Minimize Cancer Causing Acetaldehyde Exposure from Alcoholic Beverages

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Acetaldehyde is a possible cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compound that occurs naturally in alcoholic beverages and many foods such as bananas and yogurt. It may also be added to fruit-flavored foods.

Although the Center for Disease Control has not found acetaldehyde to be a carcinogen, it may be wise to limit your exposure to this naturally-occurring chemical compound that is typically found in alcoholic beverages. This is even more important, since acetaldehyde present in alcoholic beverages and formed from ethanol endogenously has recently been classified by IARC as a group 1 carcinogen for humans.

There is a possibility that alcoholic beverages may cause cancer of the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, and other components of the gastrointestinal tract. Luckily, people who enjoy alcoholic beverages can limit their exposure to acetaldehyde.

Concerning scientific references: all information was garnered from scientific journals. Please use PubMed to search for corresponding scientific articles. Use relevant keywords including acetaldehyde, alcohol, cancer, beverages, and cysteine. Report on acetaldehyde from the IARC can be found here: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol71/mono71-11.pdf

Steps

  1. Avoid alcoholic beverages that lead to high levels of acetaldehyde in your mouth. As soon as you take a sip of an alcoholic beverage, microbes that naturally live in your mouth instantly convert alcohol into acetaldehyde. Detect Antimicrobial Activity of Acalypha Fruticosa that live downstream in your gastrointestinal tract will also convert alcohol into acetaldehyde. Your liver also produces acetaldehyde when metabolizing alcohol, but your body then further breaks down acetaldehyde over period of time.

    Bacterial microbes that live in your body cannot further break down acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde in your mouth that is produced by microbes can lead to oral cancer, Lessen the Risk of Throat Cancer, and similar cancers. A concentration of acetaldehyde equal to or greater than 100 micromolar has the ability to cause cancer.

    Note that the amount of acetaldehyde that is produced from alcohol in your mouth is not necessarily related to the amount of acetaldehyde that is pre-existing in the beverages before you drink them. However, the amount (concentration) of alcohol in beverages and in your body is a major factor that leads to higher acetaldehyde levels in your mouth and the rest of your body.
    • Calvados (a French apple brandy) with 40% alcohol has been shown to produce the most acetaldehyde in the mouth after a sip is taken (a sip is {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} or one teaspoon). From the point that it is sipped and for at least five minutes after sipping, it produces high levels of acetaldehyde. At these levels, the acetaldehyde may cause cancer.

      A 40% solution of pure alcohol, similar to regular-strength vodka and other types of hard liquor, also produces levels of acetaldehyde that were capable of causing cancer when a sip is taken, but the levels are generally lower than with Calvados. Wine with 12.5% alcohol was also capable of producing cancer-causing levels of acetaldehyde with each 5 ml sip, but the levels of acetaldehyde are noticeably lower (the level varies depending on the exact time after sipping, but can be about half that of 40% alcohol).

      The level of acetadehyde produced by 5% alcohol beer is about half that of wine, and stays below the cancer-causing threshold (although this may vary for different brands/types of beer). Light beer produced even less acetaldehyde. Note that the size of the sip that is taken may change these results, so larger sips of beer may result in cancer-causing levels of acetaldehyde. A 5 ml sip of beer is not much. Exactly how a sip is taken can also alter acetaldehyde levels, and different scientific studies can show somewhat different levels of acetaldehyde under similar conditions.
  2. Avoid alcoholic beverages with high levels of pre-existing acetaldehyde. The alcohol level of the beverage has no consistent relation to the acetaldehyde content of the beverage.
    • Vodka and gin will generally have the lowest concentration of acetaldehyde (0 to about 300 micromolar). The primary reason is that they are distilled multiple times to achieve a very pure product. Vodka and gin are generally made using column stills, which produce almost pure alcohol. If pot stills are used, they are generally used in conjunction with column stills. With gin, only the final distillation is usually conducted with a pot still.

      Another reason that vodka and gin are relatively free of acetaldehyde is that they are usually made from grains (sometimes potatoes). Fruits, not grains, are major sources of acetaldehyde, although yeast that is used to make alcoholic beverages produces acetaldehyde. This being the case, spirits (hard liquor) made from fruits can have up to about 26000 micromolar acetaldehyde.

      Fruit Spirits and Liqueurs may have no acetaldehyde, but it is important to note that the average fruit spirit has about 20000 micromolar acetaldehyde. Port wines, Make Sherry Trifle, and other types of fortified wine should be avoided as they consistently contain high levels of acetaldehyde, partially due to how they are aged.

      The acetaldehyde range for sherry is about 1000 to 12000 micromolar, while the range is about 500 to 18000 for Port wines. Non-fortified wines and Cognac can have from zero to about 5000 micromolar acetaldehyde. White wines may have relatively low levels. Whiskey and Bourbon can have relatively high levels of acetaldehyde, as they are generally made using pot stills.

      Beer can have up to about 1500 micromolar, but the average is closer to 200. Lagers and light beers that don't have the fruity aromas that some ales have should have the lowest concentrations of acetaldehyde. Also, mass-produced beer that is packaged using the most sophisticated bottling equipment that prevents oxidation of the beer should have lower concentrations.
      Calvados has between 500 and 1500 micromolar acetaldehyde.
      • Note that there is no way to know the acetaldehyde level of specific brands of alcohol so avoid the general types with high levels. Also be aware that beer and Match Wines to Asian Food that contain high levels of acetaldehyde may not increase levels of acetaldehyde simply due to their acetaldehyde content (it is not a linear relationship).
  3. Dilute alcoholic beverages. Use non-alcoholic beverages that are unlikely to contain acetaldehyde such as club soda, seltzer water, and tonic water to dilute the alcohol and acetaldehyde content. This will help to keep the acetaldehyde content in your mouth and throat at lower levels. Fruit juice may contain acetaldehyde.
    • As an example, say that one 12 oz glass of beer and one 1.5 oz shot of vodka have the same concentration (micromolar) of acetaldehyde. While the shot of vodka and beer contain about the same amount of alcohol, the shot of vodka will contain a much smaller total amount of acetaldehyde.
      Therefore, if you dilute the vodka with Make Lemon Soda to achieve a total of 12 oz, the vodka drink will have much less total acetaldehyde than beer, and should result in about the same amount of acetaldehyde as beer in your mouth when you drink it.
  4. Maintain excellent oral hygiene. The fewer microbes that are in your mouth, the better. Brush, floss, and use alcohol-free mouthwash. However, you will not be able to totally eliminate the microbes that live in your mouth.
    • Be aware that mouthwashes that contain alcohol may increase the incidence of oral cancers by up to five times (although some studies do not show this to be the case).
  5. Take the amino acid L-cysteine before drinking alcohol. L-cysteine (not N-acetyl cycteine or NAC) immediately neutralizes acetaldehyde, and it has been used successfully to lower levels of acetaldehyde in the body, especially in the stomach, when alcohol is consumed.
  6. Drink water immediately after sipping or drinking alcoholic beverages. If the alcohol is removed from your mouth and throat right after you sip or drink and alcoholic beverage, the acetaldehyde and residual alcohol that could be converted into acetaldehyde will largely be removed from your mouth and throat.

    The less time that acetaldehyde contacts your mouth and throat, the less time cancer-causing levels will be in contact with your cells. Of course some acetaldehyde will be washed downstream into your stomach and lower gastrointestinal tract, but the alcohol that you consume will travel to these parts of your body anyway, and additional acetaldehyde will still be formed. Taking L-cysteine should help to prevent damage downstream in your body.
  7. Drink alcoholic beverages as quickly as possible. Remember that each and every time you take a sip of an alcoholic beverage, the levels of acetaldehyde spike in your mouth. Slam or chug alcoholic beverages so that they are in contact with your mouth and throat for the smallest amount of time possible. Take care to do this safely in a responsible manner.
  8. Limit your intake of alcoholic beverages. The risk for cancers caused by acetaldehyde in alcoholic beverages increases in a linear fashion. That basically means every drink increases your risk of cancer, an even one drink per day will increase your risk. Three drinks will essentially triple your Take Risks for a Better Life.

    Also, if you drink to the point of being intoxicated, there will be high levels of alcohol and resulting acetaldehyde in your body even after you finish drinking alcoholic beverages.
    • One drink is 12 oz (5% alcohol) regular-strength beer, 4 or 5 oz wine, 3 oz fortified or dessert wine, or about 1.5 oz of hard liquor. Note that these serving sizes are based on US government health standards, and government-set serving sizes based on health standards will actually vary for different countries.
  9. Absolutely avoid drinking if you DON'T carry a pair of effective ALDH2 genes. People without an effective pair of this gene are unable to break down acetaldehyde in to acetic acid (basically non-carcinogenic vinegar) within their body as well as other people. Therefore they are at a much greater risk for cancers caused by acetaldehyde. An effective pair of the ALDH2 gene is uncommon in Asian populations; either one or both are often defective.
  10. Avoid homemade alcoholic beverages. While homemade beer (Homebrew Malt Extract Beer) and wine probably doesn't contain more acetaldehyde than many commercial examples, very high levels of acetaldehyde have been measured in homemade beer and wine. The same goes for distilled spirits (moonshine!). Improper packaging and production methods (fermentation, etc) can lead to high levels of acetaldehyde.

Tips

  • For this article, one sip is {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} (one teaspoon). Larger or smaller sips may result in different acetaldehyde concentrations. However, keep in mind that the concentration of alcohol that is in the beverage is a major factor.

Warnings

  • Always drink responsibly. Both for your health and the safety of others.
  • Do more research on this topic. Drinking alcoholic beverages has been shown to decreased ovarian cancer risk (The Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia, 2004), promote stronger bones (Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St. Thomas' Hospital in London, 2004)and lower risk of stroke (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001). Moderate drinking may lengthen your life, while too much may shorten it, researchers from Italy report. Their conclusion is based on pooled data from 34 large studies involving more than 1 million people and 94,000 deaths.
  • It's possible that all of these precautions are for naught. The Center for Disease Control has not recognized acetaldehyde as a carcinogen, and papers published by the American Medical Association have shown only a tertiary link between alcoholism and cancer.

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