Moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages seems to be no risk for colorectal cancer
The current meta-analysis suggests that there was no increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC) when consuming no more than 30 g of alcohol per day.
Heavy drinking of alcoholic beverages is a known risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). However, studies have shown conflicting results, where some of them indicated a linear dose-dependent association with CRC but others suggested that a moderate alcohol consumption may even have a protective effect. American scientists thus aimed to determine the relationship between moderate alcohol intake by beverage type – limited to 30 g of alcohol per day – on CRC risk and to assess the effects of other factors that interact with alcohol to influence the CRC risk.
The results showed that an increased CRC risk was only observed when intakes exceeded 30 g/d alcohol per day. For intakes <30 g/d, the data were consistently non-significant. Furthermore, in the study of populations with greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet, where wine is an important contributor to the alcoholic beverage type, the CRC risk was significantly reduced. The authors concluded that other factors such as obesity, folate deficiency, and genetic susceptibility may also add an additional CRC risk for those consuming alcoholic beverages.
Klarich DS, Brasser SM, Hong MY. Moderate Alcohol Consumption and Colorectal Cancer Risk. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2015 Jun 25. doi: 10.1111/acer.12778. [Epub ahead of print]
For more information about this article, read the scientific abstract here.