing, a standard drink isn’t the same in every country. If someone who lives in the U.S. is on vacation in Austria, should they use the definition of a standard drink from their home country (14 grams) or the country they are visiting (20 grams)? Which country’s definition of a standard drink will be used in ongoing research about the health effects of alcohol? Will trials be repeated in every country, resulting in country-specific guidelines on how much alcohol you should drink for a healthy lifestyle? It’s enough to make your head spin—and not from a hangover!

As you can see, when it comes to alcohol consumption and your health, it’s not very clear. If you enjoy the occasional drink now and then, check with your doctor about any health concerns. If your goal this year is to do something to boost your overall wellbeing, consider a new exercise routine—and leave your calculator at home!

Lindsey Ramirez, PhD, earned her doctoral degree in physiology. Her research interests focus on how the brain recognizes alcohol as a harmful substance and protects itself against it. As a postdoctoral associate at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Ramirez works to discover the brain circuits that play a role in this type of recognition and why that signaling sometimes fails.