"Breast Cancer and Alcohol: How Much is Safe?"
Recently, the IARC,
the International Agency for Research on Cancer,
the official World Health Organization body
that decides what is and what is not cancer-causing,
concluded that alcoholic beverages — all alcoholic beverages,
are to be considered carcinogenic to humans.
Most recent research has focused on acetaldehyde,
the first and most toxic alcohol metabolite, as a cancer-causing agent.
It seems that bacteria in our mouths oxidize alcohol into this carcinogen
called acetaldehyde, which we then swallow.
There's convincing evidence
that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer,
but most of the data derived from studies
that focused on the effect of moderate or high alcohol intakes,
while little was known about light alcohol drinking,
like up to like a drink a day,
hence this new meta-analysis of studies
that compared light drinkers to non-drinkers,
and found a moderate but significant association with breast cancer,
based on the results of more than 100 studies.
They estimated that about 5,000 breast cancer deaths a year
are attributable to light drinking,
meaning nearly 5,000 women that died of breast cancer
maybe wouldn't have
if they just would've stayed away from alcohol completely,
leading to an editorial in the medical journal Breast
that concluded:
"women who consume alcohol chronically have an increased risk for breast cancer
that is dose-dependent but without threshold,"
meaning there's apparently no level of alcohol consumption
that doesn't raise breast cancer risk at least a little.
So, "no safe threshold".
Any level of alcohol consumption appears to increase the risk
of developing an alcohol-related cancer.
For example, the Harvard Nurse's Health Study
found that even consumption of less than a single drink per day
may be associated with a modest increase in risk.
Forget a single drink, what about a single sip?
A new study found that even holding a teaspoon of hard liquor
in your mouth for five seconds, and then spitting it out
results in carcinogenic concentrations of acetaldehyde
produced from the alcohol in the oral cavity
instantly after a small sip of a strong alcoholic beverage.
And the exposure continues for about ten minutes
after spitting it out.
And you didn't even drink it!
Even alcohol-containing mouthwash can give you a carcinogenic spike.
The researchers conclude,
"All in all, there is a rather low margin of safety
in the use of alcohol-containing mouthwash."
"Typical use will reach the concentration range
above which adverse effects are to be expected."
"Until the establishment of a more solid scientific basis
for a threshold level of acetaldehyde in saliva,
prudent public health policy would recommend generally refraining
from using alcohol in such products."
So why isn't the same recommendation made for alcoholic beverages?
Well, as the Harvard paper concludes,
"Individuals will need to weigh the risks of light to moderate alcohol use
on breast cancer development
against the benefits for heart disease prevention
to make the best personal choice regarding alcohol consumption."
They're talking about the famous J-shaped curve.
While smoking is bad and more smoking is worse,
and exercising is good and more exercising is better,
for alcohol there appears to be this beneficial effect of small doses.
A six-pack a day increases overall mortality,
but so does tee-totaling.
The #1 killer of women isn't breast cancer, it's heart disease,
and a drink a day reduces the risk of heart disease.
Why just reduce the risk of heart disease, though,
when you may nearly eliminate the risk of heart disease completely
with a healthy diet?
So a plant-based diet that excludes certain plant-based beverages
may be the best for overall survival.