Bad news for vino lovers: Drinking white wine could increase your risk of skin cancer.
A recent study in the medical journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention examined the drinking habits of more than 210,000 Caucasian men and women over 18 years of age and found that those who drank one glass of white wine daily increased their risk of melanoma by 13 percent.
Researchers believe that white wine contains acetaldehyde, a carcinogenic compound. But unlike their clear-colored counterparts, red wines contain antioxidants that can mitigate these cancer-causing chemicals.
But Dr. Hooman Khorasani, of Mount Sinai Health System, told CBS that the increased risk was too small for people to give up their sauvignon blanc.
“I would not necessarily stop drinking completely,” Khorasani said. “I don’t think the data are strong enough to support that.”