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The facts about alcohol

This factsheet explains how limiting how much alcohol you drink can help reduce your risk of cancer

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The facts about alcohol

Publication review date: July 2026

Alcohol factsheet

One of World Cancer Research Fund’s Cancer Prevention Recommendations is to limit how much alcohol you drink, as there is strong scientific evidence that drinking alcohol increases the risk of 7 cancers.

This factsheet explains:

  • What alcohol is
  • Why you should be drinking less alcohol to support your health
  • Tips on how to cut down on how much alcohol you drink
Find out more about the link between alcohol and cancer

Try one of our non-alcoholic drinks

Affogato
A glass cup filled with dark coffee, topped with a dollop of cream, sits on a table surrounded by coffee beans, cinnamon sticks, and a blurred background with another cup and a plant.

Affogato

Our affogato recipe is dessert and coffee rolled into one

3 ratings
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Alcohol-free G&T
Alcohol-free G&T

Alcohol-free G&T

Enjoy the crisp tones in our no-alcohol G&T, with a grapefruit twist. All our recipes are alcohol-free, as alcohol is a cause of 7 cancers

3 ratings
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Apple and carrot smoothie
Two glasses of thick orange smoothie with striped straws, surrounded by slices of toasted bread and a peeled banana on a table.

Apple and carrot smoothie

Have smoothies as a snack or with toast and cereal at breakfast

6 ratings
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New ways to have fun – without going to the pub

Like so many people, drinking alcohol used to be the main way I socialised. I’d meet up with friends in the pub during the week over a glass of wine or two and went out drinking most weekend nights. In 2016, I decided to make a change.

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9 in 10 Brits are not aware that red wine increases cancer risk

Nearly nine in ten Brits (87%) are not aware that drinking red wine increases the risk of cancer, a poll for World Cancer Research Fund has found.

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We delivered our petition to 10 Downing Street

As part of Cancer Prevention Action Week 2025, we handed in a letter and petition signed by more than 2,500 people to the Prime Minister

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