You may remember my article from back in December discussing the good and bad effects of alcohol. In it I warned women to stick to the one-glass-a-day rule to reduce risks from alcohol. However, a recent study called the Million Women Study found that even one glass a day increased the risk of cancers in women. The study, which came out of the United Kingdom, found that in middle-aged women who drank anywhere from one to three drinks per day — the risk of breast, liver, rectum, and in smokers, mouth and throat cancers, increased for each drink consumed.¹

One drink increased cancer rate by 15 cancers per 1000 women and this risk continued to double for each daily drink. This study was significant because it involved a very big study population, most of whom drank wine, a form of alcohol that other studies have found has certain health benefits.

I know many women will look at that study and say, “Well, I am going to take my chances. I am not giving up my one glass of wine!” And that decision is probably OK because there may be a way to protect yourself.

You see the idea that even moderate alcohol consumption may increase cancer risks is not a new one. Studies clear back into the early 1990s found the same thing. However, other studies from back in the 1990s found that the increased cancer risk from alcohol may be largely because alcohol depletes folate.

Since folate plays a central role in the synthesis and replication of DNA, anything that disrupts it, like alcohol, could interfere with proper DNA replication and so could potentially initiate cancer. More recent research indicates that folate also protects us because it is one of the important “methylating” nutrients that are the tags in our epigenetics. (See my recent article on epigenetics and how the powerful molecules called methyl groups seem to protect us against cancer and even obesity.)

Alcohol blocks the absorption of folate and inactivates circulating folate in the body. But will making sure you get enough folate really protect you? Several studies have found that it does.

For example, a 2007 study out of Sweden found that high folate intake can protect against breast cancer in women with moderate alcohol consumption.2 And data from the Nurses’ Health Study has determined that high dietary intake of folate blunts the increased risk of breast cancer seen among women who drink more than one alcoholic drink per day; about 600 mcg was enough to cut the risk in half.³

Another study that looked at a methyl-deficient diet as influenced by alcohol, folate and methionine intake found not only that a folate-deficient diet was indeed linked to damaged DNA, but that higher intakes of folate significantly protected against colorectal cancers in those who drank alcohol.⁴

Since this effect is more pronounced in women, I have to wonder if it is influenced not just by one’s liquor cabinet, but by what’s in the medicine cabinet. Birth control pills can deplete folate, though this effect may be less pronounced on the newer lower estrogen dosage forms. But if you are a female who moderately drinks alcohol and relies on oral contraceptives to prevent pregnancy, then boosting your folate intake is a double-must in my opinion.

And there are other medications that can deplete folate like phenytoin (for seizures), sulfasalazine (for ulcerative colitis), triamterene (a blood pressure medication), some cholesterol lowering meds (cholestyramin and colestipol), aspirin, and anything that lowers stomach acid production like proton pump inhibitors.⁵

There is one other factor that could be influencing your risks from alcohol — the genetic mutation called the C667T polymorphism, which prevents one from converting folic acid to its physiologically active form. So, have your doctor test for MTHFR mutations, especially if you have any signs or symptoms of folate deficiency like depression or elevated homocysteine. And if you test positive for the mutation, you may benefit as our patients do from taking the “methylated” form of folic acid, called 5-MTHF.

So the message here if you are female and drink a daily glass of wine is to make sure you’re taking in plenty of folate. For further peace of mind, blood folate levels are easy to check, so ask your doctor to test you. Folate is found in almost all fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and beans as well as in fortified foods. However, the intake of folic acid from fortified foods like cereals and food bars may increase health risks slightly. Laura explains more about that in her article.

References

1. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/588649.
2. Ericson U, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007; 86:434-43.
3. Zhang S, et al. JAMA. 1999; 281:1632-1637.
4. Americans Still Refusing to Eat Their Vegetables. Found online at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17631389/.
5. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/folic-acid/index.html.

[Ed. Note: James LaValle is the founding Director of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, one of the largest integrative medicine practices in the country. Dr. LaValle is the author of The Metabolic Code Diet: Unleashing the Power of Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss and Vitality and the Executive Editor of  The Healing Prescription. To learn more, click here.]