Having more than six drinks per week leads to an increased risk of a host of health issues, including cancer, according to new proposed guidelines published Monday.
Any level of alcohol consumption had a net negative impact on health for almost every disease reviewed by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), a national advisory organization, according to their new report. This includes heart disease, several types of cancer and liver cirrhosis.
The health risks become “increasingly high” when someone has six or more drinks per week. And for women who have three or more drinks per week, the risk of health issues increases more steeply compared to men, research shows.
“The key message out of this project is that when it comes to alcohol, less is better. Everyone should try to reduce their alcohol use,” said Catherine Paradis, senior research and policy analyst at CCSA and co-chair of Canada’s Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines.
WATCH | New alcohol guidelines suggest no amount is safe:
New report suggests no more than 2 alcoholic drinks a week to limit health risks
3 hours ago
Duration 2:55
A new report from a scientific body that advises the federal government on alcohol consumption has dramatically revised the recommendations for low-risk drinking. Evidence suggests there is no safe amount of alcohol because it is associated with heart disease and stroke, and the risk of cancer rises with every drink.
It’s no secret that alcohol is not good for you, experts say. It’s been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen (carcinogenic to humans) for decades by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
But not everyone is aware that alcohol use has been associated with numerous health risks, including at least seven types of cancer, Paradis said.
That’s why the guidelines — which the public can weigh in on— speak to the health risks and how that increases with the number of drinks.
Dr. Fawaad Iqbal, a radiation oncologist at Durham Regional Cancer Centre in Oshawa, Ont., who was not involved with the report, said he strongly supports its overall messaging.
“These updated, evidence-based guidelines will save lives. I commend the work of the team that put this all together,” said Iqbal in an email interview after the report was released.
WATCH | Why don’t most Canadians know about alcohol‘s cancer risks?
Alcohol can cause cancer, so why don’t most Canadians know that?
8 months ago
Duration 7:52
Alcohol is one of the top three causes of preventable cancer, so why aren’t Canadians being informed about the risks? Health experts say it’s time to put warning labels on alcohol — something the industry has pushed back against.
‘People in Canada have a right to know’
But experts say the risks associated with alcohol consumption need to be made more clear beyond these recommendations. Iqbal and those who worked on CCSA’s guidelines want to see cancer warnings and the number of standard drinks listed on alcohol bottles or cans.
“Whether consumers choose to use that information or not, it’s up to them. But there’s plenty of evidence out there that says if you say front and centre, ‘this is damaging your health and you could get cancer because of this,’ people will change their decision-making about just how much they’re drinking,” Iqbal said.
Since the last alcohol drinking guidelines were released in 2011, the evidence around health issues and alcohol consumption has changed a lot, Paradis says. That’s why four committees —including three scientific expert panels— were formed to review the evidence for updating the guidelines.
Those involved looked at several dozen studies on alcohol and health issues as part of the new guidelines. Several data sources —including death and disability data for 2017 to 2019 from Statistics Canada —were used to form the risk calculations. They also used mathematical modelling, according to the report.
Although all levels of alcohol consumption come with some risks, their report shows a range of risks depending on how many glasses of wine or bottles of beer a healthy person has each week.
They found that health risks are negligible or low with two or fewer glasses of wine per week. If the number of drinks goes up to somewhere between three and six standard drinks a week, the risk of health issues is moderate.
But having more than six glasses of wine or ciders per week makes the risk of health issues “increasingly high.”
For example, men who consume about five grams of alcohol per day on average have almost a 16 per cent increased risk of liver cirrhosis. That risk balloons to more than 306 per cent if the man has 50 grams of alcohol per day, according to the report.
“We know that’s going to be surprising and some people might even be upset about that. But we did not embark on this project to win a popularity contest. We’re scientists,” said Paradis.
“Our whole perspective throughout this project is that people in Canada have a right to know.”
Drinking increases breast cancer risk
The new findings are significantly different from the 2011 guidelines created by CCSA. Those suggested no more than 10 standard drinks a week for women and 15 standard drinks a week for men.
Paradis says one of the reasons the 2011 recommendations were higher was because of a belief that alcohol had some good health benefits for cardiovascular disease. But now, new research shows that is probably not the case anymore, she said.
“Actually, in our own study, we found that alcohol was neither good or bad at low levels for protection against some cardiovascular diseases. At higher levels, it really has a detrimental impact,” she said.
Alcohol use in Canada causes nearly 7,000 cases of cancer deaths each year in Canada, according to the report.
Beer is pictured on the shelves of a liquor store in Vancouver in a July 12, 2019, file photo. New guidelines say that having more than six glasses of wine or ciders per week makes the risk of health issues ‘increasingly high.’ (Ben Nelms/CBC)
And specifically for women, having three or more drinks a week comes with a greater risk of health issues when compared to men, according to the report’s data. They include several reasons why, including differences in metabolism.
The risk of breast cancer increased with more alcohol, Paradis said, adding that one in 35 women will die because of breast cancer in Canada.
“If you take six drinks per week, you increase by 10 per cent your chances of being that woman,” she said, adding that the risk starts at one or two standard drinks per week.
Allison Garber, a communications business owner in Halifax and sobriety advocate, said she wishes she knew more about the increased cancer risk sooner. Both her mother and grandmother had breast cancer, and she lost her mother to cancer.
“I think that this report is going to save a lot of lives,” she said, adding it’s good to see an increased focus on education.
“I do believe that it’s an individual choice whether people drink alcohol or not, but I I do think that it’s fundamentally important that that is an informed choice.”
Label the health risks
Some Canadians have reported increased binge drinking over the last few years.
A Statistics Canada survey released in 2021 shows many Canadians are not just pouring themselves a single glass. Almost one in five who responded to the survey said they consumed five or more drinks — the equivalent of a bottle of wine — on the days they reported drinking alcohol in the previous month.
The agency says this is higher than before COVID-19 hit.
Specifically for women, having three or more drinks a week comes with a greater risk of health issues when compared to men, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction report’s data. (Justine Bouln/CBC)
The CCSA report was started before the pandemic, but Paradis says adults need to know more about the alcohol they purchase and how it can affect their health.
Paradis and the other authors of the report, along with Iqbal, say bottles of wine and other alcohol should clearly outline the health warnings and nutrition information. She adds that people need to be able to count their drinks to know how much alcohol they’re consuming, but can’t do that if it’s not explicitly outlined on a label.
“The main message that we want to put out with this is that overall, alcohol is not good for your health and that when it comes to alcohol, drinking less is better,” Paradis said.
The guidelines will likely become official guidance sometime this fall.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
