Booze

[ripper1]

“I feel sorry for people that don't drink because when they wake up in the morning, that is the best they are going to feel all day-” Frank Sinatra

Damn, stole my thunder davis. Hmm, it's 5 oclock here in Indiana....where is my martini shaker.

 

[ripper1]

George Burns seemed to do all right with several martinis and cigars everyday.

 

[Teacher Terry]

You, 2/night but after losing 40lbs my weight is stuck and would like to lose more.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

They say that drinking puts you are major risk for
Tuberculosis?

I thought Tuberculosis was an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

It is NOT caused by alcohol.

 

[BigNick]

This study is important; I do not agree with the OP's characterisation of it as "ego driven", "self aggrandizing" and "desperate" (the press coverage is another matter; the media loves to write about stuff like this, as it makes science seem relevant to people).

The study directly contradicts a lot of smaller and often biased studies that suggested that there were some protective effects of alcohol, which have been used by an assortment of lobby groups to promote alcohol consumption as being actively good for your health (when it almost certainly isn't).

However, as others have pointed out, what the study also shows is that the negative effects of moderate alcohol consumption are very small in absolute risk terms. My favourite analysis was one showing that if you take 25,000 people who currently never drink, issue them with 50 bottles of wine, and tell them to drink those bottles at the rate of one small glass per day, every day for a year (i.e., a bottle of wine per week), you will get one (1) adverse health event in that year across all 25,000 people.

Of course, whether the people who make policy will grasp any of the subtleties of this is a very different question. We don't have a great track record of converting epidemiological information into credible public health policies in almost any major Western country.

 

[38Chevy454]

I think it was Abe Lincoln that said: It's not the years in a life, but the life in the years"


Couple pics for the just one beer limit:

 

[Elbata]

I think it was Abe Lincoln that said: It's not the years in a life, but the life in the years"


Couple pics for the just one beer limit:

Understand the frivolity and I guess that's why the teetotalers are being quiet.

My brother developed arrhythmia due to drinking alcohol. Had ablation surgery to stop his arrhythmia. According to my brother, the doctor wanted him to quit drinking, but he said: "No way, ain't gonna happen". The doctor said, "Ok, no more than two drinks per day". Like the picture, he said the doctor never said how large his drink could be.

He died two weeks ago. Sixty two.

 

[Oz investor]

i have a lot more problems than arrhythmia ( but i have some of that as well )

sadly even tea is frowned on ( and coffee is absolutely NOT cool , alcohol is verboten , etc , etc etc )

i have made it past 62 , but not by a big enough margin to brag about ( yet )

now that i am 'on the wagon ' the meds i am on are very dangerous to both liver and kidneys ( which seemed to be immune from alcohol and caffeine abuse ).

.... i almost wonder if i am much better off health-wise ( finance-wise the budget is a wreck in a good way ... i have slaughtered hidden taxes just on 'luxury goods ' )

 

[HadEnuff]

Not too long ago I read a book about Prohibition in the USA. One thing I learned, that almost nobody I've talked to fully realized, was that ethyl alcohol (the alcohol in booze that gives it its effect) is useful in industry as a solvent.
In order to continue to provide that useful benefit, yet try to make sure people wouldn't imbibe it, ethyl alcohol was intentionally made poisonous, a process somewhat euphemistically referred to as "denaturing".

Inevitably, folks drank it, and were poisoned. Some made blind, some made dead. This didn't seem to bother policy makers too much, as long as it seemed to be a phenomenon contained to the poor folks. However, eventually, some wealthy, prominent people succumbed to the temptation, with equally unhappy results, and this seemed to bother policy makers more.

In effect, it was our government intentionally poisoning its citizens, in order to enforce Prohibition, a policy successfully forced upon an unwilling population, in the name of piety, and public morality.

Now, in an ostensibly more enlightened age, our government does the same thing, in order to protect tax revenue. Nice.

 

[flintnational]

I have been a regular drinker for as long as can remember. At least a few beers/drinks every night (with a nightly Maker’s nightcap) and even more on the weekends (at least when weekends were important in my working years). But, starting about ten weeks ago, I cut back on drinking to one or two nights a week, mainly in an attempt to to lose some of the extra weight I’d accumulated over the past few years. Along with some major changes in diet, I’ve dropped about 25 lbs. I’m targeting about 15 more. Once I get down to my target weight, I’ll add back some more regular alcohol use, but I doubt that I’ll go back to nightly drinking. I was kinda amazed at how easily the pounds came off with the changes in diet and drinking.

Congrats on the weight loss. Great job.

 

[BigNick]

I haven't had a beer in years. But wine....that's another matter.

Someone from the Temperance Society calls at the home of a retired military officer and asks if he will sign the pledge.

The officer says, "Let me tell you, I haven't had a drink since nineteen-fifty-five."

He then looks at his watch.

"But I see that it's almost twenty-oh-five now, so I'm going to have another one!"

 

[Chuckanut]

The study directly contradicts a lot of smaller and often biased studies that suggested that there were some protective effects of alcohol, which have been used by an assortment of lobby groups to promote alcohol consumption as being actively good for your health (when it almost certainly isn't).

My understanding is the opposite. The study focused on about two dozen specific adverse effects caused by drinking alcohol and did NOT focus on all-cause mortality. Because of that, the benefits of consumption did not show up.

That said, it's a persona choice. There are lots of good reasons to avoid alcohol. OTOH, there are a lot worse things we can do to our health than have a glass or two of wine/beer everyday - smoking, eating junky food, taking questionable supplements, not wearing eye and ear protection when using tools, etc. etc. etc.

 

[kcowan]

Not wearing seat belts, texting while driving, driving on roads surrounded by those texting while driving.

 

[timo2]

It is a tragedy when people become addicted to anything. Booze is no different. But I believe that there is such a thing as an 'addictive personality' or 'addictive genes' or whatever. I've known quite a few people that would kick the 'habit' in one thing and move on to something else. Sometimes it was other drugs, sometimes a hobby style passion, sometime it was religion they became 'addicted' to. The solution comes when a person knows themselves. [just my interpretation based upon real life observations.]

 

[athena53]

I have a glass of scotch every night- 4 oz., which I measure, and then diluted with water.

I have a healthy respect for alcohol; abusing it killed my first husband. That was 13 years after we divorced; he'd lost everything he loved and everything that was a source of pride to him. When I announced that I'd retired, my Dad cautioned me against going overboard with drinking. I think he went through a stage when he was opening the wine earlier and earlier and then scaled back.


I know I'm drinking more than a female should drink (limit is 1 2-oz, drink for women per day, 2 for men) but my lifestyle is otherwise extremely healthy. I don't overdo it because if I do, I get sullen and feel numb, I end up with a migraine and it disturbs my sleep. Moderation in all things.

 

[Walt34]

Couple pics for the just one beer limit:

One of my sisters gave me a beer mug something like that decades ago. I've never measured but it probably holds about a gallon. On one side it has writing that says "I bet you can't".

I have to admit that I've never tried, I was pretty sure that would not have ended well.

 

[redduck]

I have a glass of scotch every night- 4 oz., which I measure, and then diluted with water.

Does diluting scotch with water just lessen the taste of the scotch and/or does it lessen the impact it has on you?

<snip>
I know I'm drinking more than a female should drink (limit is 1 2-oz, drink for women per day, 2 for men) but my lifestyle is otherwise extremely healthy. I don't overdo it because if I do, I get sullen and feel numb, I end up with a migraine and it disturbs my sleep. Moderation in all things.

Why would you drink twice the amount a woman should drink per day, especially since you do take very good care of yourself in many other ways?

 

[Aerides]

Why would you drink twice the amount a woman should drink per day, especially since you do take very good care of yourself in many other ways?

because she likes it and has a balance in the rest of her lifestyle and appears to compensate in other ways?

 

[timo2]

Why would you drink twice the amount a woman should drink per day, especially since you do take very good care of yourself in many other ways?

An example from the days I was in cardio rehab diet class after my heart attack: The instructor was talking about salt and the need to limit it. This instructor talked about all the healthy low salt food she prepared for her family, and ate, etc. (her poor kids got zero junk food). But the instructor ate salted peanuts for snacks. She said that she did enough other good eating and lower salt food to make a space for something she liked, which was salted peanuts.

That is no different than someone (includes me and DW) who keep active and eat in ways that keep our blood-work in line with the medical guidelines. But we do drink more than the guidelines recommend. But we have made room for that with the other beneficial activities in our life.

Living healthy is not a rote following of EVERY directive from the medical-industrial complex. One has to know themselves and how they are affected by different life activities. One size does not fit all.

 

[athena53]

because she likes it and has a balance in the rest of her lifestyle and appears to compensate in other ways?

Yeah, pretty much that.

 

[redduck]

because she likes it and has a balance in the rest of her lifestyle and appears to compensate in other ways?

Yeah, pretty much that.

OK, simple enough. Thanks.

 

[imoldernu]

Finally.... The admission...The NYT

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/...4661265emc=edit_up_20180829&ref=headline&te=1

I feel a little bit better about my nasty assessment in the opening post.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I lost 2 lbs by not drinking. My son is coming for a visit today for 3 weeks. He replaced alcohol with sparkling water with lemon so I stocked up on his favorite brand. He enjoys that in the evening and I intend to try it.

 

[Winemaker]

I have a glass of scotch every night- 4 oz., which I measure, and then diluted with water.

I have a healthy respect for alcohol; abusing it killed my first husband. That was 13 years after we divorced; he'd lost everything he loved and everything that was a source of pride to him. When I announced that I'd retired, my Dad cautioned me against going overboard with drinking. I think he went through a stage when he was opening the wine earlier and earlier and then scaled back.


I know I'm drinking more than a female should drink (limit is 1 2-oz, drink for women per day, 2 for men) but my lifestyle is otherwise extremely healthy. I don't overdo it because if I do, I get sullen and feel numb, I end up with a migraine and it disturbs my sleep. Moderation in all things.

Actually, adding a small amount of water is suggested for drinking scotch, bourbon, whiskey or other whiskies to bring out the flavors.

After a suggestion years ago in the WSJ's Food and Drink section, I have found that adding a small amount of unsweetened tea, enhances them more.

 

[latexman]

I don't know why, but this reminds me of an ancient Norfolk, VA High School cheerleader cheer:

We don't drink!
We don't smoke!
Norfolk! Norfolk! Norfolk!