Reply to Even a Little Alcohol Can Harm Your Health

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The problem is that it’s individual-specific but we don’t yet understand how exactly. For me, even one glass of wine inhibits deep sleep. I’m already insulin resistant and one poor night of sleep messes with insulin further, which is only bad. But that’s a snapshot of my specific health concerns and may not be relevant to anyone else. I still drink on occasion but it’s not harmless.

I agree that encouraging women of childbearing age to abstain feels paternalistic, but the health of our potential children really matters. I didn’t know I was pregnant until 10 weeks on two occasions (anovulation the first time and minor hemorrhage mimicking period the second). I drank moderately the first time, regretted it once I knew I was pregnant and then abstained until done having kids. Many, many women have similar stories. [/quote]

You’re extrapolating your situation onto other people.  For most people, having a single drink say, once a month or even once a week actually is harmless, especially in the context of everything else they do (or don’t do).

The fact that SO many women have the experience of drinking very early in pregnancy - and then stopping for the duration - tells you that doing so is, if not 100% harmless, fairly close to that.  I mean, if we’re going to scream at women who are TTC for drinking, we should also be screaming at them for eating a crappy diet, not exercising, etc., while pregnant.  And we don’t do that because it’s paternalistic.

Again, I’m not advocating that anyone start drinking or that alcohol is harmless.  It’s not.  But asserting that light drinking is harmful for most people also isn’t accurate.  Maybe the better message for healthcare professionals to give people is that if an individual notices negative consequences, they should abstain.  That’s not the same as “light drinking is harmful, I’m just not telling you it is.”[/quote]

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