After a long day at work the first thing we reach for is a glass of wine, or some other alcoholic beverage. It’s what we do. It helps us unwind from a bad day at the office.
A new study shows that just two glasses of wine each day can significantly increase a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer. The study, carried out by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, was based on data taken from two large United States based studies. The data comprised health information relating to 90,000 women taken over a 30-year period.
The study went on to show that drinking one standard size drink for women increased their risk of developing any type of cancer by a small amount. In addition, the study also revealed that women who drank one single glass of wine every day, also raised their risk of developing breast cancer.
Dr Jurgen Rehm, a Toronto based cancer expert, confirmed that the study should lead women to carefully re-evaluate their daily intake of alcohol. Light to moderate drinking should be limited to no more than 10-grams of pure alcohol for women and 20-grams for men, which equates to one standard drink for women and two standard drinks for men per day.
Unfortunately, this research confirms the results of previous studies, which shows there is no such thing as a safe level of drinking, when it comes to the risk of cancer.
This is really quite frightening when you look at the fact that such a small amount of alcohol can increase cancer risk.
The threshold is really low and most of us would easily consume more that one or two drinks when going out or even having a drink at home.
It is a worry that much of our eating and drinking habits that seem to be perfectly safe and mundane have the potential to be life threatening and that are self-imposed. Quite scary really.
Thanks, yes I couldn't agree more. I just take the view that prevention is better than cure. Having always followed a more holistic route for health reasons, I tend not to drink.
No one is assured good health. It is something we all have to work at. If we can make small changes for a more healthy lifestyle; we're less likely to have problems with diseases like Breast Cancer.
One glass of wine doesn't harm, it's the bad habits we form around alcohol that puts us and our health in danger, as my blog confirms.