New findings show when it comes to cancer, there may be no "safe" amount after all. Scientists offer new information that may make you rethink what you drink.
Many people think just a few drinks couldn't hurt.
"I'll limit my good beer consumption to Friday and Saturdays. You know the weekends," said Robert Frank of Panorama City.
Others we spoke to believe drinking occasionally, on holidays or drinking when going out to dinner was not unhealthy.
The latest American Association for Cancer research report found overall cancer deaths fell 33%. This is likely due to lower smoking rates. But, scientists found adults under 50 are developing cancer in increasing numbers and alcohol consumption may be a driving factor.
"The more you drink the higher your risk level for certain cancers," said Lara Ray, Ph.D., an alcohol and addiction researcher with UCLA Addiction Labs. She said women are drinking in higher numbers than in past years.
Earlier research links alcohol to six different types of cancer including breast, colorectal, liver, stomach, certain types of head and neck cancers and esophageal cancer.
Ray said think of alcohol the way we think about nicotine.
"If you talk to your medical doctor about smoking. They're gonna tell you that there is no safe level of smoking. And the same is true now for alcohol. We have more and more data to point towards harmful consequences," she said.
Ray believes the moderate recommendation of one drink a day for women and two for men is now outdated.
"It's probably something I should think about more often. But you know, it's just fun to have a few drinks with some friends," said Alexix Desfosses of Burbank.
"Thinking twice about certain things and I'll cause one of those things that I'm eliminating from my list in my life," said Ismael Jimenez of Modesto
Should cancer warning labels be on alcohol products? That's something many researchers support.
"I would be in favor of policies that really help protect the public. I think we have a long way to go in terms of educating the public," Ray said.
Forty percent of cancer deaths in Americans 30 and over could be linked to lifestyle behaviors that can be changed. Those include smoking, excess body weight, physical inactivity and what you eat.