Drink Coffee or Tea — and Go Easy on Alcohol

Coffee and tea get a bad rap for causing insomnia and jitters, but these high-octane beverages may have cancer-busting powers.

According to new research, tea may help reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. A study of more than 60,000 Swedish women, which appeared in the December 2005 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, found that women who drank two or more cups of tea daily were 46 percent less likely to develop the disease; those who drank one cup a day had a 24 percent lower risk.

Daily Coffee: Coffee may reduce your chances of getting liver cancer. One recent study in Japan found that those who drank more than one cup of coffee a day were significantly less likely than others to develop a certain type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

A study conducted in Italy and published in the Journal of Hepatology last year also found that the more coffee subjects consumed, the lower their risk for HCC. (More than two cups of coffee a day, however, can aggravate certain health conditions, like heart problems and anxiety.)

Alcoholic Beverages: Alcohol, which may protect the heart, can raise a woman’s cancer risk — and it’s almost certain to do so when consumed in excess. Even having two drinks a day is associated with increased risks for breast, intestinal, liver, esophageal, and larynx cancers, according to a 2005 review of 156 cancer studies published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Those who drink four or five alcoholic beverages a day increase their breast cancer risk by a whopping 70 percent, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Alcohol is thought to contribute to cancer by increasing hormone levels or by making the body more susceptible to the damage that carcinogens, such as tobacco, can cause. It may also facilitate the growth of blood vessels that supply a tumor, according to a study published in 2005 by the University of Mississippi Medical Center, in Jackson.

But many doctors believe that the overall health benefits of moderate amounts (one glass a day) of alcohol, particularly wine, outweigh the risks. Red wine contains potent antioxidants and may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. And a review of research published recently in The Lancet found that people who drank alcohol had a lower risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma than did teetotalers.

What to Do: “Women at high risk of breast cancer — those with a known genetic mutation or a history of breast cancer — should abstain from or limit their alcohol,” says ACS president Carolyn D. Runowicz, M.D. Other women should consume no more than one drink a day, and men should limit themselves to two, according to the ACS. You can enjoy your daily coffee and tea without guilt.

Don’t Smoke (or Hang Around with Smokers)

Smoking, breathing smoke, and chewing tobacco are the surest ways to raise your cancer risk. “Tobacco is far and away the number one cause of cancer,” says Therese Bevers, M.D., the medical director of the Cancer Prevention Center at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.

Smoking accounts for about 30 percent of all cancer deaths, according to the ACS, and harms more than just the lungs — it also increases the risk of cancer of the larynx, mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, pancreas, cervix, kidney, and stomach, as well as some leukemias. Chewing tobacco raises the odds of developing oral and esophageal cancers.

Carcinogens and Cigarettes: Many smokers mistakenly believe that nicotine is the sole cancer-causing agent in cigarettes. Actually, each cigarette contains hundreds of carcinogenic chemicals. That’s why smoking “light” cigarettes doesn’t reduce the risks. Experts say there’s no known “safe” number of cigarettes to smoke or amount of smoky air to breathe.

“The message is just to avoid smoking and smoky air at all costs,” says Carolyn Aldigé, the president and founder of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, in Alexandria, Virginia. By quitting, smokers can lower their risk for lung cancer almost immediately, according to the ACS. And 10 years after your final puff, your risk of contracting lung cancer falls by about half.

What to Do: For detailed suggestions that have helped millions quit, go to www.quit.com or the ACS website, www.cancer.org. Or call the society’s support hotline at 800-227-2345.