Drinking small amounts of alcohol daily may be a form of leisure for many people. However, a recent study published by American scientists in the British Medical Journal has put a question mark over this? The study found that small amounts of alcohol (e.g., half a tael per day for Chinese women and one tael per day for men) were associated with an increased risk of all cancers compared to those who did not drink alcohol. People with a family history of cancer, especially breast cancer, should drink less, or even quit drinking. This is because the risk of breast cancer increases by 13% for women who drink small amounts of alcohol and by 66% for those who drink more than 2 taels of alcohol/day. If the incidence of breast cancer in women who do not drink alcohol is set at 8 per 1,000, then half a tael of alcohol per day increases the risk of breast cancer by 1 in 1,000 people (9 per 1,000); the risk of cancer increases linearly with more than 1 tael of alcohol per day, and the risk increases further for male smokers. However, one-time heavy alcohol consumption does not increase the risk of cancer, because the development of cancer is a chronic process. In addition to cancer risk, it is also involved in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and all-cause mortality. In recent years, some studies have also questioned the safety or health-protective effects of moderate drinking, and if the harms of small amounts of alcohol are supported by more evidence, public guidelines regarding current moderate drinking will need to be considered for revision, and the traditional Chinese concept of drinking for health will be more challenged.