Gut Check #4: Alcohol, Cancer, and Your Gut: What You Need to Know

On January 3rd, Vivek Murthy, the U.S surgeon general (the head of public health), issued a new advisory linking alcohol to cancer - naming it the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, right behind smoking and obesity.  

While cancer death rates have declined, there has been an alarming rise in cancer among young adults under 50 😳

The folklore that drinking red wine has cardiovascular benefits has largely been debunked. You would need over 100 glasses of wine to get a meaningful amount of antioxidants, and at that point, you probably wouldn’t be standing.

How much does drinking increase cancer risk?

While no amount of alcohol is “good for you”, the risks of cancer increase with higher consumption, especially for women.

Even having less than one drink per week increases the absolute risk of cancer for women by 16.5% and 10% for men. Bump that up to two drinks per day (say two glasses of wine at dinner) and the risk jumps to 21.8% and 13.1% respectively.

The connection with the gut

There are 4 ways alcohol consumption increases cancer risk. The simplest explanation is:

Drinking disrupts critical processes in your gut, hormones, and immune system—raising your cancer risk.

If you want a bit more detail on how alcohol disrupts key processes, here’s a breakdown:  

1. Acetaldehyde: When your body breaks down alcohol, it produces a toxic byproduct called acetaldehyde. This can damage your gut lining and disrupt the balance of good and bad bacteria in your microbiome, leading to inflammation throughout your body (see Gut Health 101).

2. Oxidative stress: Oxidative stress occurs when there’s an imbalance between free radicals (bad molecules) and antioxidants (good molecules). Metabolizing alcohol releases free radicals, which can damage cells and deplete antioxidants – your body’s natural defense system. When antioxidants are outnumbered your cells are more vulnerable to damage that can lead to cancer. 

3. Hormone disruption: Your liver doesn’t only process alcohol, it also is responsible for metabolizing estrogen. When you drink, your liver is preoccupied with fighting acetaldehyde, decreasing its ability to metabolize estrogen. This can lead to higher estrogen in your system—something that’s been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

4. Carcinogens: While alcohol isn’t directly a carcinogen, it can break down your gut lining, allowing harmful carcinogens found in tobacco, processed foods, and household cleaning products to easily enter the bloodstream. 

This all sounds very scary. What can you do?

I’m not going to sit here and tell you not to drink - Kiki and I both loveee a glass of wine with dinner or cocktails on a night out. That said, when I do drink, I try to support my body in a few simple ways:

Support your gut

Your gut takes the biggest hit when you drink (hence the link between alcohol, the gut, and cancer). Doing things that are good for your gut before and after drinking can help strengthen its defense. Beny is a great option if you’re in NYC (signup for drop sales here), if not, look for other probiotic foods like kimchi, sauerkraut or kefir. 

Hydrate

One of my former coworkers seemingly never got hungover. We always thought it was genetics, but on a recent night out I noticed that he actually has a glass of water for every drink he consumes, 1:1 the entire night. Hydrating before, during, and after drinking won’t necessarily prevent hangovers (I still think he’s just built different), but it will help dilute the overall alcohol consumed and support your body’s detox process. 

Try supplementing 

There are a few areas that you can boost through supplements: antioxidants, liver, and acetaldehyde breakdown. Antioxidants can be found in colorful foods (blueberries, spinach, and bell peppers) and through vitamins like B and C. NAC and milk thistle can help aid your liver with detoxification, and products like ZBiotics help break down acetaldehyde (if you’re interested in trying it out here’s $20 off). 

Top of Mind

🤩 Beny in Times Square: On Thursday we woke up to a big surprise…a Billboard of Beny in Times Square. One of my previous co-workers surprised us with it as a little goodbye gift 🥲 

🩺 Medical advisory board: We’re putting together a medical advisory board to help guide recipe development. If you know anyone who lives on the cutting edge of gut health and microbiology research, we’d love to meet them.

💻 New website, who dis: Big shout out to Lucy (senior at Stanford majoring in design) for helping us revamp the site - expect to see a larger redesign sometime in the next few months. 

👀 Drop sales: We’re doing our best to keep up with demand 😅 if you’re in NYC and want to try Beny yourself, sign up for our drop sales here. If you’ve already signed up but haven’t gotten Beny yet - we’ll be reaching out soon to coordinate! 

🍳 Recipes: This week, Kiki made yogurt marinated chicken with chickpea kale stew and yogurt harissa sauce, check out the recipe here. I have been putting a scoop of collagen in my Beny bowl every morning to sneak in some extra protein, would recommend. 

😢 LA Fires: A handful of my close friends lost their homes to the LA fires last week. We’re donating 20% of profits from hat and hoodie sales this week to organizations dedicated to LA fire relief.

Stay safe! 💙 

Elan and Kiki