While some people try to reduce their alcohol consumption and accept Dry Januarythey can turn to Canada’s health agencies for advice – and find conflicting advice.
This week, the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research launched a website where users can calculate their health risks, including cancer, heart disease and stroke, based on the amount of substances consumed. alcohol they consume.
The website draws on guidelines released two years ago by the government-backed Canadian Center on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), which stated that cancer risk increases at higher levels of use. much lower than previously thought. More than two standard drinks per week puts people at higher risk, the report said.
However, Health Canada has not adopted the changes published by the CCSA in January 2023. It still advises Canadians to limit their alcohol consumption to 10 per week for women and 15 per week for men – an amount that , according to the CCSA, exposes a person to “an increasingly high risk”. » of developing a serious illness, particularly breast and colon cancer.
Health Canada’s guide has been in effect since 2011 and the government is sticking to it, the office of the federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions told the Canadian Press on Thursday.
Dr. Timothy Naimi, director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria, said these conflicting guidelines “have been an ongoing problem for the public health community and scientists” over the past few years. of the last two years.
Naimi was one of the researchers involved in developing the updated CCSA guidelines and led the creation of the new website, Knowalcohol.ca, which allows people to calculate their risk and the positive impact of a reduction in their alcohol consumption.
Health Canada and CCSA guidelines state that the only safe approach to alcohol is not to drink it at all.
“Alcohol remains the leading preventable cause of health and social problems in Canada,” said Naimi.
“I think a lot of Canadians want to drink less. But if you look at it, governments haven’t really followed suit with the kind of policies that would help people drink less, you know, kind of guide them in that direction.
Alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, placing it in the same category as tobacco smoke and asbestos, along with more than 100 other substances.
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The U.S. Surgeon General on Friday called for greater public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer, including putting warning labels on alcohol bottles and containers.
The surgeon general’s opinion states that fewer than half of American adults know there is a link between alcohol and seven types of cancer, including breast, liver, colorectal, esophageal, mouth, throat and larynx.
Naimi said a similar number of Canadians are unaware of the link between alcohol and these types of cancer.
“Most people get their information about alcohol from the (alcohol) industry, which means they don’t get information about whether alcohol causes cancer.” he declared.
“Currently, the government does not require any type of warning or health information on alcohol labels, unlike what is required for cigarettes or cannabis products, or frankly, any other packaged food and beverage product sold in Canada. »
In an emailed statement Thursday evening, the office of federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya’ara Saks said officially updating the alcohol guidelines is a work in progress.
“The 2011 Canadian Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines remain the official guidelines for Canadians and Health Canada’s website continues to reflect this,” the statement said.
“The CCSA’s proposed guidelines are part of discussions with a wide range of stakeholders to determine the best approaches to communicating to the public about the risks of alcohol consumption.
Naimi said he believed the federal government’s hesitance to adopt the revised guidelines was due to “industry pressure,” noting that Health Canada was “very pleased with the scientific process” behind them.
The Canadian Press asked Saks’ office if there was pressure from the alcohol industry to change the recommended daily limits, if they were concerned about the evidence cited by the CCSA and if they thought the conflicting advice was confusing for Canadians looking to change their habits. .
As of Friday afternoon, responses to these questions had not been received.
Knowalcohol.ca was officially launched on Thursday and a social media promotion campaign will begin on Monday.
Naimi said the website’s goal is not necessarily to convince people to stop drinking altogether, but to “inform people in a hopefully non-threatening but informative way” about the impacts of alcohol.
Users enter their age, gender and the number of standard drinks they drink per week and have the option to calculate their health risks, how much drinking costs them or how many calories they consume.
The knowalcohol.ca calculator also offers the ability to enter the number of drinks the user might consider cutting back and see what difference that might make.
“If you’re drinking, you know five or six drinks a day and you can cut that down to two or three drinks a day, you’re going to be much better off, even though you’re still…at higher risk.” area,” Naimi said.
The harmful health effects for a given quantity are displayed as percentages of risk of developing cancer, the number of cigarettes corresponding to the number of drinks and the number of minutes of life lost per drink.
“At the end of the day… what we’re really looking for is just to have credible, actionable information for consumers so they can be empowered to make their own choices,” Naimi said.