Could that evening drink be upping your cancer risk?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, 7.6 million people die from cancer worldwide.

Many of these are due to dietary factors.

Every bite of food that enters your body plays a key role in determining the degree of health you’ll enjoy. This includes your alcohol intake.

Warning: Alcohol increases your risk of cancer

The International Agency for Research on Cancer says that heavy drinkers have higher-than-normal rates of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, larynx, bladder, breast and liver.

William Fischer author of How to Fight Cancer and Win explains that Shaw and Lieber, nutritional researchers, reported in the professional journal Nutritional Support of Medical Practice that alcoholics get about 20% of their calorie intake from alcohol, not food.

And since alcohol has no nutritional value, it frequently gives the drinker a ‘full’ feeling which doesn’t always leave much room for food. As a result of this vitamin deficiency, you become more susceptible to cancer-causing agents and tumor development.

Other studies have found that overindulgence in alcohol directly inhibits your body’s immune system. With repeated alcohol abuse, your white blood cell count goes down, which creates the risk of cancer.

The danger with alcohol is that it contains urethane (forms as part of the fermenting process that creates wine, beer and ‘hard liquor’), a known chemical carcinogen that increases your risk of cancer.

Here’s how you can reduce your cancer risk

If you drink, limit yourself to two drinks each day. If you’re pregnant or breast-feeding, DON’T drink.

“If you find yourself consuming more than two drinks each day, cut down immediately. Find out what motivates you to drink: Perhaps a support group or counselor can help,” says Fischer.

Above all, stick to a nutritionally sound diet. Don’t let alcohol become your ‘food.’ It poisons your body and has no food value at all.