14 Mar 20
2 edits
There's so much conflicting evidence about the benefits of alcohol 'in moderation' (whatever that means). Some people say that moderate drinking is better than not drinking at all, while others say that it is always bad.
I don't know what to believe anymore. Some important questions I have:
1. What classifies as 'moderate drinking'?
2. Does it have any health benefits, and if so, at what level of consumption (similar to question 1).
3. Are any types of alcohol healthier than others? Can we rank them?
There's nothing I enjoy more than pouring myself a triple (90ml) of my favourite gin into a crystal tumbler to sip while reading before bed. I'd like to know how this is affecting me.
@ashiitaka saidIf it's part of your daily routine, if it's part of your life, if you'd miss it not being there... you're an alcoholic.
There's nothing I enjoy more than pouring myself a triple (90ml) of my favourite gin into a crystal tumbler to sip while reading before bed. I'd like to know how this is affecting me.
@ashiitaka saidI once years ago thoroughly studied to see if the idea that a small amount of alcohol could be actually good for you and, after much internet searches for the largest and best science studies of this, I am afraid I found the idea is just BS myth pushed by marketers and small scale flawed studies.
There's so much conflicting evidence about the benefits of alcohol 'in moderation' (whatever that means). Some people say that moderate drinking is better than not drinking at all, while others say that it is always bad.
I don't know what to believe anymore. Some important questions I have:
1. What classifies as 'moderate drinking'?
2. Does it have any health benefi ...[text shortened]... n into a crystal tumbler to sip while reading before bed. I'd like to know how this is affecting me.
There are NO health benefits and even very low amounts of alcohol are causally linked with an increase in cancer albeit only a very small increase.
You can also forget the idea that red wine is an exception; This is also myth and its also myth that antioxidants in food or drink generally give health benefits; they don't.
@handyandy saidThank you for your input, but that wasn't the question.
If it's part of your daily routine, if it's part of your life, if you'd miss it not being there... you're an alcoholic.
If someone told me I had to stop forever, I wouldn't miss it in any serious way. I don't have that kind of relationship with food or drink. I enjoy the juniper-y, botanical taste of gin and I don't drink it for the effects (if I wanted effects, I'd take other substances, but I do not).
I'd like to know if there is any truth to the statement "in moderation". It's not a burning question to be used as a justification to drink more, but rather an interest in the 'science'.
15 Mar 20
@humy saidYes, the idea that the "health benefits" are pushed by advertising is one of the reasons I am suspicious of the "in moderation" claim.
I once years ago thoroughly studied to see if the idea that a small amount of alcohol could be actually good for you and, after much internet searches for the largest and best science studies of this, I am afraid I found the idea is just BS myth pushed by marketers and small scale flawed studies.
There are NO health benefits and even very low amounts of alcohol are causally lin ...[text shortened]... yth and its also myth that antioxidants in food or drink generally give health benefits; they don't.
I think it's healthiest to see it as an unhealthy indulgence rather than any kind of elixir for long life (which is exaggerated, but you know what I mean).
15 Mar 20
1 edit
@humy saidI live in a wine-making area, so drinking it is quite customary at social events. I heard from someone that red wine doesn't have enough resveratrol to make any sort of positive difference or offset the negatives of the alcohol. Indeed, I read that you'd be better off taking metformin or starving yourself if you want to stop ageing.
I once years ago thoroughly studied to see if the idea that a small amount of alcohol could be actually good for you and, after much internet searches for the largest and best science studies of this, I am afraid I found the idea is just BS myth pushed by marketers and small scale flawed studies.
There are NO health benefits and even very low amounts of alcohol are causally lin ...[text shortened]... yth and its also myth that antioxidants in food or drink generally give health benefits; they don't.
15 Mar 20
@ashiitaka said1) Not regularly drinking more than 4-5 units per day. Where a unit is 10mL of pure alcohol.
There's so much conflicting evidence about the benefits of alcohol 'in moderation' (whatever that means). Some people say that moderate drinking is better than not drinking at all, while others say that it is always bad.
I don't know what to believe anymore. Some important questions I have:
1. What classifies as 'moderate drinking'?
2. Does it have any health benefi ...[text shortened]... n into a crystal tumbler to sip while reading before bed. I'd like to know how this is affecting me.
2) Alcohol reduces anxiety, but it also causes a host of other problems. In any given individual it depends on whether the anxiety reduction outweighs the harms.
3) Ethanol is definitely less harmful than methanol, propanol, butanol, etc..
Depending on the variety, yeast produces side alcohols in tiny amounts, some people are more sensitive to the side alcohols than others. If you find a particular brand gives you a headache after drinking moderately then avoid it. I don't know how much this affects spirits, since the distillation process is not fractional I'd guess that you'll get relatively more methanol and less of the heavier side-alcohols. There's no risk from acute side alcohol poisoning unless the producer has deliberately added it and I don't think there's any chronic problems from side alcohols.
15 Mar 20
@deepthought saidIn destillation you do what is called "cutting fractions" anyway. So everything that comes below something like 75°C is discarded, in this fraction the Methanol is concentrated.
1) Not regularly drinking more than 4-5 units per day. Where a unit is 10mL of pure alcohol.
2) Alcohol reduces anxiety, but it also causes a host of other problems. In any given individual it depends on whether the anxiety reduction outweighs the harms.
3) Ethanol is definitely less harmful than methanol, propanol, butanol, etc..
Depending on the variety, yeast pr ...[text shortened]... roducer has deliberately added it and I don't think there's any chronic problems from side alcohols.
After the temperature rose to about 80°C the next cut is done. All colected in the inbetween is your distilled product.
The problem with distillation is that it also cuts the aromes. So a lot of spirits rea aromated after distillation... but I heard there are people able to distinguish wodkas....which is more or less a binary water-ethanol mixture.
About the OP: I agree that a daily intace shouldn't be a ritaul, otherwise it is anchored too deply in teh psyche. I drinka glas or two of wine once or twise a fortnight. More seldom I drink a glas or wto of beer and much more seldom I take a schnaps
15 Mar 20
I think it largely depends on the individual as to how much alchohol is bad for your health.
We're all different and some people will be more efficient at negating the effects than others.
Look at Kieth Richards!!
I think all the talk about units a day is mostly guesswork or loosley based on an "average" person -whoever that is.
One piece of advice that I think is sound is having alchohol free periods to allow the liver to recover
15 Mar 20
🍾= 1 measure.
Don’t exceed 3 a day.
That is moderation.
How anyone can live with people (or discuss things with people on this forum) without at least alcohol blunting the brain, is beyond me.
trump supporters! Hahaha.
See, normally that would just freak me out.
———
Oh, you wish a serious answer.
Can you cope two weeks without drinking in your normal setting? You’re not alcoholic.
If you enjoy a couple of wines (say up to one bottle) on certain occasions, but can leave the booze alone on other occasions? You are drinking because you enjoy it.
If you can’t do certain activities without drinking, you have a problem.
For example, I enjoy a wine whilst I’m cooking. I cook 3 to 4 times a week. I’ll only drink wine whilst cooking when doing something special; usually on the Sunday.
15 Mar 20
@ashiitaka saidYour question was, "I'd like to know how this (pouring myself a triple, 90ml, of my favourite gin into a crystal tumbler to sip while reading before bed) is affecting me."
Thank you for your input, but that wasn't the question.
If someone told me I had to stop forever, I wouldn't miss it in any serious way. I don't have that kind of relationship with food or drink. I enjoy the juniper-y, botanical taste of gin and I don't drink it for the effects (if I wanted effects, I'd take other substances, but I do not).
I'd like to know if there ...[text shortened]... rning question to be used as a justification to drink more, but rather an interest in the 'science'.
The answer is that it probably affects you adversely if it's an essential part of your daily routine. It's difficult to think of two shots of gin every night as "moderation."
15 Mar 20
2 edits
@deepthought said1) Not regularly drinking more than 4-5 units per day. Where a unit is 10mL of pure alcohol.
1) Not regularly drinking more than 4-5 units per day. Where a unit is 10mL of pure alcohol.
2) Alcohol reduces anxiety, but it also causes a host of other problems. In any given individual it depends on whether the anxiety reduction outweighs the harms.
3) Ethanol is definitely less harmful than methanol, propanol, butanol, etc..
Depending on the variety, yeast pr ...[text shortened]... roducer has deliberately added it and I don't think there's any chronic problems from side alcohols.
90ml x 43% ABV = 38.7. So, roughly at the limit.
2) Alcohol reduces anxiety, but it also causes a host of other problems. In any given individual it depends on whether the anxiety reduction outweighs the harms.
What I'm really getting at in this discussion is trying to uncover if there is a point up until which the negative effects are negligible, even if we concede that it is has no positive benefits whatsoever. An analogy would be sugar: it is always bad for you, but it's probably hard to argue that one teaspoon in your tea is doing you any serious harm.
3) Ethanol is definitely less harmful than methanol, propanol, butanol, etc..
Would side alcohols fit in the congeners category?
Personally, I find that whether I'm hungover or not depends more on the type of alcohol consumed rather than on quantity, and it doesn't even go by strength. I feel no negative effects from a glass of gin, mild effects from whiskey and definite effects from red wine, even if it is weaker than spirits. I suspect that side-alcohols and congeners are to blame.
I prefer spirits; gin or a highland whiskey.