Too much of a good thing is bad. But what about very, very, very little of a bad thing?
It's common knowledge that excessive alcohol consumption can lead to major health issues. But recent research from Oxford suggests that women who consume even relatively low amounts of alcohol (think a glass per day) have a higher risk of developing cancer. Yikes. In fact, researchers found that moderate drinking accounts for about 13% of breast, liver, rectum and upper respiratory/digestive tract cancers among women.
Here's the CliffsNotes summary: "In developed countries, where women typically consume low-moderate amounts of alcohol, we estimate that for every additional drink regularly consumed each day, there would be about 15 extra cases of cancers of the breast, liver, rectum and mouth and throat diagnosed for every 1,000 women up to the age of 75. Most of this excess risk is due to breast cancer."
The study was conducted among middle-aged women and researchers found that the risk of cancer increased as alcohol consumption increased. No surprise there. But the major takeaway is that just one daily glass of alcohol increased a woman's chance of developing cancer. Just one glass!
Keep in mind that the study was conducted among women who drink daily, so there is no evidence to illustrate that weekend warriors (i.e. women who drink moderate to high amounts of alcohol on Friday and Saturday nights) have the same increased risk of developing cancer. That said, I would suspect that the correlation still exists. (Plus, let's not forget about additional SERIOUS risks when a large quantity of alcohol is consumed, like drunk driving and lowered inhibitions.)
Scary stuff.
