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America has a drinking problem

theatlantic.com

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Re: America has a drinking problem

#351

Post by buu700 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #287
quadyeast wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that chart does not make sense to me unless >10% of Americans are AA. I can't think of anyone, besides non-drinking Alcoholics, that have less than 1 drink/wk

> I can't think of anyone, besides non-drinking Alcoholics, that have less than 1 drink/wk Most people I associate with don’t drink anything on an average week. It’s likely that you’re in a bit of a bubble if you can’t think of anyone who doesn’t drink in an average week.

Yeah, that's an odd statement to me. I don't not drink, but I also don't go out of my way to drink that often. Even considering the mean rather than median, I'm pretty sure that I fall short of 52 drinks/year.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that I'm in the majority, but it's not as though my behavior in this area is particularly abnormal.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#352

Post by ubercow13 »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #320
bitexploder wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do pretty demanding sport as a hobby. Even one drink during the week greatly impacts recovery and ability to perform and lessens my enjoyment considerably. It’s rather commons in my circles for people to probably average a handful of drinks per year at most.

If one drink/wk is noticeably affecting you then you're either a professional athlete who's got world class people monitoring their performance or you need to see a doctor. Edit: Assuming the standard definition of drink that's roughly equivalent to one light beer or one shot

Why? I do a minimal amount of exercise and I can feel the difference if I had one drink the night before. Forget exercise, it’s obvious I had a drink the night before from how I feel as soon as I wake up, just from the degree to which alcohol negatively effects quality of sleep.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#353

Post by galaxyLogic »

qeternity wrote: post #152
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…

Where in Germany? I find this surprising. As an American expat who has spent a lot of time in Germany, I’d agree that the German relationship with alcohol is less taboo, but Germany/UK have pretty big binging cultures. The Mediterraneans definitely do it more responsibly though.

Yes. Think about Octoberfest. It's all about drinking

Re: America has a drinking problem

#354

Post by ripdog »

jffry wrote: post #341
ripdog wrote: post #334

>Now some grocery stores have wine bars, beer on tap, signs inviting you to “shop ’n’ sip,” and carts with cup holders. What the hell?! That's absurdly irresponsible and dangerous considering most people travel to the grocery store in a car. Why aren't local authorities stamping down on this?

Should suburban restaurants with parking lots and no pedestrian infrastructure be forbidden from serving alcohol? What about one that is served by public transit, but still has a parking lot out back? Where is the right place to draw the line?

At least at restaurants, alcohol is both more expensive and served with food - alcohol is dramatically less impairing when consumed with a meal.

I mean if you're asking me personally I'm happy with any extra alcohol restrictions, even acknowledging that many people would not be nearly as gun-happy as I and the social ills of prohibition. But my father is an alcoholic and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#355

Post by jacobolus »

leafmeal wrote: post #294
jacobolus wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When the pyramids were being built, the builders were paid in beer. Yeah, because water used to be much harder to sanitize, and “beer” (thick, lumpy, mildly alcoholic – think fermented porridge) is basically liquid bread. Doing manual labor all day takes a lot of calories, and cereals are much cheaper than alternative foods. It’s hardly a healthy diet though. Keeping peasants drunk enough to be pliable is a side be…

> because water used to be much harder to sanitize They actually addressed this in the article, but sanitizing water is as simple as boiling it which is much less involved than the process of making beer.

I’m no expert on ancient Mesopotamian/Egyptian theories of disease, but my understanding is that people knew that water with even a bit of alcohol was significantly less likely to get you sick than river water, and drinking beer was (in part) an intentional countermeasure.

Beyond that, in an ancient context you can’t indefinitely store your boiled water and expect it to stay uncontaminated. If you are on a construction site, boiling all of your drinking water every day before use sounds a lot less convenient than just storing beer. Moreover, if laborers were all drinking water they would still need to eat something.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#356

Post by notsureaboutpg »

umvi wrote: post #172

I was watching "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" with my wife the other day and I commented "These characters seem to all be alcoholics" because seriously they have a drink in hand nearly every scene taking place outside of the workplace. I think part of the problem is glorification of alcohol in pop culture. Heck, at certain times of the year we look forward to watching a bunch of back-to-back alcohol advertisements (…

[dead]

Re: America has a drinking problem

#357

Post by lemonberry »

pedalpete wrote: post #343
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…

I'm in a similar boat. I stopped, but without a timeframe for how long. I just knew I had to cut back, but that wasn't working well, so I just stopped, and when I was offered a drink, I'd say "I don't drink", because here in Australia, I find if you say no to a drink, it's mostly forced on you. The statement put an end to that. However, I also internalized being an non-drinker. It became part of my identity. I don't…

My favorite non-alcoholic beverage is equal parts soda water and tonic water, a couple of splashes of orange juice and a few dashes of bitters. Tweak as necessary.

At the holidays I like non-alcoholic sparkling apple juice.

I also find soda water out of a can to be a good beer replacement on hot days. I think part of this is the sound of opening the can and the carbonation.

No idea if any of those will fit your needs.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#358

Post by angrais »

Havoc wrote: post #325
TameAntelope wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just for clarification, no research (I'm aware of) has indicated that one cup of red wine has measurable health benefits above not drinking at all . The research suggests that if you must drink, then one cup of wine will have some positive impacts in addition to the negative impacts. That said, I dunno if I'd be so strongly swayed either way by any single event without any real negative consequences such as you say h…

> (I'm aware of) has indicated that one cup of red wine has measurable health benefits above not drinking at all. There are various studies floating about. The part that has me sceptical is that they don't seem to account for whether it's in a social setting. i.e. is it the wine or is the being with friends and having a laugh

Rather, they should account for the wine being consumed with food rather than alone, e.g., before bed like OP above.

Consuming with food had metabolic side affects and is broken down differently and so could have less negative impact than when drunk alone.

Re: America has a drinking problem

#359

Post by galaxyLogic »

quickthrowman wrote: post #303
maya24 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alcohol is a harmful drug much worse than some of the other banned drugs on the market.

Alcohol is more dangerous than all other drugs, in my experience (been addicted to alcohol and heroin in the past, and have abused every common drug) and in my opinion. The addiction rate for cocaine/heroin/meth may be higher, but the negative effects of those drugs mostly stem from the high cost (theft) and insane profit margins (murder). If a heroin addict could get their supply for $5/day (and have it be pure hero…

Isn't meth just plain destructive, what it does to your body, and brain?

Re: America has a drinking problem

#360

Post by galaxyLogic »

OminousWeapons wrote: post #281
fantod wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I disagree with this. Americans go out drinking with friends because alcohol helps you cut through the bullshit small talk and get to the real talk that everyone is afraid to initiate but eager to take part in. If we could all have perfectly candid conversations surrounding sensitive topics without alcohol, there would be no need for most bars to exist.

I don't drink but I agree it's the social drug. It makes you want to interact with others. Drinking alone makes you want to go out and tell people what's on your mind.

I used to drink with friends and in that country there was a custom that bars close at a given time at night, and then we would go to someone's apartment to drink more. I remember on one occasion we were sitting around in someone's kitchen maybe 8 people. And at one point I realize everyone was talking at the same time. Everyone was talking so no-one was listening. Everyone wanted to get their point across.

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