Live data from Hacker News

No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

who.int

11–20 of 385 posts

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#11
I despise the WHO generally but this article is solid. There is too much confusion about alcohol in the medical industry. If you ask European doctors having a glass or two of wine "extends health". If you research typical government guidelines, they say a drink or two a day isn't bad or may even say it's "healthy" [1]

The facts are facts. Alcohol is a poison that wrecks havoc on your mind and body. If having one drink can decompress you after a hard days work, fine, you're not gonna get cancer. Let's just stop pretending alcohol is a solid healthy choice.

1 - https://www.boston.com/news/health/2020/07/15/men-should-lim...

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#13
post #3

There's also a limit between a healthy lifestyle and enjoyment of life, beyond which towards "maximum health" you'll either go to an early grave because of how bland your life is, or live a joyless life avoiding things you'd enjoy. In any case, those kind of "research" is for modern americans (and people taking their cues from anglosaxon culture) , who are already conditioned in such hysteria - which is funny in the…

[flagged]

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#14
post #6

This is not news, it has been known for some time. For anyone wanting to get an in-depth, balanced, and rigorous take on alcohol I can heartily recommend Drink? by David Nutt. Reading it has made me more mindful of when and why I choose to drink, and increasingly I find myself drinking less and less.

But that book does not suggest alcohol at any level is bad either. So if they are saying is news. And stupid ill-informed news.

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#15
The thinking is backwards on this. They state there is no scientific safe drinking level. They even compare it to radiation. The goal is to establish an unsafe level. it's like saying there is no safe speed to drive a car - sure that's technically true, but worthless to say.

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#16
post #13
post #3

There's also a limit between a healthy lifestyle and enjoyment of life, beyond which towards "maximum health" you'll either go to an early grave because of how bland your life is, or live a joyless life avoiding things you'd enjoy. In any case, those kind of "research" is for modern americans (and people taking their cues from anglosaxon culture) , who are already conditioned in such hysteria - which is funny in the…

[flagged]

If you need to have a strict health-based regiment for eating and drinking to have a joyful life, I'm even sorrier for you.

In the end, it's less about health and living life to the fullest, and more about a modern hysteria based on fear of living (or fear of the thought of our eventual demise, which is the same).

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#17
> The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is – or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is.

I wish the article would tell us more about this curve. How much does my risk increase for each drink I have?

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#18
There's a huge industry and lobby at odds. I drink less and less but I can't ignore its always in my face.

YouTubers big and small with a massive child demographic were promoting alcohol or their own brands not long ago.

[1] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pN6ksB3-QJ8

[2] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gfjgISRI5E4

[3] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qF0zM5MlmCw

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#19
And that doesn't include the externalized costs, such as increased domestic violence: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50887893, impacts on children: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/18/even-moderat..., etc. Now that Americans are more docile it might be a good time to take another shot at alcohol prohibition: https://time.com/5501680/prohibition-history-feminism-suffra....

Re: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

#20

I despise the WHO generally but this article is solid. There is too much confusion about alcohol in the medical industry. If you ask European doctors having a glass or two of wine "extends health". If you research typical government guidelines, they say a drink or two a day isn't bad or may even say it's "healthy" [1] The facts are facts. Alcohol is a poison that wrecks havoc on your mind and body. If having one drin…

Anecdotally I know a lot of really old people who still drink. Maybe I'd know more if they didn't drink.

I know one guy who is ~90, survived cancer 3 times and attributes his survival to daily doses of Japanese Shochu.

You might be able to argue that alcohol was the cause of the cancer but I guess we'll never know.

Disclaimer: Currently not drinking even a drop.

Edit: Maybe I'd know more if they didn't drink....is a reference to the fact I read the article and I understand that statistically, there might be more old people alive because it seems like it's "statistically safer" not to drink so please, try to stay calm and stop telling me I can't understand anything about statistics...I know it's exciting to do this lately though.

Post reply on HN