Having a glass of wine a day is often touted as a healthy choice for your heart. Although there are warnings against the use of other substances such as cigarettes, drinking alcohol in moderation is usually considered okay – but this may change.
the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans It encourages people to avoid large amounts of alcohol, and suggests sticking to two or fewer drinks per day for men and one or fewer drinks per day for women.
However, The latest advisory advice from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy It suggests that even small amounts of alcohol can be harmful and may increase the risk of cancer.
“Alcohol is a well-established and preventable cause of cancer and is responsible for approximately 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States—a greater number than the 13,500 alcohol-related traffic crash deaths annually in the United States—yet the majority of Americans “don’t Aware of this danger,” Consultant Surgeon General Countries.
His advice points to studies that have found a clear link between alcohol consumption and a higher risk of seven types of cancer, including breast cancer.
“We now know that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption, and that alcohol is a known carcinogen,” he says. doctor. Fayez Bhouraprofessor of surgery and regional chief of surgery at Hackensack Meridian School of Health and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
“The mechanism of cellular damage is well-established. It causes oxidative stress and impairs DNA repair, among other mechanisms that lead to cell cycle dysregulation and cancer formation.”
The Surgeon General is calling on manufacturers of alcoholic beverages such as beer and spirits to update warning labels to include cancer risk. Currently, mainly alcohol-containing drinks Warns against taking it by pregnant women and driving under its influence.
It would be difficult for one to find benefits from alcohol consumption.
doctor. Fayez Bhoura
Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Hackensack Meridian School of Health and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
“It's the social and political pressures that are preventing us from doing the right thing, which would actually be to put a warning label on a clearly toxic substance,” Bhora told CNBC Make It.
“Shares of alcohol makers, including Molson-Coors and Anheuser-Busch, initially fell more than 1% after the warning,” CNBC I mentioned.
Even previous claims that there are positive effects of drinking a glass of red wine daily are questionable. Previous studies that showed that consuming a small amount of alcohol daily can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease are being called out for their methodology, according to New York Times.
“It would be difficult for one to find benefits from alcohol consumption,” says Bhora. “Maybe it's stress reduction while some emotional abilities are impaired (but) I'm not even sure if that's necessarily a good thing.”
“We've always heard these tales of 80- to 90-year-old people living healthy lives and attributing it to a glass of wine or scotch. I'm not sure there's any real scientific connection to that.” He adds.
Alcohol consumption is deeply ingrained in our culture, and “people use it as a crutch for social interactions (and) for emotional reasons,” Bhora says. However, people are now “very comfortable refusing to consume alcohol in a restaurant or party for health reasons, and I think this is the way to go and should be encouraged and supported as a first step.”
For starters, Bora suggests that “staying away from the concept of having one drink every day is okay or safe.” Try to drink alcohol only on weekends if you're cutting back on it, and slowly remove it from your diet completely if you feel so inclined, says Bhora.
“When many of my friends and colleagues stopped drinking alcohol or significantly reduced their consumption, they found it liberating,” Bhura says.
“They no longer need it in social interactions, they have greater clarity of thought, and in many cases, they actually end up being more productive.”
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