From the Guidelines
From a carcinogenicity perspective, there is no completely safe level of alcohol consumption, and it is best not to drink alcohol at all, as supported by the American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention 1. Dr. Andrew Huberman's position that one should never drink alcohol aligns with current scientific understanding that alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen with no established safe threshold.
- Key points to consider include:
- Alcohol consumption is an established cause of at least 7 types of cancer, including cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, liver, colorectal, and female breast cancers 1.
- The risk of cancer increases linearly with consumption, with each standard drink per day raising relative cancer risk by approximately 10% for many cancer types.
- Alcohol causes cancer through multiple mechanisms, including the production of acetaldehyde, which damages DNA, increases estrogen levels, causes oxidative stress, and impairs the body's ability to absorb certain nutrients 1.
- While some may consider potential benefits from light drinking, these benefits are outweighed by cancer risks and can be achieved through safer methods like exercise.
- For those who choose to drink despite these risks, limiting consumption as much as possible and avoiding binge drinking can help reduce, but not eliminate, cancer risk, with recommendations to limit consumption to no more than 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men 1.
From the Research
Carcinogenicity of Alcohol Consumption
- Drinking alcohol increases the risk of several cancer types, including cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, liver, colorectum, and breast 2.
- Approximately 4% of cancers worldwide are caused by alcohol consumption, with an estimated 4.1% of new cancer cases in 2020 being attributable to alcoholic beverages 3.
- The mechanisms by which alcohol consumption causes cancer include DNA damage, disruption of DNA methylation, inflammation, and oxidative stress, with ethanol's metabolite acetaldehyde playing a key role 2, 4.
Interaction with Smoking
- The combined effects of alcohol consumption and smoking on cancer risk have been evaluated, with evidence suggesting a synergistic interaction between the two, particularly for head and neck cancer 5.
- Heavy alcohol consumption and heavy smoking have been shown to increase the risk of oral and laryngeal cancer, with relative risks of 36.42 and 38.75, respectively 5.
- Acetaldehyde, a metabolite of alcohol, has been identified as a local carcinogen in the upper digestive tract, with evidence suggesting that it acts in a dose-dependent and synergistic way with tobacco smoke 4.
Cancer Risk Reduction
- Reducing alcohol consumption and avoiding smoking are crucial for decreasing the burden of cancer worldwide, with comprehensive alcohol control and cancer prevention strategies needed to inform future research and policy 2, 3.
- Public awareness of the alcohol-cancer link is low, and further research is needed to understand the associations between alcohol consumption patterns and cancer risk, as well as the impact of alcohol control policies on cancer incidence and mortality 3.