TLDR: I’m on a sobriety mission and learning about how booze affects the breast health. Drinking alcohol can raise oestrogen levels in the blood. Breast tissue is sensitive to hormone fluctuations; some types of breast cancer are oestrogen dependent. Beer and wine both contain various non-alcoholic substances, as well as ethanol. Women working in the nightlife industry need to be especially vigilant about our mental and physical health.
Table of Contents
Alcohol and breast cancer
Let’s start off by stating the facts: when talking about breast heath and booze, we are really talking about breast cancer (BC). Statistically, BC is the big one when it comes to boobs. Of course there are other breast pathologies, but BC is the momma.
“Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer type in the WHO European Region, with 1579 women diagnosed every day. Alcohol consumption is one of the major modifiable risk factors for the disease, causing 7 of every 100 new breast cancer cases in the Region.” source: World Health Organization
Breast Health and Booze – The Four Fiends
Ethanol
Ethanol (CH3-CH2-OH or ethOH) is the molecule that makes it all happen. Ethanol is produced in the brewing process via the controlled fermentation of grains, grapes, roots, honey, or other sugar sources.
Alcohol Metabolism
When alcohol enters the digestive system, it is absorbed in the stomach and small intestine, then sent to the liver. An enzymatic reaction in the liver breaks down ethanol, forming a molecule called “acetaldehyde” (CH3-CH=O) Notice that the last Hydrogen has been taken away by the reaction? That is what the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase does.
Acetaldehyde, the breakdown product of ethanol, is carcinogenic. Acetaldehyde must be quickly broken down to another molecule, acetate, which is not carcinogenic.
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
The liver can handle about one “UNIT” of alcohol per hour. Drink any faster than that, and you elevate your Blood Alcohol Concentration. The BAC affects the degree to which alcohol enters different cells and tissues of the body.
BAC and breast health
This 2023 study of benign breast tissues in post-menopausal women found that increased alcohol use is associated with less connective tissue and milk duct tissue, and more fatty tissue. Fatty tissue in the breast can produce oestrogen. When oestrogen levels are high, the chance of getting breast cancer is raised. This also explains moobs and Bavarian barmaids.
Conclusion
Ethanol is a Grade-1 carcinogen and I now understand more clearly how drinking more than one unit in an hour affects breast health specifically. Yikes.
There is a “general consensus” that a unit of alcohol per day is safe. I have tried to stick to a unit a day on many occasions, but I always fail myself. In my case, being abstemious for a time seems the only “sure” option. Having said that, it is nice to think I can have a drink if I am out one evening and fancy it. After all, I am not a raging alcoholic (thank goodness). I just want to upgrade my life and make sure that I don’t lose focus for my creative projects.
Phytoestrogens
Phytoestrogens are oestrogen-like molecules that come from plants. Beer and wine both contain phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are close enough in shape to our own endogenous oestrogen to mimc some of it’s biological function. they can bind to specialised cell receptors and by binding to the receptors on the cell, change the behaviour of the cell.
Breast tissue has two types of oestrogen receptors: ER⍺ and ERß. ER⍺ receptors are more associated with BC. So, if a phytoestrogen binds to either ⍺ or ß receptors, it will have a different biological effect.
Ginestein vs. 8-Prenylnaringenin
Some phytoestrogens are considered to be beneficial to women. Famously, Asian women have a lower prevalence of BC. We attribute this is to diet, signalling their traditionally high consumption of soy products.
Soy products contain a phytoestrogen called genistein. Our understanding of genistein is that is mainly binsd to the ERß receptors. It is also anti-inflammatory and being investigated as an anti-proliferative.
Hops, the flower that is used in beer brewing, contains a phytoestrogen called 8-Prenylnaringenin. It is said to be the most estrogenic phytoestrogen known, and is used in herbal medicine to help menopausal women cope with hot flashes and maintain bone density.
8-PN binds to ER⍺ receptors, which are the receptors associated with BC.
If 8-PN is good for bone density and vasomotor flushing, then a source of hops is a good thing, right? But, if it binds to the ER⍺ receptor, that could be bad. I am not totally clear on this point yet.
Non-alcoholic compounds in beer
Beer, and wine, contain a number of molecules apart from phytoestrogens that have the potential to support breast health. I knew this, but was not clear on what those molecules are. Now, I have a better idea, but will have to dig a bit deeper in coming posts.
“Clinical and pre-clinical evidence for the protective effects of moderate beer consumption against cardiovascular disease and other diseases has been accumulating since the 1990s, and the non-alcoholic compounds of beer likely exert most of the observed beneficial effects.” source: PubMed
Conclusion
I love the taste of beer! There are plenty of great non-alcoholic beers available. So, I will try to get the good stuff and avoid the bad. In an earlier period of abstinence, I discovered that NA beers in bottles or on tap taste way better than their canned brethren.
One of my favorites is the Höchster 0/0. Estrella de Galicia also make a very nice tap 0/0.
Weight Gain
Alcohol is more calorie dense than sugars, but a little less calorie dense than fat. It delivers 7 kilojoules (units of energy) per gram.
A “caña” here in Spain is about 200mL, and contains about 90 calories. If you drink two cañas, and eat some bar snacks, you can easily add a quarter of your daily caloric consumption. This can lead to weight gain.
Metabolic rate and alcohol use
Alcohol breakdown in the liver gets priority over everything else. So, when you are drinking, you are not breaking down fats or sugars. This can affect metabolism and over time contribute to the famous “beer belly” and podginess associated with heavy drinkers.
Breast health is definitely supported by maintaining ideal body weight. Non alcoholic beer still delivers a hefty caloric punch, but without the ethanol hit, it is undoubtedly easier to resist bar snacks and late-night feasting.
Conclusion
Beer or ice cream? It comes down to how strict you want to be, or you need to be. if you are active, and have a good body mass index, then a few treats are fine. If you’re overweight, or unable to move due to health or circumstance, I would probably try to avoid hyper-caloric anything and focus on foods with strong nutrient to calorie ratios.
Folate
Alcohol use leads to loss of folate, vitamin B9. BAC affects both folate absorption in the liver, and folate retention in the kidneys.
Lack of folate would contribute to breast health because it is needed to correctly replicate DNA and RNA, and also for the repair of DNA. Of course, this is not specific to breast cancer. All neoplastic diseases are related to DNA.
Folic Acid
Supplementing with folic acid is not the answer. It seems like taking supplements may actually increase the risk of cancer!
Conclusion:
In the UK, Berocca is a widely used hangover remedy. It contains quite high doses of B-vitamins. I guess that, in light of the research about folic acid supplementations and breast health, a better option is to avoid a hangover in the first place!
Summing up
Breast health is important! I worked in breast cancer rehabilitation for a number of years. Although this disease is highly prevalent in European populations, it is also highly treatable. Nowadays, over 80% of breast cancer patients survive ten years after treatment. However, I saw with my own eyes the physical and psychological effects of the treatments and I prefer to prevent rather than cure.
Nightlife, drinking, and health
In the nightlife industry, drinking is the norm. Look at poor old Avicii whose pancreas damn near exploded.
Anyone interested in the link between music, mind, and brain (neuromusic) should consider carefully the costs and benefits of imbibing.
Men and women process alcohol at different rates. Women using hormonal contraception may metabolize alcohol more slowly, leading to higher BAC and the tissue and cellular damage that potentially entails.
Women working in the nightlife industry must be especially careful of our physical and mental health. It is a very male-dominated industry. Drinking too much, too often, and trying to keep up with the boys can take its toll on a woman’s body and mind.
Apart from that, even getting safely home after a gig is a reason to not drink. Drinking and driving is pretty common around here, abut a much stricter BAC limit is coming into place this year.
If you work in nightlife, you will be on the road in the middle of the night along with every other lunatic on rum and coke. You need to keep your wits about you. Summer season is around the corner and one of my reasons to stop drinking is road safety. Hey, if I am squashed beneath a jackknifed lorry, I think my breast health might suffer. 😉
Are you are DJ and you’re wondering about sobriety? Drop me a line via my socials and let’s compare notes. 🩵💙