Health Risks of Drinking Too much

[Angel3786]

I've been reading A LOT lately about how if women drink more than one drink per day they are at high risk of breast cancer, liver disease, esophagal-stomach-pancreas cancer, etc. That is really bothering me! Like many others in this forum, I typically have 3-4 glasses of wine every night. That's down from the whole bottle only a few months ago. I feel like I must be the only one doing this because if anyone else is doing it they must all be dropping dead from breast cancer or stomach cancer, or liver disease. I just can't believe that even two drinks per day is bad for women. There's so little alcohol in two drinks afterall. Furthermore, consider the following statistics:

Regular exercise decreases your risk for breast cancer by 50%
Taking 600 mcgs of Folate every day decreases your risk of breast cancer by 30%
Being within 10 lbs of your ideal weight decreases your risk by 30%
Not smoking decreases your risk by 50%
....and much more

So.....does that mean if I do all of those things to DECREASE my chance of getting breast cancer, does it cancel out the one thing I do to INCREASE my risk? Food for thought! I would love a physicians opinion but I would never let my physician know how much I drink for reasons most of you probably understand!

I'm just wondering if it's possible to have 3-4 drinks every day for the rest of my life and NOT get cancer or liver disease. What are the odds? I'm sure no one can answer that here, but it must be possible!

Angel3786

[lushy]

Health Risks of Drinking Too much

Angel, I have been having this conversation in my head for many, many years now. I, too, find it hard to believe that 2-4 glasses a night is bad especially when I eat super healthy, taking vitamins, etc. And those statistics make me nutty. I have wondered the EXACT same thing as you. When I moderate my drinking I really do not get concerned about my health because, as I said, I eat a very healthy diet. It is when I overindulge and then have a hangover that I realize I MUST be doing damage no matter how healthy I am eating. And I know from experience a doctor will tell you to not drink every day and that a woman can only safely have 1 glass of wine per day because most doctors are simply "by the book." The problem I have at times is that once I have three glasses I want more. Not good.

[Preciouspinot]

Health Risks of Drinking Too much

Everyone's body is different and it is impossible to tell how your body will react. There are peple who never smoke and get lung cancer and people who smoke and drink like a fish with limited or no problems. I think alot of it has to do with family history.....just my opinion

[Ivygoodluck]

Health Risks of Drinking Too much

Sure, everyone is different. One of my friends never drank or smoked and ran five miles a day. Ate extremely healty. And she died of lung cancer at 50.

I've been drinkin3-4 glasses of wine a night all my adult life and sometimes more, which is why I'm here. I'm 60 and still, thank god, no cancer or other major illnesses except arthritis which I inherited from my mother.

Go figure.

Ivy

[Angel3786]

Health Risks of Drinking Too much

Thanks Ivy! That makes me feel better! I hope like me you are having regular mammograms? I had my first one last year and plan to have one every year. Early detection is key!

The only thing I'm dealing with right now is severe GERD (acid reflux disease) which I've had since I was 20 (I'm 40). Doc says because of it I am at increased risk for esophagal cancer, and of course drinking increases that risk even more! Going to a gastro Doc next week to see if I can get a test to see if my esophagus is OK. Then I can rest easy again.

Thanks again for your reply!
Angel3786

[Angel3786]

Health Risks of Drinking Too much

Lush: thanks for your reply! I also am trying to take lots of vitamins, exercise, eat right, etc. to minimize the risks. But like you, I think back to all the times in my life where I had way too much and woke up the next day sick. Those times I believe are over for me as I really never want to feel that way again. The older I get the harder it is. Like you, after 2 or 3 I definitely want more. I'm trying to leave at least a glass worth in the bottle every time I drink. I do OK most of the time as long as I start late in the evening, then it's just time for bed. I want to keep drinking because coming down from a glass or two just sucks! I'd rather drink til it's time for bed and not have to go through that.

Anyway, there is a ton of research FYI on how Folate (600 mcgs a day) almost eliminates your breast cancer risk from drinking. So I'm all over that.

Good luck and take care!
Angel3786

[Bambino]

Health Risks of Drinking Too much

I have had several dicey cervical smear test results - way back in the past in my early 20's.... but now, because of that I have to have a smear every 6 months - instead of the usual 5 yr test....
I feel that is a Godsend, because as someone a long time ago pointed out to me when I was freaking out about it....
' Well you will never get cervical cancer'

smoking is on my abs list as I mentioned before.... had 4 cigs today instaed of my usual 20.

CV - if you are reading this - how are you doing your cleansing - because I would like to do it too.

Will PM you if you prefer...

Love
LIZ
XXXXXXX

[cv1]

Health Risks of Drinking Too much

I've had several abnormalities when I was in my teens which was level II cells and taken care of with cryosurgery (at least I believe that's what they called freezing the cells back then) and lately, my mammograms will show abnormal tissues, which are actually a form of fibrosis, which they say usually only happens in your teen years. After some reading, I found some things that pointed to overestrogenic effect on my body and started eliminating many foods, etc., that contribute or build estrogen in the body. I also found out that every fat cell is a mini-estrogen factory and started to focus on getting rid of the fat as well, to reduce the estrogen in my body. It seems to be helping but I'll need to go back to a doctor to get the final results, etc.

Liz...I'm following the arise and shine cleanse right now, which focuses on 80-100% raw, alkaline food, sets of cleansing and nutritional herbs 3-5 times daily and psyllium and bentonite shakes, 2-5 times daily, depending on the phase that I am in. I think the diet aspect of raw, whole foods and no additives has really helped alot with the alcohol cravings, and the bentonite acts as an adsorbent to collect toxins as it passes through your system so there is less of a load on your liver and kidneys to work with.

You have some up and down times on it and I haven't been perfect because I have had about 7 small cups of coffee during the last 2 weeks, but it has really been great to focus more on cleansing my entire system than just focusing on NOT drinking alcohol.

The first few days can be rough and you need to be aware of that and be strong to go through it and the cravings, but at this point, the rewards are well worth it. I'm just hitting the more challenging phases now with 2 weeks remaining, but I've had very few cravings for alcohol, few for sweets and just some niggles for salties and crunchies, which were usually my downfall. So far I've dropped 13 lbs and 3-4 inches from my waist alone. My skin, eyes and undereyes are clearing up really well, and I'm expecting and hoping that at the end of the journey on October 1, I'll be feeling very strong and clear. Because I'm getting into the harder phases of cleansing now, with only 1 meal a day this week and none next week, I'll be staying quite still within myself to get through it, but that is part of the process of regeneration I think as you get diseased cells out of your system and create new healthy cells to replace them.

If you go to www.ariseandshine.com into the cleansing products, there is a link to their free cleanse guide which provides the foods you can eat and the foods that you shouldn't eat while cleansing. It's great if you want to go for it. I think it's amazing and I'm only half way through.:l

I hope this helps!!!