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Alcohol can increase your cancer risk. What experts say about how much is too much.
Despite growing research that points to the negative health impacts of alcohol, many Americans are unaware of the connection between drinking and cancer risk.
A recent report from the American Association for Cancer Research found excessive levels of alcohol consumption increase the risk for six different types of cancer, including:
“Some of this is happening through chronic inflammation. We also know that alcohol changes the microbiome, so those are the bacteria that live in your gut, and that can also increase the risk,” Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, recently said on “CBS Mornings.”
But how much is too much when it comes to drinking? We asked experts what to know:
How much alcohol is bad for you?
“Excessive levels of alcohol” equates to about three or more drinks per day for women and four or more drinks per day for men, Gounder said.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a standard alcoholic drink contains 14 grams (or 0.6 ounces) of pure alcohol. Generally, this amount is found in 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces, or a “shot,” of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor.
Other studies have shown, however, there is no “safe amount” of alcohol, Gounder said, particularly if you have underlying medical conditions.
“If you don’t drink, don’t start drinking. If you do drink, really try to keep it within moderation,” she said.
Dr. Amy Commander, medical director of the Mass General Cancer Center specializing in breast cancer, told CBS News alcohol is the third leading modifiable risk factor that can increase cancer risk after accounting for cigarette smoking and excess body weight.
“There really isn’t a safe amount of alcohol for consumption,” she said. “In fact, it’s best to not drink alcohol at all, but that is obviously hard for many people. So I think it’s really important for individuals to just be mindful of their alcohol consumption and certainly drink less.”
How else can alcohol affect your health?
The benefits of limiting alcohol is not just about cancer risk. Alcohol in large or frequent amounts is considered toxic to the human body, said Dr. Angela Tatiana Alistar, medical director of GI Medical Oncology at Morristown Medical Center, Atlantic Health System.
“All organs can be affected by alcohol intake depending on dose and frequency,” she told CBS News. “There is vast scientific literature regarding the impact of alcohol consumption on the liver described as hepatitis (in the acute form), liver cirrhosis (chronic form) and possible liver cancer.”
Drinking alcohol can also have direct and immediate effects on other organs like the brain, affecting the sleep-wake cycle.
“It can also affect cognition, coordination and emotional regulation,” Alistar said. “Acute and chronic dependence and tolerance to alcohol is a high-risk factor for social functioning and mental health.”
Is wine healthy?
Some studies have suggested health benefits from drinking red wine. Occasional wine is also a part of the Mediterranean diet, which is often praised for a reduction in mortality, heart disease and more. But, other research says any potential benefit doesn’t outweigh the risks.
“A glass of red wine is included in terms of the alcoholic beverages that one should be mindful of — beer, red wine, other spirits,” said Commander. “There’s been at times this health halo about red wine, but when it comes to cancer, it is still considered alcohol and it should be limited.”
But, doesn’t everything cause cancer anyway?
Commander admits cancers are complex with many factors that can contribute to someone’s risk — but, at the same time, we’re making strides in cure rates and early detection.
For example, the latest Cancer Progress Report found a 33% reduction in the overall cancer deaths from 1991 to 2021.
“So that is hopeful,” Commander said, adding alcohol is just “one piece of the puzzle” in prevention.
“There are so many aspects of our lifestyle that we should focus on in order to optimize our health, certainly to reduce our risk of cancer, but also other chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and other conditions that we face in this country,” she said.
Alistar recognizes social changes can be difficult when it comes to alcohol.
“Socializing with friends and family typically involves sharing food and drinks. Having open conversations about the impact of alcohol on general health with your family and friends would be a good way to start,” she said, but added “celebratory drinks or foods are OK in my opinion if most of the time one has a healthy diet and lifestyle.”
Other ways to decrease cancer risk
Reducing alcohol isn’t the only way to decrease your risk of cancer. There are several other modifiable risk factors that researchers found are linked to more than 40% of all cancer fatalities, including smoking, excess body weight, physical inactivity and diet.
Using sunscreen to prevent skin cancer and getting the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and oral cancer related to the human papillomavirus are other prevention measures, Gounder said.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike Thursday morning in an effort by the union to pressure the e-commerce giant for a labor agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters say the workers, who authorized walkouts in the past few days, are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a Dec. 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations. Amazon says it doesn’t expect any impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small portion of the 1.5 million people Amazon employs in its warehouses and corporate offices.
Amazon is ranked No. 2 on the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
At a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island, thousands of workers who voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At the other facilities, employees – including many delivery drivers – have unionized with them by demonstrating majority support but without holding government-administered elections.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at an Amazon warehouse in San Francisco and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta and the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join” them, the union said.
“Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” he said.
The Seattle-based online retailer has been seeking to re-do the election that led to the union victory at the warehouse on Staten Island, which the Teamsters now represent. In the process, the company has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
Meanwhile, Amazon says the delivery drivers, which the Teamsters have organized for more than a year, aren’t its employees. Under its business model, the drivers work for third-party businesses, called Delivery Service Partners, who drop off millions of packages to customers everyday.
“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.“
The Teamsters have argued Amazon essentially controls everything the drivers do and should be classified as an employer.
Some U.S. labor regulators have sided with the union in filings made before the NLRB. In September, Amazon boosted pay for the drivers amid the growing pressure.
NEW YORK — The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon at numerous locations across the country, including in Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in United States history, and it’s set to begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will be joining picket lines in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois.
In a video announcement released Wednesday night, workers voiced their frustrations.
“Us being strike ready means we’re fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” one worker says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We’re taking steps for ourselves to win better conditions, better benefits, better wages,” another worker in the video says.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon employees and that Amazon ignored a deadline to come to the table and negotiate. The $2 trillion company doesn’t pay employees enough to make ends meet, the union asserts.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent any Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company doesn’t expect operations to be impacted.
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