Columnist weighs alcohol risks in cancer month

Giselle M. Massi, author of the newspaper advice column Tell Giselle, addressed a reader's query regarding alcohol consumption and cancer risk during October breast cancer awareness month. The reader asked Massi whether she recommends cutting back or becoming a teetotaler given current health attention on the topic.

Massi responded that the decision involves weighing risk against benefit and remains open to change as new information emerges. She noted that personal history often influences these choices. She grew up in a home with minimal alcohol use. Her father drank a small pour of red wine at Sunday dinners, while her mother rarely consumed any. This habit stemmed from family stories about relatives with drinking problems.

Massi recalled her mother telling her father on their wedding day that she would leave him if he took to drinking. She believes he heeded the warning after observing the effects of excess alcohol on close relatives. During her teens and twenties, she dated partners who used alcohol, pot, and cocaine. She described watching them spiral into behaviors she could not rescue in the moment.

Her own dry phase lasted until her thirties. A close friend invited her home to share expensive Russian vodka and caviar returned from a government trip. Massi described the experience as difficult. She found the warm, clear spirit undrinkable and nearly gagged on the plain caviar. Her friend, however, enjoyed the moment, partly to escape a difficult personal life.

Massi said life often drives people to drink, whether to escape hard times or celebrate good ones. She eventually developed an appreciation for alcohol when her aunt brought homemade limoncello to Washington, D.C. Massi modified the recipe to taste more like a lemon drop. The family now calls the drink the not so teeny weeny lemontini, enjoyed primarily in summer.

After a recent trip to Paris where wine and champagne were available, Massi counted the few glasses she consumed. She concluded that there is a time and place for alcohol. She and her girlfriend now share an appreciation for vodka, artisan chocolates, and champagne. A former partner of her friend once said they should have drunk more champagne after they broke up. Massi thinks of them whenever she pours a glass.

Massi advised that all drinks, including vodka, champagne, wine, and chocolates, should be consumed in moderation or not at all. She attributed this wisdom to her father. She ended her column by urging readers to get their breast exams.