[Image: Fitch & Leedes]
There’s a growing body of research that shows alcohol as a group 1 carcinogen.
That means that alcohol consumption increases their risk of developing cancer, and is the third leading preventable cause of cancer after obesity and tobacco use.
“Now we finally have enough hard evidence to make this statement,” said Tracy Crane, PhD, RDN, director of lifestyle medicine, digital health and cancer prevention at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Health System, noting how curbing alcohol consumption will not be easy.
However, she believes the campaign against tobacco smoking can provide a blueprint for the way forward. Just as smoking has gone from hip to unfashionable, so can drinking alcohol.
“Alcohol is part of our culture, part of the social fabric,” Crane acknowledges. “It’s been around forever. There are clubs and hobbies that exist around it. So, it’s going to take time for people to embrace this.”
Mikkael Sekeres, M.D., M.S., chief of the Division of Hematology at Sylvester, agrees, writing for The Washinton Post that alcohol was number two on his list of things to avoid in order to lower cancer risk.
Even a modest intake of one drink a day is not without danger, he wrote.
“The more you drink, the higher your risk,” Sekeres adds. Yet, less than half of Americans know that higher alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing cancer. Alcoholic beverages already carry labels warning that consumption can impair driving ability and that pregnant women should not drink. The cancer risk warning, if approved, would go further.
In the advisory on Alcohol and Cancer Risk, the US Surgeon General draws a direct link between alcohol intake and at least seven types of cancer: breast, colorectal, oesophagal, liver, mouth, throat and voice box (larynx). And the kind of alcohol consumed—wine, beer or hard liquor—doesn’t matter.
Changing long-held habits and beliefs won’t be easy, but it is certainly doable.
“The warning draws attention, and it drives the message home,” Sekeres says. “We all make decisions that balance risks with benefits. In this case, more people will ask themselves, is drinking those beers really worth it?”
Indeed, the narrative around alcohol is already changing. People are embracing Dry January and Sober October. Recipes for mocktails—cocktails without alcohol—appear everywhere on social media, and the market for non-alcoholic beers and drinks is growing.
Paola Rossi, M.D., M.S.Ed., clinical program director for lifestyle medicine at Sylvester suggests people who want to stop drinking should consider the choice not as an act of deprivation but one of discovery.
She encourages people to be adventurous. Try new drink recipes without alcohol. Take non-alcoholic drinks to a party and share with friends. Always use a nice glass.
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You can head online to order Fitch & Leedes sodas, to be delivered straight to your door.
Cheers to a new year of health, wellness and purpose!
[Source: MedicalXpress]