Alcohol limits apply to red wine

Q. Is red wine exempt from the recommended limits on alcohol consumption?A. No. Although red wine contains antioxidant compounds such as resveratrol and flavonoids that demonstrate anti-cancer effects in laboratory studies, wine's alcohol content remains a risk for breast, colorectal and several other cancers.Alcohol increases breast cancer risk by raising estrogen levels, as well as producing alcohol-induced oxidation damage to cells and disrupting the body's ability to handle folic acid (a B vitamin necessary for maintaining healthy DNA).Furthermore, alcohol is broken down to acetaldehyde, a compound that is carcinogenic in animals. Research suggests there may be genetic differences in formation of this compound from alcohol, but for now we don't know how to identify who may be at greater and lesser cancer risk from alcohol.Red wine's link to lower risk of heart disease is reached within recommended limits; going beyond is not suggested. And it's safer to focus on strategies that lower risk of both heart disease and cancer, such as weight control, regular physical activity and a mainly plant-based diet.If you choose to drink red wine, fit it within the recommended limit of no more than one standard drink (5 ounces of wine) per day for women and no more than two drinks for men. Population studies vary, but several show that even a few drinks a week pose some breast cancer risk.Red wine may be a good choice if you're going to drink alcohol, but the recommended limits seem especially important to control risk of colorectal and breast cancers. More is clearly not better in this case.Q. How accurate are the listings of calories burned when using exercise equipment like treadmills and elliptical trainers?A. Accuracy probably varies among different brands, but calorie listings will always be a rough approximation based on whatever formula is programmed into the equipment.Equipment that allows you to enter in your weight improves accuracy since even a 50-pound difference can make a substantial difference in calories burned.But other factors, such as overall fitness level, amount of experience with the particular piece of equipment, and an individual's metabolic rate also mean people burn different amounts of calories during the same amount of time on a given piece of equipment.Instead of assuming that the number you see during a workout is completely accurate, use it as a tool to target gradual increases in what you can do during workouts by increasing speed, intensity or incline. If you want to check another source with an estimate of calories burned in this and other activities, you can check the Shape Up America Web site's Physical Activity Selector at shapeup.org.bull; Provided by the American Institute for Cancer Research. Learn more about the group and its New American Plate program at aicr.org.