It’s bad news for booze lovers this week. Two separate studies have come out showing alcohol’s link with cancer, both of which suggest that even low doses of regular drink can boost your risk.
First, the ongoing UK Million Women Study found that women who drink as little as one alcoholic beverage a day — be it beer, wine, or hard liquor — have an increased cancer risk, especially for cancers of the breast, liver, rectum, mouth, throat, and esophagus.
Here’s the kicker, straight from the MD’s mouth:
From the standpoint of cancer risk, the message of this report could not be clearer. There is no level of alcohol consumption that can be considered safe.
Ouch. But that’s not all. A second blow came just a week later when a Georgetown University study found that two alcoholic drinks a day can increase the risk of pancreatic cancer by more than a fifth.
Hey, but what about all that stuff about moderate alcohol consumption being good for us? Here’s cardiologist Michael S. Lauer’s take on the matter:
Even if there are modest beneficial cardiovascular effects, we still don’t have a clear picture of the overall risks and benefits of low-to-moderate alcohol consumption.
As usual, the evidence is inconclusive. So where does that leave us?
As for me, I probably didn’t need science to tell me what I already know: regular drinking just doesn’t work. At least not anymore. Maybe it used to “work”, when I was 40 pounds heavier and a few brain cells richer. But these days, just a couple drinks has a noticeable effect on my health, mostly in the quality of my sleep.
Still, I know other people who enjoy their daily tipple and seem to only benefit from a little after-work liquid libation (or so their demeanor suggests). So I struggle with this one, on many levels. If it’s not my sleep that suffers, then it’s my social life. That, and I really like beer. Good beer. Especially the Belgian stuff. Beat that, science.
So here are a few booze-related questions I have for the shooting gallery:
- How often do you drink?
- How much do you drink?
- How does alcohol fit into your whole smarter/fitter regime? Or does it?
- Is alcohol a friend or foe? Do you find it a struggle to moderate your intake?
- Any teetotalers in the audience? How’s that workin’ out for you?
Alcohol-free? Let me interview you!
I’m thinking about turning this train of thought into a larger article, maybe for publication if I can get it in somewhere. I think I’ll call it “Sober in the City” and feature profiles of young, urban-dwellers who choose not to drink. Interview questions include: “How old are you?”, “What do you do for a living?”, “Why don’t you drink?”, “What do you do for fun?”, “How do you meet new people?”, “How do you socialize with friends?”
If that’s you or anyone you know, get in touch!
More news on booze
After A Few Drinks, Older Adults More Impaired Than They Think
Older adults may be more affected by a couple of glasses of wine than their younger counterparts are — yet they are less likely to be aware of it, a new study suggests.
Watching boozy television shows and films encourages drinking
Researchers discovered that viewers watching shows and films peppered with drinking scenes were likely to consume twice as much alcohol as those who watched “dry” movies and programmes.
Interesting post. I had seen these studies and it did make me consider my position, that of an extremely occasional drinker.
After stopping drinking during half marathon training last year, I felt so good that I decided to make it a far more infrequent affair. After a few months of not drinking, I did go back to it a couple of times but found it to be a bit well…crap. Consequently, I rarely am bothered to drink. Being a university student, I am kind of the odd one out. Still not drinking has improved my studies, general health and mental health. Plus with no hangovers on the weekends, I get stuff done!
@firstlunchthenwar (love your nickname, btw), you’ve picked up on one of the things that bugs me most about drinking – it usually happens on the weekend, but the weekends are when I have lots of free time to get ME stuff done. there’s nothing worse than losing a Saturday to a hangover. I didn’t really start drinking regularly until I was about 21 or so (shocking) but lots of my friends in undergrad drink and seemed to have no problem then just hanging out and drinking water or whatever. Like you say, I wasn’t “bothered to drink”. How long were you alcohol-free? I wonder if it’s like smoking, and if I just didn’t do it for long enough I would eventually no longer feel the craving, especially in social situations.
FYI, there’s an interesting response to the Million Women Study in Spiked.com:
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6316/
The article criticizes the study on several accounts and claims that the results are invalid. Their argument is compelling – check it out!
Really interesting. I currently do drink alcohol (usually) when out with friends when other people are, but in the past I have pretty much completely abstained for health reasons. I’d love to see where you go with this in expanding it.
Am glad I’ll be booze free all week with my no-added-sugars challenge 🙂
Hi Monica!
Yes I have seen those studies and honestly I was not surprised, I have seen similar studies done in the past. They exist, they just get burried under the rug as if they never happened. I hope that does not happen with these ones.
Honestly from my standpoint (health related and personal) I really believe that alcohol like many other things was just never meant to be in our system. Every physiological sign that it gives us tells us that and yet we choose not to listen.
The only reason it is what it is, is because society has bee profiting from it for a few generations now and so society accepted it as “normal”. But let us not forget, not that long ago smoking and cigarettes were considered normal too.
Anyhow as to your interview if you are still looking for people, I would be more than interested. I have been alcohol free now for almost 2 years and have never looked back. However, I am not from the UK so I am not sure if that would work for you. If so I would love to share my story and show people that it is OK not to drink and still have fun, even when hosting parties at your own house, alcohol-free.
@Evita – it’s all about what feels right, isn’t it? For me, alcohol rarely feels right the next day (shame it feels so damn right in the moment). But it does make me think my body is trying to tell me something. “What’s this? I was hoping for a nice cup of herbal tea. Well, I wouldn’t want this half of Hoegaarden to go to waste..” Gulp. The thing about “profit” though is yes, society profits, but some could argue that we profit as well from a social standpoint. It IS a social enabler, and can be a positive one if not done to excess. But I guess you could say the same about smoking, and that’s no excuse is it?