New UK research on over 400K people over 12 years says that being overweight, and in particular having a high body fat percentage, increases the risk of developing alcohol-related cancer. This means overweight people do not have to drink as much alcohol as others to experience elevated health risks. See here for the full article.

It’s only an observational study, but as a result of it, there have already been calls to adjust healthy drinking limits lower based on body weight (see one such call here in the UK’s Telegraph).

(As background, many countries in the world have recommended drinking limits to minimize the health risks of drinking. We share these limits in our app, Drinker’s Helper, so our users around the world can get their government’s guidance to lower health risks.).

We’re sharing this so that anyone who’s trying to drink at a safe level knows that level might be a bit lower if they’re working on their weight. It’s also important to remind all of us that drinking alcohol is a risk factor for developing some cancers (an estimated 4% of cancers in 2020 were alcohol-related).

If you’re looking to cut back or quit drinking, we’d love to help. Drinker’s Helper is an app that provides motivational exercises, drink tracking and insights into why you drink, and a personalized support group of your peers to help you make needed changes. You can try it out for free for a week before joining.

Best of luck with your goals,
The Drinker’s Helper Team