Danger of alcohol is greatly underestimated: one glass a day increases the risk of cancer

That is why the campaign ‘Op je gezondheid’ (On your health) is starting today, an initiative on behalf of the Maag Lever Darm Stichting and kwf Kankerbestrijding, in the context of the Healthy Generation. The goal: to share knowledge and create awareness. Drinking alcohol increases the risk of seven types of cancer. It concerns an increased risk of mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, breast, liver and colon cancer.

A study published today shows that the Dutch often do not know how unhealthy alcohol actually is. A glass of beer or wine is especially cozy and relaxes, we think. So we celebrate the weekend, a sports victory, a birthday, an exam and love. We toasted to life and our health.

Only: drinking alcohol is incredibly unhealthy. Every year, more than 4000,27 new cancer cases caused by alcohol are added in the Netherlands. Yet only 20 percent of the Dutch associate alcohol with unhealthiness. In fact, <> percent think a glass of alcohol a day is healthy.

In the Netherlands, 1.5 million people have an alcohol problem. More than one in seven adults drink risky. They experience physical, social or mental problems due to alcohol consumption. This more often concerns men (18.7 percent), young adults (25.9 percent) and highly educated people (18.2 percent).

“If you ask someone what an alcoholic looks like, Dirk’s type from Kooten & de Bie often pops up,” says Bart Takkenberg, gastroenterologist at Amsterdam UMC. “An unkempt man who you can tell he drinks a lot. But that image is no longer correct. Because the average drinker has a job and rests in the evening with a few glasses of wine or beer. He or she functions fine during the day. Until the person suffers from fatty liver and ends up at the liver outpatient clinic.

Takkenberg knows, he sees them daily in his treatment room. “The number of new liver cancer cases has doubled in ten years from 450 to almost 1000 per year. And that number is still rising. The share of the Dutch population that drinks alcohol is among the highest in the world. On average, the Dutch all drink an average of 9 litres of pure alcohol per year per person. The man drinks 11 liters and the woman 7. That costs health care and society a lot of money.”

Because in addition to cancer, there are also many accidents due to excessive alcohol consumption: domestic violence, fights and traffic accidents. Each year, there are about 30,000 hospitalizations in which alcohol has played a role. Takkenberg: “The number of severe traumas in the emergency room has increased by 67 percent in ten years. And all because we think that a glass a day is healthy and cozy. We are fooled by commerce. If you don’t drink, you’re a pariah.”

“Actually, we could have known how bad alcohol is for you,” says Marjolein Smidt, oncological surgeon at Maastricht UMC. “Because healthy food or non-alcoholic drinks don’t give you a hangover. But yes, we take that unpleasant feeling and a high heart rate into account. ‘We’ll survive that for a day’, we think. Maybe a day, but people just don’t know that you can get sick and get cancer in the long term.

In the Netherlands, around 16,000 women currently have breast cancer, the specialization of surgeon Smidt. In 4.4 percent of cases – that’s 700 women – their illness is caused by drinking alcohol. “700 women whose lives and the lives of those around them are turned upside down. Who suffer terribly, are afraid of dying. If they had known that drinking alcohol can play a role, how many women would have made a different choice?”

Smidt never blames her patients. “Of course not. I notice that people don’t know how dangerous alcohol is. When I ask a patient: ‘how much do you drink?’, I often hear: on weekends, the two of us drink a bottle a day. When I say that alcohol can cause cancer, I see people startled and I hear: I didn’t know that. That is why I fully support this campaign. Whether you drink regularly or often: there is no healthy amount of alcohol.

Does that mean you can prevent breast, colon or throat cancer by not drinking alcohol? Smidt: ,,You can’t say that clearly. Whether you get cancer is not a matter of guilt. If you live a healthy life, you will come a long way. But it’s also a matter of luck. Whether you get cancer depends on several factors. There is little you can do about some causes. It could be your genes or the environment you live in. But it is certain that in a third of cases cancer is partly caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. And drinking alcohol is part of that.”

The campaign is a start, says Smidt. But much more needs to be done. For example, she considers Ireland, where from May 2026 it will be mandatory to place warnings on alcohol products, just like on cigarette packets, a great example. “It’s great that they have implemented that.”

She also likes the idea of State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen (Health) to introduce alcohol restriction measures in the Netherlands, such as restricting sales in sports canteens. “It’s ridiculous that beer is sold in the football canteen in the morning. What kind of example is that for our children?”

Takkenberg is also worried. “Scotch whisky is the main sponsor of a number of hockey clubs. I don’t want my daughter to have that on her hockey jersey.”

“The association between drinking and sports must be ended,” says Smidt. “But it also has to come from society itself. We shouldn’t want it ourselves anymore, drinking alcohol for fun. With 0.0 you also have a beautiful evening. That alcohol is between our ears.”

Takkenberg does not believe in banning alcohol in sports clubs. However, in encouraging to keep the alcohol supply as low as possible. “Sports canteens run on bar revenue. Subsidies can help, for example, to include an alcohol-free Saturday, when the youth play. It is time for a counter-voice. Health organizations are portrayed too much as ‘pappies’ with a pointing finger. But if we want to get rid of overburdened care, we have to work towards a Healthy Generation. He moves, doesn’t smoke and drinks little.”