Can a sister live?

It’s a fact: Everything good in this world causes cancer.

Today, my boy told me that soy milk is a carcinogen. My response: “everything is a carcinogen.” Still, it pissed me off a little because I hate real milk. Hell, I had some vanilla soy milk in my chai tea last night and it was yummsters! I have to look further into this soy milk – cancer link. For now, let me share with you two more things which will have you signing up for cancer walk-a-thons this year.

Lip Gloss.

Ay Lil’ Mama … so what if your lip gloss is poppin’, that shit apparently is gonna give you skin cancer. I thought the biggest problem with lipgloss was finding one with the right shade, right amount of shimmer and minimal stickyness. Wrong. According to an article by MSNBC’s Melissa Dahl,

Some dermatologists say that slathering on shiny lip glosses can actually increase your risk of developing skin cancer. The slick, shiny nature of the gloss could be making the sun’s UV rays hit harder, some experts say.

“These lip glosses can make more of the light rays penetrate directly through the skin instead of getting reflected off of the skin’s surface,” says Dr. Christine Brown, a dermatologist at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. (You’re covered, however, if you wear lip gloss with SPF.)

At worst, say some dermatologists, the resulting sun damage can lead to potentially fatal forms of skin cancer. An estimated 3,500 new cases of skin cancer of the lips are diagnosed each year, and 90 percent of those cancers are squamous cell carcinoma. While that form of cancer isn’t usually particularly serious, it can be more aggressive on the lips than on other parts of the skin. If left untreated, it can cause disfigurement, and in very few cases, it can spread to other organs and become deadly.

Apart from the extra hydration, the “super shine” and “ultra shine” of the glosses could be damaging as well.

“Take a magnifying glass and put it over your lips,” Robinson says. When you apply lip gloss and go out in the sun, “that’s essentially what you’re doing.”

But no studies have confirmed the lip gloss-skin cancer link, and not all dermatologists agree that it poses a risk.

WINE.

Yes, now drinking wine can lead to breast cancer, or so they say. Remember when wine was GOOD for curing and preventing all kinds of stuff? Check out these purported benefits of drinking wine in moderation:

Anti-aging (Harvard Medical School in Boston, 2004)

Improved lung function (American Thoracic Society, 2002)

Coronary heart disease reduced (University of California, Davis, 1995)

Healthier blood vessels in elderly (University of Ferrara in Italy, 2004)

Ulcer-causing bacteria reduced (American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2003)

Cancer cells killed by protein in red grape skins (University of Virginia Health System, 2004)

Arteries kept clean by polyphenols in red grape skins (William Harvey Research Institute, 2002)

Decreased ovarian cancer risk (The Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia, 2004)

Stronger bones (Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, 2004)

Lower risk of stroke (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001)

According to some doctors over in Britain, “Middle-aged women who drink one glass of wine a night increase their risk of breast cancer by 60%.” The Department of Health over there is recommending that women drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week. 14 units? Well one large glass of wine equals 3 units, so just one glass per night would add up to more than 20 units a week!

Just 4 years ago, alcohol was reported to reduce cancer risk and now in 2008, alcohol will increase it. Like I said, everything is a carcinogen now. I remember when those blue blowpops came out. Folks quit eating them because they “heard” the pops caused cancer. *rolls eyes*

I think I’ll keep on pouring my Silk soy milk onto my fruity pebbles and ordering the house chardonnay at Vintage until they sort this business out.