Moderate drinking, as defined by the U.S. Department of agriculture and the dietary guidelines for Americans, is no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men. One drink is considered to be 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits (hard liquor). Each of these contains about 12 to 14 grams of alcohol. The active ingredient in alcoholic beverages is ethanol, a molecule that directly affects the stomach, brain, heart, gall bladder and liver.