Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey there, welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta. This is the show where I get to address your health concerns. My producer Jennifer is back with us today. Who do we have up first?
Hi, Sanjay. We have a 57-year-old listener from Southern California with a question about alcohol and cancer. Here's what he wants to know.
Hi, Dr. Gupta. I'm a fan of your Chasing Life podcast. My name is Ed And what I would like to know is if we drink a lot less alcohol, how much of a difference does that make? And also, if we drink, for instance, non-alcoholic beer, does that avoid the risks of cancer related to alcohol entirely?
Well, this is a great question, Ed. I got to say, first of all, I've cut way back on my drinking as well. I think a lot of people have. We've all heard that drinking is obviously not great for health.
Chapter 2: What is the correlation between alcohol consumption and cancer risk?
And Ed, you might have already heard that studies show alcohol consumption can increase risk of certain types of cancer. But I realize this is hard for a couple of reasons. First of all, people often drink when they are socializing, when they are networking, when they are celebrating. It is a part of many global cultures.
And at the same time, we don't often know how to contextualize how big of a risk factor alcohol is on things like cancer. What I can tell you is this. There is a shifting trend happening in the United States. A 2025 Gallup poll showed only 54% of Americans say they consume alcohol. That's the lowest number in 90 years. And that trend is especially true for younger generations.
So the numbers are likely to go up in terms of people who simply aren't drinking. But back to your question, does it have to be all or nothing? What benefits can you get from just drinking less? We'll get into it after a short break. Okay, Ed, back to your question on how much of a difference it could make to decrease cancer risk if you drink less or even become abstinent.
First of all, let's start with some basic facts about the correlation between alcohol and cancer. What exactly is going on here? In terms of context, alcohol ranks third in terms of preventable causes of cancer in the United States.
There is a well-established link between drinking and cancer risk for certain types of cancer, including breast cancer, colorectal, esophageal, liver, mouth, throat, and voice box. Now, this increased risk of cancer is associated with all types of alcohol, in case you're curious. And perhaps no surprise, the risk does increase with greater consumption. So those are the basic facts.
Next point, how does alcohol actually increase the cancer risk? Well, the root cause of cancer are DNA mutations, which lead cells to grow out of control and then maybe spread to other parts of the body. What alcohol does is it interferes with cell cycles. It triggers long-term inflammation, and it damages DNA directly.
Alcohol can also affect hormone levels, including that of estrogen, which plays a particular role, for example, in breast cancer development. Cells in our mouth can absorb cancer-causing chemicals, carcinogens, more easily when we drink alcohol.
So there's plenty of evidence in terms of the impact of alcohol on certain types of cancers, and even more and more information about the mechanisms that make it so. But the question is, can quitting or cutting back bring it down? Now, the headline is, studies show that cutting back on alcohol, going dry, can decrease the risk of cancer. But it might take a while.
Let's begin with liver cancer, for example. There was a study out of Sweden which found that if drinkers don't drink any alcohol, their risk of liver cancer goes down about 6 to 7 percent every year. So the researchers estimated that it would take about 23 years of abstinence for a former drinker's risk of liver cancer to decline to the level of a never drinker.
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Chapter 3: How much can reducing alcohol intake lower cancer risk?
While it's not completely standardized, microplastics are considered to be fragments five millimeters and smaller. Nanoplastics are even tinier, one micrometer and smaller. That's one millionth of a meter, all the way down to one billionth of a meter. They cannot be seen by the human eye.
There was new research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which found plastic items release more nanoplastics in water as the water is getting hotter.
And another study found that a square centimeter of a plastic container released more than 4 million microplastic particles and more than 21 billion nanoplastic particles after being heated in a microwave for just three minutes. Just think about that for a second. Now, a study in 2024 that got a lot of attention has linked microplastics with direct harm to human health.
People with microplastics or nanoplastics in the arteries of their neck, for example, the carotid arteries, were twice as likely to have a heart attack or a stroke or die from any cause over the next three years as compared to people who had none. So back to silicone. It is more stable and it is more durable. That's the headline.
One study found that when they put silicone in boiled water, there were almost no nanoparticles detected. And because its main ingredient is inert, that means it doesn't interact with other chemicals like acids from foods. So putting food in a silicone container is probably safer than a plastic one if you look at those particular issues alone. Is it a better alternative to plastic?
Well, it lasts longer than plastic, so we end up replacing our items less frequently, and that cuts down on plastic in the environment. So for that reason alone, it helps decrease the amount of microplastics and nanoplastics out there. Silicone also seems safer in the oven and dishwasher because it can bear higher temperatures than most plastics. Does it mean that silicone is perfect? No.
there's a few things you should keep in mind. First of all, silicone products are relatively new in the mainstream market, so there are fewer studies done on their safety in terms of long-term health benefits. And if you are using silicone products, they usually have a maximum temperature listed that they can withstand. Pay attention to that. Don't exceed that temperature.
So, Melissa, something a lot of people are thinking about, talking about. I appreciate you raising the question. And I hope our podcast can continue to stimulate your curiosity on all the things that you do in your life, day in and day out. And that's a wrap for today's episode. Thanks again to all of you for sending in your health questions.
Remember, no question is too big, too small, or too embarrassing. Keep them coming. We might just answer it on our next show. Reach out to us, record a voice memo, email it to pagingdrgupta at cnn.com. That's pagingdrgupta at cnn.com. Or give us a call 470-396-0832 and leave a message. Thanks for listening.
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