Why do you drink alcohol?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With all the information about alcohol causing cancer, Parkinson’s, wrinkles, anxiety, why do you still drink it? What makes you risk your health? Does it make you feel so good that it’s worth the risks?

Everything has a risk, driving, walking on a sidewalk, breezing, drinking water.... Alcohol does not cause cancer, it may increase your chances to have cancer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all the information about alcohol causing cancer, Parkinson’s, wrinkles, anxiety, why do you still drink it? What makes you risk your health? Does it make you feel so good that it’s worth the risks?

Everything has a risk, driving, walking on a sidewalk, breezing, drinking water.... Alcohol does not cause cancer, it may increase your chances to have cancer.

Go read the study. It literally does cause cancer. It's not clear to the extent and the consumption levels.

These arguments about how everything has a risk are so strange.

Yes, walking on the sidewalk has a risk... which is why we do things to reduce the risk, like tying our shoelaces, watching where we step, etc. We don't drink just any water we see, we test it and we filter it or treat it! It's okay to acknowledge that we've discovered a new risk and then consider how to adapt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all the information about alcohol causing cancer, Parkinson’s, wrinkles, anxiety, why do you still drink it? What makes you risk your health? Does it make you feel so good that it’s worth the risks?

Everything has a risk, driving, walking on a sidewalk, breezing, drinking water.... Alcohol does not cause cancer, it may increase your chances to have cancer.

Go read the study. It literally does cause cancer. It's not clear to the extent and the consumption levels.

These arguments about how everything has a risk are so strange.

Yes, walking on the sidewalk has a risk... which is why we do things to reduce the risk, like tying our shoelaces, watching where we step, etc. We don't drink just any water we see, we test it and we filter it or treat it! It's okay to acknowledge that we've discovered a new risk and then consider how to adapt.

But by your own example, you don’t stop walking on the sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beer sales are in a free fall. The bourbon trend is dead. Wine is also in a free fall. Once boomers die off, alcohol sales will be in the grave. Notice the alcohol ads targeting Hispanics and urban blacks. Yuppy white people are sobering up.

Sidebar: I think the non-alcoholic sugary drinks are just as bad. Sugar bombs for $12. Total scam and super unhealthy.

The younger people are more sober - but they might be vaping some mj in it's place.

This. They’ve just replaced alcohol with weed and now they’re antisocial and weird. I’ll take a generation of young people out drinking in bars and spending time together over ones who are just sitting in their couches playing video games.

Amen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With all the information about alcohol causing cancer, Parkinson’s, wrinkles, anxiety, why do you still drink it? What makes you risk your health? Does it make you feel so good that it’s worth the risks?

Everything has a risk, driving, walking on a sidewalk, breezing, drinking water.... Alcohol does not cause cancer, it may increase your chances to have cancer.

Go read the study. It literally does cause cancer. It's not clear to the extent and the consumption levels.

These arguments about how everything has a risk are so strange.

Yes, walking on the sidewalk has a risk... which is why we do things to reduce the risk, like tying our shoelaces, watching where we step, etc. We don't drink just any water we see, we test it and we filter it or treat it! It's okay to acknowledge that we've discovered a new risk and then consider how to adapt.

But by your own example, you don’t stop walking on the sidewalk.

If there was a study showing that walking on the sidewalk caused cancer I probably would. What a weird metaphor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beer sales are in a free fall. The bourbon trend is dead. Wine is also in a free fall. Once boomers die off, alcohol sales will be in the grave. Notice the alcohol ads targeting Hispanics and urban blacks. Yuppy white people are sobering up.

Sidebar: I think the non-alcoholic sugary drinks are just as bad. Sugar bombs for $12. Total scam and super unhealthy.

The younger people are more sober - but they might be vaping some mj in it's place.

This. They’ve just replaced alcohol with weed and now they’re antisocial and weird. I’ll take a generation of young people out drinking in bars and spending time together over ones who are just sitting in their couches playing video games.

Amen

Want to have a discussion about how smoking weed is REALLY bad for your lungs and definitely is linked to cancer? It's like smoking an unfiltered cigarette that you have literally no idea what's in it.

[Anonymous]

People are dropping alcohol in favor of weed. That’s something that’s going to be a bigger problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet I go to the beach once a summer and from my spot under an umbrella I watch a wave of humanity that is obese and sunburned and still standing out in the sun all day with their kids looking the same.

I don’t know OP. Alcohol is just one thing. Humans don’t always do the “right” things. Why focus on alcohol is my question. How do you even pick that out as the issue to get indignant about.

People may be looking at you as you do the tanned, fatties at the beach.

Burned. Burned fatties. Read the post at least.

Tanning and burning are just degrees of damage to the body's largest organ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drink it because I like it. And I'm not too concerned about the cancer risk. It doesn't affect everyone the same. And given all of the carcinogens we are exposed to, there's a good chance that if you do get cancer, it'll be because of something else.

A) this is a wildly uninformed opinion. you have no idea about the relative cancer risk of alcohol and how it affects everyone--the research is just starting to come through, but there is a clear and undeniable link between drinking and cancer. ignore it if you want, but don't pretend you understand the relative risk, because no one does.

B) nothing affects everyone the same... tobacco and nicotine dont' affect everyone the same. there are people who smoke their whole lives and dont' get cancer. there are lots of people who smoke who die of things other than cancer. neither of those facts have any relevance on the argument that you should not smoke because it is a high cancer risk. most people who smoke in any quantity for any moderate to long period will develop lung cancer... some people will develop lung cancer after smoking only a short period. alcohol is pretty similar, but the current research (still early) suggests that the risk of cancer from drinking is at least as serious as the risk of cancer from tobacco.

C) if you do get cancer, there's not a good chance it will be because of something else. it depends on the cancer and the person. but the research does show alcohol is very strongly connected to cancer. more strongly than a lto of other things we're concerned may be carcinogens.

D) I assume you don't smoke, or mishandle asbestos, etc. because you understand that while not ALL people get cancer from doing those things, the risk is not a joke. elevate alcohol to that level.

So you admit that "nothing affects everyone the same" but then go on to insist that because there's a link (which you also admit is "still early" and no one understands the "relative risk", my opinion about not being too concerned is somehow wildly uninformed. Got it.

It's early, there's a lot more to understand but what is already clear is that, like with tobacco, there is a very strong correlation and there is no "safe" amount of alcohol to avoid getting cancer. Maybe we'll learn more in the future, but what we know so far isn't wishy-washy -- alcohol consumption undeniably raises your risks for cancer. Full stop. How, why, what types of cancer, more details on the exact likelihood of developing cancer is not super clear. But it doesn't have to be-- as we both agree, different people are affected differently. Some people never get lung cancer despite being heavy smokers, some people develop lung cancer despite only light smoking many years prior. But most people do. UV Rays affect everyone's skin differently--though the variation isn't as much as it is with tobacco and lung cancer... most people, if they expose themselves enough WILL develop some form of skin cancer. Much more concrete than the tobacco connection. But there are people who burn the crap out of their skin and never get cancer.

But it's all probability.

Alcohol is going to be somewhere on the spectrum, maybe more or less probability of developing cancer than cigarette smoking, probably less than the sunburn-->skin cancer probability. We don't know yet. But we do know it's the same game. And less consumption for shorter periods of your life, will lower the probability.

You are weirdly insistent that people agree with your assessment of the risk. Don’t drink alcohol if you’re so concerned about the possibility of getting cancer. Don’t go in the sun either because, you know, skin cancer. Eek.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drink it because I like it. And I'm not too concerned about the cancer risk. It doesn't affect everyone the same. And given all of the carcinogens we are exposed to, there's a good chance that if you do get cancer, it'll be because of something else.

A) this is a wildly uninformed opinion. you have no idea about the relative cancer risk of alcohol and how it affects everyone--the research is just starting to come through, but there is a clear and undeniable link between drinking and cancer. ignore it if you want, but don't pretend you understand the relative risk, because no one does.

B) nothing affects everyone the same... tobacco and nicotine dont' affect everyone the same. there are people who smoke their whole lives and dont' get cancer. there are lots of people who smoke who die of things other than cancer. neither of those facts have any relevance on the argument that you should not smoke because it is a high cancer risk. most people who smoke in any quantity for any moderate to long period will develop lung cancer... some people will develop lung cancer after smoking only a short period. alcohol is pretty similar, but the current research (still early) suggests that the risk of cancer from drinking is at least as serious as the risk of cancer from tobacco.

C) if you do get cancer, there's not a good chance it will be because of something else. it depends on the cancer and the person. but the research does show alcohol is very strongly connected to cancer. more strongly than a lto of other things we're concerned may be carcinogens.

D) I assume you don't smoke, or mishandle asbestos, etc. because you understand that while not ALL people get cancer from doing those things, the risk is not a joke. elevate alcohol to that level.

So you admit that "nothing affects everyone the same" but then go on to insist that because there's a link (which you also admit is "still early" and no one understands the "relative risk", my opinion about not being too concerned is somehow wildly uninformed. Got it.

It's early, there's a lot more to understand but what is already clear is that, like with tobacco, there is a very strong correlation and there is no "safe" amount of alcohol to avoid getting cancer. Maybe we'll learn more in the future, but what we know so far isn't wishy-washy -- alcohol consumption undeniably raises your risks for cancer. Full stop. How, why, what types of cancer, more details on the exact likelihood of developing cancer is not super clear. But it doesn't have to be-- as we both agree, different people are affected differently. Some people never get lung cancer despite being heavy smokers, some people develop lung cancer despite only light smoking many years prior. But most people do. UV Rays affect everyone's skin differently--though the variation isn't as much as it is with tobacco and lung cancer... most people, if they expose themselves enough WILL develop some form of skin cancer. Much more concrete than the tobacco connection. But there are people who burn the crap out of their skin and never get cancer.

But it's all probability.

Alcohol is going to be somewhere on the spectrum, maybe more or less probability of developing cancer than cigarette smoking, probably less than the sunburn-->skin cancer probability. We don't know yet. But we do know it's the same game. And less consumption for shorter periods of your life, will lower the probability.

You are weirdly insistent that people agree with your assessment of the risk. Don’t drink alcohol if you’re so concerned about the possibility of getting cancer. Don’t go in the sun either because, you know, skin cancer. Eek.

You’re weirdly insistent that it’s my assessment of the risk. It was the US surgeon generals assessment of the risk (tho Trump’s surgeon general is working frantically with the booze industry to reverse and start promoting the heart healthy myth).

I don’t go around with an ax smashing other people’s booze or anything but we ARE having a discussion about what we all think about booze… so you know the weird thing is how upset you seem to be getting that other people keep having opinions that might make you feel like you need to make changes to your own life.

Weird.

But we CAN take about the societal costs of alcoholism and why that is as much business as anti smoking campaigns and seatbelt promotions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drink it because I like it. And I'm not too concerned about the cancer risk. It doesn't affect everyone the same. And given all of the carcinogens we are exposed to, there's a good chance that if you do get cancer, it'll be because of something else.

+1

It's all about choices. I eat healthy/clean, cut sugars and unhealthy carbs, exercise daily, and do other things to be as healthy as possible. I gave up hormonal BC at age 30, nursed each kid for 2+ years, so I've done other things to reduce my risks of cancer. I recognize the risks, but everything in life has risks. I enjoy cocktails and good wine. We now try to have 2-3 days per week without anything, and the other days we enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. Figure for my first 35 years, I really didn't drink....from 21-35/40, maybe 2-3 drinks per week at most.

Now I don't have a family history of Breast cancer or any cancer, I might think differently if I did

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beer sales are in a free fall. The bourbon trend is dead. Wine is also in a free fall. Once boomers die off, alcohol sales will be in the grave. Notice the alcohol ads targeting Hispanics and urban blacks. Yuppy white people are sobering up.

Sidebar: I think the non-alcoholic sugary drinks are just as bad. Sugar bombs for $12. Total scam and super unhealthy.

Sugar is evil. I figure I avoid most sugars and unhealthy carbs, other than with cocktails/wine. But I'm not adding sugar to a non-alcoholic drink. Sparkling water with lime/lemon does the trick for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drink it because I like it. And I'm not too concerned about the cancer risk. It doesn't affect everyone the same. And given all of the carcinogens we are exposed to, there's a good chance that if you do get cancer, it'll be because of something else.

+1

It's all about choices. I eat healthy/clean, cut sugars and unhealthy carbs, exercise daily, and do other things to be as healthy as possible. I gave up hormonal BC at age 30, nursed each kid for 2+ years, so I've done other things to reduce my risks of cancer. I recognize the risks, but everything in life has risks. I enjoy cocktails and good wine. We now try to have 2-3 days per week without anything, and the other days we enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. Figure for my first 35 years, I really didn't drink....from 21-35/40, maybe 2-3 drinks per week at most.

Now I don't have a family history of Breast cancer or any cancer, I might think differently if I did

This is one of the few rational pro booze comments. And 2-3 drinks per week is in the range of consumption that any of the studies suggesting some health benefits consider appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do I eat chocolate cake? Because I like it and it’s a way to celebrate on occasion.

Americans drink less alcohol than ever before and we’re sicker than ever.

So maybe it’s not the alcohol.

It's the food supply. We eat way too much processed food, too many bad carbs and too much added sugar (think any drink from Starbucks and the like). Most people don't get enough steps/exercise in, and happily just take pills to "solve problems".

My 26 yo recently diagnosed with High BP (genetics are definately strong from one side, all the siblings had same thing in mid 20s). Kid asked doctor to give them time to change lifestyles and work to reduce it that way. Doctor didnt' think they'd be able to do so, but gave them 2-3 months of tracking BP to see any results. After 1 month, with diet (less salt and foods high in potassium etc) and more walking/exercise and a few supplements and their BP was only slightly elevated. 5 months in, and it's hovering around 120/80. Now the kid has normal BP, and is reaping all the benefits of less sugars, getting 10-15K steps daily, making sure to do higher impact exercise a few days a week as well. They are more in touch with healthy eating and putting in the work to be healthier. If they ever do need medications, at least they know they have done everything possible to reduce it thru lifestyle changes.

But the fact a doctor was ready to just write a script that someone would need for the next 70+ years without suggesting food/lifestyle changes first is part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t drink anymore, but I don’t care if others do (obviously I care about people who choose to drive drunk-that’s immoral). Why start this thread op? Why do you keep bashing the people who are answering your question?

What happened in your childhood? I feel like there’s something more to your story than just not getting people…

I don't drink anymore and mostly don't care about whether other people do, but with the new research on cancer and with some of what we've witnessed with older adult drinking post-COVID, it's kind of starting to fall into the category of why we care about other people smoking—it has a public health aspect, if only because it's costing the healthcare system and it has some pretty dire consequences in terms of drunk driving, domestic abuse, divorce... it's cool if you want to be a booze hound, but your kid's sad childhood sucks and when they grow up to a demented adult, we all have to deal with them.

Oh yeah. I can feel the “care” for others dripping from your post.

Yeah===drinking is nothing like smoking. It literally can have NO impact on others. We don't drink and drive, we walk or take an Uber or have a designated driver. There is no such thing as "2nd hand alcohol" unless someone is pregnant. And the slight risk of increased cancer from me having a glass of wine with dinner 4-5 times per week is nothing compared to 60% of the country who are overweight and/or obese, who smoke (much more dangerous in so many ways), who eat processed crap (I eat a whole food diet, anti-inflammatory diet, largely avoid sugars and most carbs except fruits and veggies, etc. I get 10-15K steps daily, with other workouts added in, I breastfeed each of my 3 kids for over 2 years, didn't take hormonal BC for very long (as I had nasty side effects), and so much more. I am normal weight and always have been (other than 12-18 months post pregnancies).

So sure, me having a few drinks each week might "raise my cancer risk" slightly but everything else I do largely puts me in the Top 20% of healthy people.