Proven, Simple Way to Drink Less: Link Cancer Risk and Count Every Drink

One simple, evidence-based way to reduce alcohol intake

Researchers have identified a straightforward and effective method to help people cut back on alcohol: combine clear information that alcohol increases cancer risk with a practical action — counting every drink. In a large randomized study of nearly 8,000 adults, that pairing produced the only statistically significant reduction in alcohol consumption over six weeks.

Study design and key result

The research enrolled 7,995 participants who completed an initial survey; 4,588 completed a follow-up three weeks later; and 2,687 finished the final survey three weeks after that. Participants were randomly assigned to different groups and shown a range of advertisements and messages about drinking. The combination that stood out was a television advertisement linking alcohol to cancer together with a prompt to count drinks. That pairing not only encouraged more people to try to cut down but was the only intervention in the trial that produced a statistically significant drop in reported alcohol consumption across the six-week study period.

"Telling people alcohol causes cancer is just part of the solution — we also need to give them ways to take action to reduce their risk,"

— Simone Pettigrew, economist and consumer psychologist, The George Institute for Global Health

Other findings and context

Other approaches, such as advising people to set a drink limit and stick to it, motivated some volunteers but did not match the effectiveness of the cancer-message-plus-counting strategy in this sample. The harms of excessive drinking extend beyond cancer and include premature death, heart disease, digestive problems and an increased risk of dementia.

According to the World Health Organization, alcohol consumption may account for around 7% of premature deaths globally, so simple, low-cost interventions that raise awareness and offer actionable steps could produce meaningful public-health benefits.

Limitations and implications

The study sample was selected to be broadly demographically representative of the Australian drinking public, so the authors caution that results may not generalize perfectly to other countries or subgroups. The follow-up period was relatively short (six weeks), and longer-term effectiveness remains to be determined. Still, because the intervention is inexpensive and easy to scale — a clear risk message plus the habit of counting drinks — it offers a practical option for individuals and public-health campaigns to try.

Practical tips if you want to cut down

• Keep a visible tally (on your phone or on paper) and update it with every alcoholic drink.
• Decide ahead of time how many drinks you'll have and track each one as you go.
• Use smaller glasses, alternate with nonalcoholic drinks, and avoid top-ups to make counting simpler.

The research was published in the journal Addictive Behaviors. The results were first announced in 2021. For people who want to reduce drinking, the trial suggests that combining clear information about cancer risk with the simple habit of counting drinks is a practical, evidence-based approach to try.