Americans Drinking Way Too Much, Study Says

Somehow it has failed to come to our attention that a certain percentage of the population has been partying without us, and that percentage most likely includes our parents. Researchers are finding that Americans are drinking too much, and most of the heavy drinkers? They're older than 30.

According to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 8 percent of men surveyed and 11 percent of women drink more alcohol than guidelines recommend. In fact, 8 percent of men and 3 percent of women are considered "heavy drinkers," according to the study (this means more than four drinks for men, and more than three drinks for women).

"The fact remains that it is a significant public health problem that many people do drink in excess," Patricia Guenther, the lead study author, told Reuters.

Funnily enough, however, was that the majority of survey participants don't drink on a daily basis; only 36 percent of men and 21 percent of women drink on any given day. The heavy drinkers, however, are the issue, and it's not just recent college grads and co-eds binge drinking. According to the study, men 31 to 50 years old were the heaviest drinkers, while women 51 years old to 70 years old were the heaviest drinkers of their gender. Judging from this trend, perhaps the Taco Bell Super Bowl commercial was onto something?