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There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

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Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#91

Post by lern_too_spel »

dspillett wrote: post #53
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fatuous remark by that professor. Drinking doesn't get you to work etc. Its entirely dispensable. I read (here) that 10% of liquor stores' customers are half the volume. So the lesson probably applies mostly to those 10% who think "one drink a day" is a reasonable thing. The other 90% are risking very little, especially if they do their drinking at home.

As he said "given the pleasure presumably associated with moderate drinking" he isn't talking about practical needs such as getting to work. Some people drive for pleasure rather than (or, far more commonly, as well as) to serve practical needs. The same could be said for any leisure activity: I run, study & practise medieval swordsmanship and other history martial arts (and more modern sports wrestling). Other peopl…

The argument is that people should do less of these things to preserve their health, where people used to believe that drinking some alcohol was beneficial.

Same with hand egg. People used to believe that the fitness and team-building aspects made playing the game beneficial. Now that we know about the certainty of brain injuries, the recommendation is to reduce playing time and prefer other team fitness activities.

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#92

Post by lern_too_spel »

lmm wrote: post #87
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The car remark is implying drinking is a useful productive thing like driving. Its not the same kind of thing at all.

If it brings people joy then that's the very essence of being useful and productive.

The idea is that people balance fun vs. risk. Whereas before, we used to think there was benefit in drinking in moderation, we now know that any amount of drinking is detrimental. That changes the optimal portfolio of fun activities for drinkers.

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#93

Post by freehunter »

DanBC wrote: post #80
freehunter wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a big difference between having a beer after a hard day at work and actual alcohol dependency. One is harmless (and possible harm-reducing), the other destroys lives and relationships. We need to be able to differentiate between the two without conflating them.

A beer a day is definitely not harm-reducing. One beer a day could be one 330 ml bottle of beer at 5%. That's 11 uk units a week, which is at the upper end of the maximum recommended level.

Define harm, and explain maximum recommended level for what.

(This is rhetorical)

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#94

Post by sorokod »

salawat wrote: post #72
sorokod wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isnt There is no safe level of driving one of the main motivations for self driving cars?

No. Because it doesn't change the fact you're hurtling along faster than nature could ever have prepared you for. Even worse, you're putting your faith in getting to where you want safely into some bored programmer's hands.

I wasn't taking this promise at face value :-)

Only mentioning it as it is being sold to the masses.

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#95

Post by fulafel »

nightski wrote: post #38
IshKebab wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are comparable. They're both activities that come with some risk of death, and both activities that we would like to be able to do.

Many drive because it's required to get to their job and survive economically. I'm not sure the same case could be made for alcohol.

Very few people in the west must drive to survive.

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#96

Post by fulafel »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #45
lmm wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fatuous remark by that professor. Drinking doesn't get you to work etc. Its entirely dispensable. WTF? Work exists to support a fun life, not the other way around.

The car remark is implying drinking is a useful productive thing like driving. Its not the same kind of thing at all.

Driving and most activities it supports are so environmentally unsustainable that most driving is arguably of negative value.

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#97

Post by topmonk »

kartan wrote: post #33

I would like that people saw this as a reality check to another promoted narrative. "Sometimes, beer loves us back too: Studies have suggested that, when consumed in moderation, beer has many health benefits." - http://www.foxnews.com/story/2010/01/15/healthy-beer-drinkin... "Despite the health benefits of moderate drinking, Holahan emphasizes the need for common sense. One or two drinks a day may be beneficial for s…

> So there is still people believing that alcohol may be healthy. It is good to understand that it is not. And that to decide to drink will have consequences.

From the article:

What's more, any protective health effects of alcohol were offset by the drink's risk, including strong links between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer and injuries such as those resulting from car accidents.

It depends, though. If your family has a high risk of cancer, but a low risk of diabetes or heart problems (or if you drink and drive), then alcohol will probably increase your risk.

However, if your family has a low risk of cancer, and a higher risk of heart disease, maybe you'd be better off drinking a little.

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#98

Post by [deleted] »

gnulinux wrote: post #65
mattnewport wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a vaguely amusing line but it doesn't actually make any sense in context.

It's a spiritual generalization of the statement "There is no safe level of driving, but the government does not recommend that people avoid driving." and thus it seems relevant to the context (and does make sense), not as a rational argument, but as a figure of speech to emphasize author's opinion about the subject.

[deleted]

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#99

Post by gnulinux »

sorokod wrote: post #69
gnulinux wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a spiritual generalization of the statement "There is no safe level of driving, but the government does not recommend that people avoid driving." and thus it seems relevant to the context (and does make sense), not as a rational argument, but as a figure of speech to emphasize author's opinion about the subject.

Isnt There is no safe level of driving one of the main motivations for self driving cars?

No because there is also no safe level of being driven by a self-driving car, yet.

Re: There's No 'Safe' Level of Alcohol Consumption, Global Study Finds

#100

Post by barking »

frank_s wrote: post #82
barking wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to know why you say you're an alcoholic.

Excellent question. Part of the problem with drinking alcohol is that the more you start to drink, you can start to realise you are getting into a spiral of decline. You start to wake up in the mornings needing a drink in order to not feel ghastly and actually function at all. This starts to become a regular occurrence. You feel deeply ashamed that you can no longer control your drinking: it's controlling you. Becaus…

Thank you for your reply Frank. I am lucky to never have had that degree of dependency on alcohol though there have been times in the past where I've felt myself getting a bit too fond of it. It's always been easy enough for me to cut back though. The only proper dependency I have experience of is to tobacco. It took me a lot of attempts over several years to finally kick that habit. What helped me finally was taking up running. Feeling my lungs improve and my increasing fitness (and probably self-esteem) was a huge incentive to stay off. I think alcohol is probably a far harder proposition though. Also it being put in front of your face everywhere can't help. I wish you well and I hope you find a way.
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