No text actually required here.
But hereās some if folks are interested. Canāt help what is a struggling industry now.
Itās good they spell it out.
Third leading preventable cause behind tobacco and obesity.
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I appreciate the post because this topic has been in my awareness now for quite some time, mostly 2024. So much so that I made a conscious shift to start drinking less. I was becoming concerned with data points and other things I had been reading about the linkage. Iām already very committed to my nutrition and exercise, and proud of that accomplishment that takes effort and is important to me. But the alcohol thing has been nagging at me for some time now.
A new year is here, and I am not a resolution person and donāt use them. But, I do plan to maintain my alcohol reduction (I am drinking about 4-5 glasses a week now) and perhaps lower it further as the year goes on.
Not everyone will see it this way, but I do and for those like me perhaps who are thinking about this issue as I am, Iām simply offering some testimony about what I am feeling about it.
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My internist here wants me down to 2-3 drinks each week. I listened but didnāt comment.
Hell, I had 1/2 bomber night after my cancer surgery and near respiratory arrest in recovery.
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Iāve posted about this several times. While I think the data isnāt as conclusive as the WHO states, and think some of the studies are flawed, I think thereās very little controversy that especially for women, alcohol consumption significantly increases the risk of cancer. I think thereās much worse evidence that low/moderate consumption causes a significant risk of cancer in men, but some studies suggest it.
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Iām curious as to the reason for the sex differential.
Many of the cancers caused be alcohol are female breast cancer.
This certainly seems to be the case - but I do wonder if other factors are at play here as well. It seems that higher estrogen levels in women can lead to higher percentages of cancer and alcohol at certain levels (though weāre not sure at exactly what levels) can increase estrogen levels. We also know that higher body fat leads to higher levels as well as does stress.
The concern here in all honesty is that this will lead to āfearā among many that any level of alcohol is ābadā for you - and Iām not sure that this is āaccurateā . . .
Cheers
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In October, I completely eliminated beer (a tough one, but if I had to choose one, Iād rather have wine than beer) and decided to limit drinking to 1 or max 2 nights per week. It hasnāt been particularly hard for me to stick with that so far, and Iāve lost over 20 pounds since then (though to be fair I have also made some dietary changes). Iām definitely sleeping better, and I donāt usually miss drinking on the nights when I donāt. The main thing is that I have to plan ahead if I know that Iām going out with friends or doing something else where Iāll want a drink; I make sure I donāt drink any other nights that week, so I donāt exceed my 2 nights per week goal. The holidays were slightly tricky with parties and such, but I made it work.
I donāt doubt that from a health standpoint āzeroā is the right amount of drinking, but I feel ok with the balance I currently have.
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I sure liked the studies that said a glass or two of red wine was good for you more than these recent studies!
My wife and I have been drinking less wine each year, and have gravitated toward lower alcohol wines over the years. She is trying to eliminate wine during the week. It is more of a struggle for me. I am fine with drinking less in general, but I really like to have a glass of wine with dinner. I could give up beer and bourbon/scotch pretty easily I think, though I like a little of each every once in a while.
This is more or less my approach. For the most part, I limit my drinking to Fridays and Saturdays. I may have a glass of wine or single cocktail Thursday night while prepping dinner, but Sunday through Wednesday are typically dry. Iāve been doing this for years, and it works nicely for me.
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Wow. That is a fairly strong advisory from the Surgeon General. Usually for every study in the media that claims to show that even low to moderate wine consumption is potentially dangerous, there is another that shows it is actually beneficial, or neutral. My current typical weekly wine consumption is probably less than several glasses, spread across the week as one glass with many dinner meals and sometimes two glasses. It seems like the increased risk of cancer at this level is very slight, and I will wait a bit for people smarter than me to interpret, clarify, and maybe question this data, before changing my current wine drinking habits.
There is zero question that even low doses of alcohol increase the risk of female breast cancer. None.
Is that increased risk sufficiently concerning for people to not drink? Thatās a personal decision.
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There are no high quality studies that show a benefit to drinking alcohol. The ones that exist are poor quality observational studies comparing people that have NEVER consumed alcohol to those drinking moderate alcohol which are different demographics.
It is nearly impossible to conduct a randomized control trial. There are some other types of studies that could be conducted looking at insurance data. Iām sure this is an area of research for many insurance companies.
Michael, does this advisory add any weight or new information to what you already know.?
No. Basically the general summary of the evidence is thereās some increased risk of cancer for women. Thereās less evidence that thereās increased cancer in men, but itās likely thereās a small increase. Thereās almost certainly no benefit to drinking alcohol.
The increased risk of cancer isnāt big. Like an order of magnitude less than smoking, even for women. I donāt think it should move the needle for most people."
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I havenāt read the report and probably wouldnāt be competent to distinguish āhigh qualityā from low quality in this context, but the meta-analyses assessed in this report certainly seem to suggest otherwise. I take it you disagree? The National Academies of Sciences and the Ag Department are not usually given to flights of fancy