According to a Gallup poll, about 54% of Americans reported drinking alcohol. Though the percentage has declined in the past few years, there still remains a steady number of alcohol connoisseurs in the country. While one might think that drinking a low to moderate amount of alcohol would not be as harmful as an addiction, new research has revealed some shocking facts.

A new scientific analysis called the Alcohol Intake & Health Study, funded by the U.S. federal government in order to inform an update on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 2025-2030, stated that drinking alcohol even in small amounts can come with a cancer risk.

While the current U.S. dietary guidelines advise limiting alcohol to two drinks or fewer a day for men and one drink or less for women, Dr Tim Naimi, MD, MPH, a study co-author and director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, called this recommendation "quite risky" on the basis of the new analysis.

Low levels of alcohol are linked with cancer risk


The researchers organized the data of the analysis according to the number of drinks people had daily. They discovered that men and women have a 1 in 1,000 chance of dying from alcohol use if they consume more than seven drinks a week.

This risk increases to 1 in 100 if they consume the beverage more than nine times a week.

Additionally, the report linked alcohol consumption with a higher risk of death from seven types of cancer which include colorectal, breast, liver, oral, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus.

“We found that the risk of developing an alcohol-related cancer starts with any alcohol use, and increases with higher levels of use, and that women have a greater risk of an alcohol-related cancer when drinking the same amount as men, mostly driven by the strong association between alcohol use and breast cancer,” said Priscilla Martinez, PhD, a study co-author and deputy scientific director of the Alcohol Research Group.

While the draft report hasn't yet been peer-reviewed, cancer specialists agree with the findings. “It has been known for decades that even low levels of alcohol can increase risk above no intake at all,” said Kathleen Egan, ScD, cancer epidemiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. “The more alcohol you drink, the greater the excess risk.”

A study released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2021 found that out of nearly 750,000 cancer cases diagnosed across the world in 2020, about 4% could be attributed to alcohol. Light and moderate drinking made up more than 100,000 of those cases.

Thus, while the alcohol consumption in the US has declined immensely, it is important to arrive at a stage where people are avoiding drinking the beverage that can cost them their lives.