How many alcoholic drinks do you have a week?

[Anonymous]

Most people are very normal and really don't drink that much. But roughly ten percent of the population has an alcohol use disorder, and they consume more than 60 percent of all the alcohol. Very lucrative for the alcohol industry.

Without the alcoholics, the beer, wine, and liquor producers would be out of business, except for some niche producers. And that's where the alcohol industry is going. Under 30s are not being socialized with drinking being the norm like GenX or Boomers did as they were coming up - for all sorts of reasons.

The alcohol industry will divide. Rotgut garbage from Barefoot wine to Popov vodka to high alcohol content beers on one side. And very good wines and whiskeys and so on for people that don't have a problem and drink on special occasions.

The entire middle space is gone in the US. Young people generally are not drinking. And GenX and older have their health issues and tend to avoid. Then add the effects of so many people being on the Ozempic type drugs, which tends to kill a desire to drink alcohol all together. And it results in a very tough time for the alcohol industry.

Which, good.

[Anonymous]

1-2 a year

[Anonymous]

I had one beer on NYE. I can't remember the previous time to that- probably 3-4 weeks ago. I'll regularly have one drink with dinner at a restaurant, but that's about it. Anything more upsets my stomach, disrupts my sleep, and gives me a hangover the next day.

Getting old sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you drink?

It helps me to relax and de-stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering this is a moms & dads forums, I’m surprised at how many people go to bars multiple times a week.
I go to a bar maybe twice a year.
For socializing, we got to restaurants or someone hosts it at their house.
I drink 2-3 times a month, 1-2 drinks each time.

Yes the idea of having 20-30 drinks a week, as a PP reported, as a parent with minor children and in my case a job and hobbies, just sounds not possible. I might have approached that amount briefly in my 20s when I went out like 5 nights a week and my body could metabolize 4 drinks without causing a hangover the next day. Maybe a couple vacations pre-kids where I drank at that level, especially if at a resort where we were just relaxing most days. But as a 30 or 40 something with kids and a full time job? How? I also exercise daily and need 6 hours of sleep minimum to be functional -- there is simply not time to go drink at a bar with friends for hours in end more than a few times a year.

I have a friend who is extremely successful. Makes millions of dollars per year holding a high level job and is a person in the spotlight. She easily drinks at least a bottle of wine daily during the week and on the weekends, 3-4 bottles daily. You would have NO IDEA. She's an absolute superhuman machine. I can't get a proper night's sleep if I have 2-3 glasses, or have too much social activity. Meanwhile she's doing more in a day than an average person does in a year, working in the day and partying at night, all through the weekend-- for YEARS. Oh and she looks like a supermodel. I would not believe this were possible if I didn't know her. She has a constitution that would make Rasputin jealous. But you and me, pp, we are delicate hot house flowers, we are pinot grapes to her tungsten steel. I am in total awe. I also worry about her liver.

She is an alcoholic and likely has other addictive issues (her career likely is a way to feed addiction to risk, attention, or other unhealthy obsession). I don't envy her at all.

Also my choice to drink less is not some horrible sacrifice to me. I don't sit around wishing I could drink more. I enjoy drinking water. I enjoy getting a good night's sleep. I have ZERO interest in drinking a bottle of wine by myself and in fact that sounds depressing and sad.

[Anonymous]

None

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Zero. Alcohol is poison so I don't drink any. I don't smoke or use edibles. I also highly limit my sugar intake. I very rarely if ever eat anything really sweet like cookies, cakes or ic cream.

You sound like a peach.

[Anonymous]

0. I drink but pretty rarely and then only a cocktail as I don't like wine or beer.

[Anonymous]

56. On average about 15 a week. I usually have wine with dinner. A few more when hanging out with friends. I'm in great shape. I work out everyday. I'm slim and my blood work is great.

[Anonymous]

I used to drink daily. Then I started having horrible side effects (waking up in a panic and not being able to go back to sleep, terrible anxiety, feeling like crap all of next day, joint pain). So I drink very rarely now. But I couldn't care less what anyone else does and wish I could drink more often myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:0-2

This. Most weeks it's 0. If I had an event to go to, it'd probably be 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:most weeks 0. some weeks 2. rarely 6-8.

I can't even imagine having 6-8 drinks in a week.

Between the 9 days of December 27 through January 4 I had 5 social events I attended and I had a total of 4 drinks over those 9 days.

I'm not saying I'm better than anyone, for the record, I was just a little shocked when I saw 6-8 and it seemed like a huge number to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually about 6 drinks in a week. And that's down from 2 drinks/night so I actually feel pretty good about it! After a wetter than normal December, I'm kind of excited about dry January.

Can you help me understand this? If you're excited about the prospect of not drinking for a month couldn't you just have not drank during December? I get it, there are lots of social events (I had six of them back-to-back recently) but I only drank at the two that I wanted to drink at. The others I didn't want to drink so I didn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most weeks 0. some weeks 2. rarely 6-8.

I can't even imagine having 6-8 drinks in a week.

Between the 9 days of December 27 through January 4 I had 5 social events I attended and I had a total of 4 drinks over those 9 days.

I'm not saying I'm better than anyone, for the record, I was just a little shocked when I saw 6-8 and it seemed like a huge number to me.

What if I told you 6-8 is just getting started for the day for some people (me in the past). AUD and tolerance is real.

[Anonymous]

One--but it's a really big glass.