The Impact of Alcohol on Your Health

With the arrival of the new year comes both Dry January and an updated Surgeon General's advisory on the link between alcohol and cancer risk.

Moderate drinking was once thought to offer heart health benefits, but recent research has debunked this notion. Dr. Timothy Naimi, director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, emphasized that drinking less is a great way to be healthier.

On Friday, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for the Surgeon General's health warning on alcohol-containing beverages to be updated to include the risk of cancer. His proposal will require Congressional approval.

Alcohol consumption increases the risk of several cancers, including those of the colon, liver, breast, and mouth and throat. When alcohol is metabolized, it breaks down into acetaldehyde, a substance that can damage cells and hinder their ability to repair, creating conditions conducive to cancer development.

According to Naimi, thousands of U.S. deaths could be prevented annually if people adhered to the government’s dietary guidelines. These guidelines recommend that men limit themselves to two alcoholic drinks or fewer per day, and women to one or fewer. One standard drink is equivalent to a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or a shot of liquor.

Murthy's advisory cites approximately 100,000 alcohol-related cancer cases and 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths annually in the U.S.

As you consider whether or how much to drink, remember that less is better when it comes to cancer risk, Murthy stated on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

The belief that moderate drinking offers health benefits stems from imperfect studies that measured alcohol consumption at one point in time and did not randomly assign participants to drink or abstain, preventing any conclusions about cause and effect. These studies often involved people who were more educated, wealthier, and had better access to healthcare, factors that skew the results.

Naimi explained, When you account for those factors, the supposed benefits of moderate drinking tend to vanish. Moreover, many studies overlooked younger populations. Nearly half of those who die from alcohol-related causes do so before age 50.

If you study individuals who survive into middle age without heavy drinking problems, that’s a very selective group, Naimi pointed out, highlighting how this can create the illusion that moderate drinking is beneficial when, in fact, it’s a statistical mirage.

Additional studies comparing individuals with a gene variant that makes alcohol consumption unpleasant to those without it have found that people with the variant tend to drink less and have a lower risk of heart disease. This further challenges the notion that alcohol offers protective health benefits.

While guidelines vary worldwide, the trend is clear: a push for reduced alcohol consumption. Recently, countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Australia revised their recommendations downward, while Ireland plans to introduce cancer warning labels on alcohol starting in 2026.

The scientific consensus has shifted due to overwhelming evidence linking alcohol to over 200 health conditions, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and injuries, said Carina Ferreira-Borges, regional adviser for alcohol at the World Health Organization's European office.

Naimi, who served on an advisory committee that proposed lowering the U.S. recommendation for men to one drink per day, noted that this recommendation was rejected in 2020.

The best-supported message, based on evidence, is simple: if you drink, less is better for your health, Naimi concluded.