Alcohol and Cancer
You may be surprised to find out that drinking alcohol increases your risk of head and neck, breast, stomach, pancreatic, colorectal and liver cancers.
Research shows that drinking any type of alcohol – beer, wine or spirits – raises your risk of cancer. The less alcohol you drink, the more you reduce your risk.
Canadian Cancer Society's Recommendation
If you choose to drink alcohol, keep it to less than 1 drink a day for women and less than 2 drinks a day for men. Don’t smoke. Tobacco and alcohol together are worse for you than either on its own.
How much is 1 drink?
A drink is:
- one 341 mL (12 oz) bottle of beer (5% alcohol)
- one 142 mL (5 oz) glass of wine (12% alcohol)
- one 43 mL (1.5 oz) shot of spirits (40% alcohol)
The link between alcohol and cancer
This article has been republished with permission from the Canadian Cancer Society's website.