It seems like every other month, we get another story about the effect of alcohol on our health. Although science loves to tout the benefits of antioxidants in red wine specifically, but when it comes to light drinking in general, the outlook is a lot less positive. Even one drink each day might increase risk of breast cancer by 5 percent, according to recent research.
The study, published in the journal Alchol and Alcoholism, also found that the risk goes up to 50 percent for women who drink three or more drinks a day (which is definitely considered "heavy drinking"). Yeesh! A bit frightening, huh?
The research analyzed 113 previous studies on breast cancer and drinking and found that a drink a day causes about 5 percent of breast cancers in Northern Europe and North America, but up to 10 percent in countries like Italy and France where drinking more often is par for the course.
The conclusions here definitely make you think. Sure, it's only 5-10 percent, but is a drink a day really worth it?
Not for me. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not someone who shuns drinking altogether, and I adore wine, especially a glass of red now and then. But recently, I've been treating a drink like a special treat. Something I save for the weekend and special occasions. Because aside from the scary bump in risk of breast cancer, there are quite a few other downsides to drinking every day, like extra empty calories, a blow to stable blood sugar, and potentially nasty issues like acid reflux. Ick. It's certainly not something I can't give up.
Although, I do know women who adore their one or two glasses of wine when they come home from a long day of work. In light of this news, I guess they'll just have to reassess whether or not their daily drink is worth the slight risk.
Do you have a drink a day? Does this research make you want to quit?
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Comments 11
I havent had a drink for 3 years in May, I will never drink again. The way it makes my body feel I know its not good for me, and so I stopped completely. Now mary jane on the other hand....
Ironically, the same good for you chemicals found in red wine are found in grape juice. Why not just drink the non-fermented stuff?
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutrition/AN00576
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12083471
Kind of tired of all these studies, I like my wine, I'm not an alcoholic, I drink it in moderation, there is only one life, and guess what people! we are all going to die one way or another.
One example; my mom's friend, she only ate organic food, nothing ever with grease or trans fat, was terrified of being fat, or getting diabetes, barely had a drink in her life, she died of ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) a very horrible and painful disease. No matter how she took care of her body destiny still won. Live life enjoy, you don't know if you are going to be here tomorrow or not (so go ahead and criticize me, I'm sticking to my opinion )
I have 1-2 beers almost daily. I also run 3.5 miles 5 days a week and work out every day. I don't smoke, don't do any illegal drugs, and eat fairly healthy. My mom was diagnosed with colon cancer at 30 that spread to her lungs and took her life at 40. She didn't drink daily. She stayed fairly healthy. My grandmother died of breast cancer in her 50's. I have already had to go see a specialist when I was 17 due to lumps in my breast. I wasn't drinking anything at that point. I think you need to take the whole person into consideration in these studies. I also think you have to live your life. I take care of myself above and beyond what most of the population does, aside from a few drinks. I'm not going to change my drinking habits by one study. I'm just going to keep trying for overall healthy.