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America has a drinking problem

theatlantic.com

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Re: America has a drinking problem

#141

Post by robocat »

finiteseries wrote: post #90
coherentpony wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> our Puritan values run deep. Not at all. It's expensive and very harmful. Why would I drink alcohol when I can enjoy a meal out with friends without drinking at all?

One could easily see this as deeply Puritan reasoning in comparison to e.g. a stereotypical Southern European culture where the question is rather something like “It’s cheap, and we all live to be 80 anyways. Why wouldn’t I casually drink alcohol while I enjoy a meal out with friends?”

My experience of Spain was that people didn’t drink to excess. I specifically recall Feria de Abril where alcohol was abundantly available. It turns out being social is the focus, and the only inebriated people I saw were foreigners and a few teenagers.

New Zealand was culturally very different, where excessive drinking was strongly encouraged in the social groups I saw in my early 20s, and across a variety of social groups as I got older.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#142

Post by willis936 »

ska wrote: post #122
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #3

The statistics about alcohol consumption are so stunning that I often wonder how accurate they are. If these numbers are correct, the top 10% of alcohol drinkers consume the equivalent of 10 drinks per day : https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/25/think... The unit for a single drink is a fixed measurement, so someone pouring a tall glass of wine or a very stiff drink could be consuming 2-5 “drinks” in…

> but regardless the consumption is extremely high. It's high, but not even close to some of the historic records. In early 1800s the per capita consumption was roughly equivalent 90 bottles of whisky per year. And that counts a lot of non drinkers in the denominator.

For those curious:

1.5 ounces per drink

1.75 L per bottle (assuming a handle)

33.814 ounces per liter

59.175 ounces per bottle

39.450 drinks per bottle

3550.5 drinks per year

9.720 drinks per day

Re: America has a drinking problem

#143

Post by patorjk »

One of my older brothers was a heavy drinker. He died recently at the age of 50. He had an enlarged heart and liver, which they believe were the cause of his death. It's not really clear to me if he saw it coming. He was fine one day, and then the next he was found dead by his housekeeper. I often hear about how alcohol in moderation can possibly cause you to live longer, but I don't hear much about how too much can shorten your lifespan.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#144

Post by beckingz »

thebean11 wrote: post #83
rkk3 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

9 Gallon is 34 Liters, 11 drinks per Liter of Vokda/Liquor 9*11 = 374 drinks per year or 1 drink a day Its probably that Average/mean drinking amount isn't a good statistical representation when almost all the consumption is done by the top 10% of drinkers. Historical comparisons also are tricky because sizes and %'s aren't consistent to today. Beer/Cider weren't as strong and bottle's of wine were smaller than 750ml…

Where are you getting 11 drinks per liter of vodka? I'm getting twice that (1.5oz shots)

The joke being that "2 shots of vodka" is more like 4-5.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#145

Post by rhcom2 »

phkahler wrote: post #118
1980phipsi wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lost five pounds or so switching from Coke to Diet Coke.

There is more weight loss to be had switching from Diet Coke to water. It's obviously not the calorie content, but the insulin response from sweet tasting things that will occur even with artificial sweeteners.

I don't think there is scientific evidence to back that up from what I could find: https://www.oatext.com/Blood-glucose-and-insulin-response-to...

Re: America has a drinking problem

#146

Post by qeternity »

As an American who’s spent most of their adult life working outside the US (Europe and Asia) I find this pretty hilarious. I mean, it may be true…drinking damage is absolute, not relative. But if America has a drinking problem, a huge chunk of the rest of the world are outright alcoholics.

Of course I think all of this is alarmist. Alcohol is one of those great traditions that has transcended centuries and generations. If I live a few years less, so be it. I’d rather be happy.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#147

Post by RobotCaleb »

ckosidows wrote: post #137
trts wrote: post #29

I decided to give up alcohol for a year. That was three years ago and doubt I will ever go back. Aside from having better sleep than at any other point as an adult, I truly enjoy the activities I partake in just as much, if not more, than when I still paired them with alcohol. It took about 6 months to stop feeling like I was missing out, and now I feel like everyone else is. Anxiety in general is noticeably lower (t…

Curious about your age? Does this get easier as you get older? I stopped drinking for 6 months and then a friend got a new job and my birthday rolled around. I felt like the situations called for celebratory drinking or that it was expected. I really enjoyed my period of non-drinking and I feel exactly the same as you in regards to sleep, anxiety and well-being. But being in my late 20s I feel like people around my a…

I'm sure that it feels like a real problem, but it really isn't. I haven't drank anything for my 39 years of life and I have found most people to be quite accepting of it and those that aren't aren't worth it.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#148

Post by paulgb »

leifg wrote: post #56
trts wrote: post #29

I decided to give up alcohol for a year. That was three years ago and doubt I will ever go back. Aside from having better sleep than at any other point as an adult, I truly enjoy the activities I partake in just as much, if not more, than when I still paired them with alcohol. It took about 6 months to stop feeling like I was missing out, and now I feel like everyone else is. Anxiety in general is noticeably lower (t…

Genuine question: what do you drink instead? Do you stick to water or do you order any kind of soda/lemonade (or something I’m not thinking about)

I've replaced the beer in my fridge with Athletic Brewing's non-alcoholic beer.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#149

Post by fantod »

Barrin92 wrote: post #135

Article mirrors my experience. For context I'm German, my wife's French and we've got family in Croatia who own a vineyard so I'm used to being around alcohol and people drinking. My first impression when I spent time was in the US was indeed how bipolar drinking is compared to Europe. We probably drink a hell of a lot more in raw terms than the average American does.Two glasses of wine for dinner, another one in the…

Noticed this when I was in Germany/Austria as well. In America, if you go out drinking then that's the primary activity. It's what you're doing. But in central Europe socializing and seeing friends is the activity and you just happen to drink because that's what you do when you see your friends.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#150

Post by TheCapn »

tmm wrote: post #30

I’ve never been much of a drinker, generally preferring soda, sports drinks, or sweet tea to stay hydrated. In my experience, this is unusual. My friends, relatives, etc. all exclusively drink beer when doing yard work, home improvement projects, or hobbies like working on cars. When I’m at the marina, I’m the only one not drinking beer while working on their boat. Maybe all of these people stick exclusively to water…

I think its about a long term tolerance thing that people build. Couple anecdotes:

I was invited to my friend's bachelor party weekend. We rented a cabin in a fairly remote area of our province for an extended weekend with plans to golf, fish, campfire, and...drink.

I think by the time the first day was over, the majority of my buddies had each done 12 beer plus several mixed drinks or shots. No mistaking, we were all drunk. But what sort of set things apart was the next day. I basically just nursed a few beers/drinks through the day, probably 6 max while the rest of the guys were easily 12+ a piece, I know one of them had cleaned off his first 24pack by that night.

By the next day I was miserable. We were golfing in 30+ weather and I had 1 beer for the entire 18 holes, they were 6+ each. The heat, the hangover, I don't know how they do it. But it slowly dawned on me that they do this frequently. Most of their weekends are getting tankered at the lake or going through a case of beer in the yard doing chores and having impromptu bbq with the neighbors/buds while I pretty much only drank while at social outings (once a week top) and even then I never had more than 2 or 3 drinks.

When lockdown started a couple of the same buds got laid off from their jobs and mentioned how much they were drinking in isolation. Again, the quantities they drank were fucking astounding while I pretty much stopped drinking entirely due to the social outings coming to an end.

I've tried the "grab some beer and do the oilchange" type work myself but I find by the end my beer is warm, half drank and I was too involved in the work to think about stopping to drink. Even when I did stop, it was because I was thirsty so I'd be seeking water, not alcohol.

After all the experience with this lifestyle from friends I can see where its left us (we're mid 30s now). They're overweight, a few of them struggle with health issues while I'm the same weight I was 10 years prior and healthy as ever. I just think centering your activities around having a beer is something that these people do long term and what seems wild to you or me is normal for them.

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