Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you? • Hacker News Board

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#81

Post by mcculley » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 6:55 PM UTC

akvadrako wrote: post #64

another-cuppa wrote: post #47

Obviously I can't say anything about my own longevity, but over the past few years my alcohol consumption has decreased to virtually zero and I've never felt better. I was never a big drinker, but I would semi-regularly go out and drink a few pints of beer or have wine with dinner. I never intended to cut down on alcohol, but my lifestyle changed, I stopped going out so much, and the drinking went with it. I would st…

Unless you were getting wasted it's quite unusual for a few drinks to make you feel bad. Also, there is more and more a decent selection of But then again, maybe the point of drinking together is it provides some kind of bonding effect, being a shared vice. It makes it harder to lie and shows you value others more than your own health (relatively).

When I was twenty pounds heavier, a few drinks had no effect on me. Now that I am healthy and running every day, I notice every drink has an effect on my performance. I think the extra fat just helped distribute the effects of alcohol.

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#82

Post by copperx » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:02 PM UTC

justtopost wrote: post #79

lloydde wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you define quite unusual? I’m not East Asian, but I most often get symptoms similar to Alcohol Flush Reaction with even only a single drink. I often find a single beer strong. I’ve never been able to figure out why sometimes I’ll get a headache after a single beer. “Approximately 36% of East Asians (Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans) show characteristic physiological responses to drinking alcohol that includes fa…

Diabetes, poor liver and/or kidney function, similar genetic mutation, etc. There are a host of reasons, I would bring it up with your physician, as they may have more insight than a psudoanonymous commenter.

It could be some other cause too. A couple of years ago I started noticing that one or two beers would make me almost drunk and to feel terrible the next morning. I attributed it to aging (36) but I also noticed none of my friends had the same problem.

Later, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and after daily treatment now drinking a few beers is completely ok.

I don't understand what the relationship between those two things are. I would have never imagined.

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#83

Post by marchenko » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:06 PM UTC

antpls wrote: post #62

another-cuppa wrote: post #47

Obviously I can't say anything about my own longevity, but over the past few years my alcohol consumption has decreased to virtually zero and I've never felt better. I was never a big drinker, but I would semi-regularly go out and drink a few pints of beer or have wine with dinner. I never intended to cut down on alcohol, but my lifestyle changed, I stopped going out so much, and the drinking went with it. I would st…

> Obviously I can't say anything about my own longevity, but over the past few years my alcohol consumption has decreased to virtually zero and I've never felt better. I was never a big drinker, but I would semi-regularly go out and drink a few pints of beer or have wine with dinner. I never intended to cut down on alcohol, but my lifestyle changed, I stopped going out so much, and the drinking went with it. I would…

I maintain that alcohol-free beer is one of the best post-workout drinks available. As I see it, the proper place of alcohol-free beer is not as a replacement for regular beer, but as a replacement for energy drinks and sodas.

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#84

Post by negamax » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:20 PM UTC

Alcohol consumption and our attitudes towards it, is pretty much the result of marketing, movies and shows. We are literally made consumers of literal poison. Has anyone paid attention to recent WHO report that 5% of all deaths are due to alcohol, number has high as 23% in 20 somethings.

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#85

Post by airstrike » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:24 PM UTC

another-cuppa wrote: post #47

Obviously I can't say anything about my own longevity, but over the past few years my alcohol consumption has decreased to virtually zero and I've never felt better. I was never a big drinker, but I would semi-regularly go out and drink a few pints of beer or have wine with dinner. I never intended to cut down on alcohol, but my lifestyle changed, I stopped going out so much, and the drinking went with it. I would st…

> I've noticed also that it makes people uncomfortable if you're not drinking.

Last night I watched a video by Mel Robbins on friendship¹ in which she made the very cogent argument that when you mention you don't want to drink you remind others in your social circles of their own struggle to quit drinking, hence the negative feedback. Her solution is to accept that those people are part of an old chapter of your life, and although you don't dislike them in anyway, it's important to recognize that you will slowly develop new friendships with those that match the lifestyle you now choose to live.

__________

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXAc6ln6xBs

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#86

Post by quotemstr » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:25 PM UTC

carbocation wrote: post #7

1. The best evidence that there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption is the Mendelian randomization (MR) by Holmes et al from 2014 [1]. I believe that the more recent paper making such claims is no better than the usual observational studies. But the MR paper is convincing to me. The risks for mild drinking appear to be low enough that I don't abstain, and I am happy to tell my patients about my thought process.…

> 2. While we like to claim that a study randomizing people to alcohol wouldn't be ethical, pre-2014 I don't think that would have been true. I think there was enough equipoise. Post-2014, I would need to see some strong counter-evidence to make me think there is equipoise once again.

That's a very convenient way to socially forbid replication attempts. I don't buy it. The argument basically amounts to a claim that we answered the question definitively in 2014 and anyone questioning that result now is unethical. Today's scientific research, especially in any area pertaining to people, is too unreliable to blindly trust this way.

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#87

Post by airstrike » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:27 PM UTC

another-cuppa wrote: post #63

KozmoNau7 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that was the extent of your drinking, I doubt that was the major factor in your improved health. I would look to the things you consumed while drinking, such as rich full-fat restaurant food in big portions, salty carb-heavy fatty snacks and second-hand smoke. Cutting out alcohol completely is certainly not a bad thing health-wise, but I think it was much more significant that you stopped going out so much.

Nah, I still do eat rich full-fat, salty, and carb-heavy food. Trust me, it's the alcohol. The day after drinking used be completely wasted for me. Now every day can be very productive.

You didn't ask for this suggestion, but I'll say it anyway: evidence suggests that making a similar switch in your regular diet would have a material impact on your well-being beyond what you've experienced with alcohol. If you think back to your drinking days and think you would have gained more from quitting alcohol much earlier, just imagine how you would feel by improving your diet.

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#88

Post by ardfie » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:32 PM UTC

negamax wrote: post #84

Alcohol consumption and our attitudes towards it, is pretty much the result of marketing, movies and shows. We are literally made consumers of literal poison. Has anyone paid attention to recent WHO report that 5% of all deaths are due to alcohol, number has high as 23% in 20 somethings.

Humans have been making alcohol since prehistory. There are plenty of breweries, distilleries, and vineyards in Europe and Asia that have been continuously active for centuries.

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#89

Post by negamax » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:35 PM UTC

ardfie wrote: post #88

negamax wrote: post #84

Alcohol consumption and our attitudes towards it, is pretty much the result of marketing, movies and shows. We are literally made consumers of literal poison. Has anyone paid attention to recent WHO report that 5% of all deaths are due to alcohol, number has high as 23% in 20 somethings.

Humans have been making alcohol since prehistory. There are plenty of breweries, distilleries, and vineyards in Europe and Asia that have been continuously active for centuries.

True and it was never mass consumed and celebrated to this extent. Current situation is that despite the facts and knowledge, social pressure makes people drink. Despite the facts.

The facts are overwhelming and we shouldn't just keep consuming alcohol because muah cultur. Many alcoholics end up causing traffic accidents and require lots of state support in other ways. Just walk into ED on any Saturday/Friday night. I have done that

Re: Remember when a glass of wine a day was good for you?

#90

Post by mrighele » Sun, Sep 23, 2018, 7:35 PM UTC

another-cuppa wrote: post #47

Obviously I can't say anything about my own longevity, but over the past few years my alcohol consumption has decreased to virtually zero and I've never felt better. I was never a big drinker, but I would semi-regularly go out and drink a few pints of beer or have wine with dinner. I never intended to cut down on alcohol, but my lifestyle changed, I stopped going out so much, and the drinking went with it. I would st…

> but I've realised that it makes me feel bad every time.

Between not drinking alcohol at all and drinking so much that you feel bad the following day there is a middle ground of drinking moderately. If a low amount still makes you feel bad, drinking alcohol of a better quality can help (there is a huge difference in this regard between really cheap wines and more expensive ones).