Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s so sad how strongly you will all defend alcohol to your deaths, just to justify your own use. You don’t think smoking was also once such a thing?

Well alcohol has been around for much of human history, while chemical filled cigarettes were mostly an invention of the 20th century. But keep plugging away at those false equivalencies.

Actually, like alcohol use, smoking tobacco goes back 5000 years and is culturally significant in many cultures, but usually on ceremony, not as a frequent habit. But hey,myou keep defending your daily poison, your way.

I’m guessing you don’t want to know that drinking a bottle of wine is the same as smoking 5-10 cigarettes, right? Because you enjoy it.

What on earth are you talking about? The same as smoking cigarettes?

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/alcohol/alcohol-fact-sheet

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh293/193-198.pdf

The NIH doc with the Italian/Swiss study actually discredits the statement that "alcohol is the same as cigarettes" if you actually read the study (I know, I know, so much to ask). And they found an elevated (75%) risk of some of the cancers studied for drinkers at 2 standard drinks a day. Nothing in this about levels less than that, which is what most people in this thread are talking about.

Anonymous wrote:It’s not healthy, OP. I drink about a half glass to a glass of wine with dinner but never drink it to “relax”. You need to look into other ways to turn off and relax (like exercise or meditation, deep breathing and yoga).

You’re setting yourself up for bigger problems drinking every night.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're ok, as long as you don't go beyond that and start the heavy stuff.

No, it’s not that simple.

- recovering alcoholic

OP, there are lots of rationalization on here. It’s a slippery slope if you are drinking more than what you did when you started, which is something Annie Grace talks about. If you’re worried about your drinking, that’s already your red flag.

People will justify the “it’s not abnormal” thing, but the statistics will show you that no, most people aren’t actually drinking every day.

It’s not worth it, it’s not worth it, it’s not worth it. You will be forever chasing the buzz, and it will be fine in this age of mommy wine culture. But it isn’t actually helping you. It only gets worse, and that’s the insidiousness of it all. Everyone pictures the homeless person, or the down and out drunk, but that’s not all alcoholism looks like. It looks like me, with a job, a family, and the perfect life from the outside. And my bottle a day wine habit, plus whatever else anyone poured. But it was okay. Everyone had a few glasses a day, right? Of course, mine started to become hidden but it wasn’t always that way. I did have the hard stuff, but not always. I drank alone, but not always. My DH drank the same amount, but he doesn’t have the problem I do.

The thing is.. it’s not a problem until it becomes a problem, and by then, it’s a huge problem because you’ve already been asking if it’s a problem and avoiding the real answer.

I’m sure I’ll get raked over the coals for being an alcoholic, but that’s okay. I was just like all of you not that long ago , telling myself it was just one or two drinks. And it was, until it wasn’t.

I don't know why people would rake you over the coals. I think you raise a lot of good points. All of what you say can be true for some, but not everyone, and it's entirely normal for people who drink to wonder/worry about whether they're drinking too much -- worrying is something conditioned into women from birth and that alone doesn't mean that you have a problem.

But I do want to say that for many, many people you can drink 1-2 glasses a night or so for your entire life and never really develop a "problem." I personally wouldn't be comfortable with that level because to me it seems like a habit if it's every day, but that's kind of my point -- do you find it difficult to NOT drink, OP? Is 1-2 glasses becoming solidly 2, and 2 creeping into 2-3 (or are you being truthful about the size of a glass?)

If so, in your shoes I'd cut back. Or stop for a while and see what happens.

And this is where I don’t want to go all scorched earth over alcohol, but - no one needs to have 1-2 drinks a day. There actually zero benefit, and all consequence. It’s a problem because it’s not healthy, necessary, and actually dangerous. Of course, it’s been marketed to be awesome, healthful, and glamorous and no one cares.

But I hear everyone crying about the Europeans! Well, the UK is fighting a surge of alcoholism and liver related illnesses. And say what you want about Italy, Germany, whatever... in general, they aren’t drinking “to unwind”. A glass of wine is completely normal as part of a meal, or whatever. That said, do your research. They identify the most hazardous drinkers the same as here - highly educated, better off, people.

NP- the benefit is that I enjoy it. There are a lot of things with no benefit that I do because I enjoy. That's life. How sad an existence if I were to only stick to things for purely utilitarian purposes. We get one life, I would like to enjoy it in the ways I prefer to, and one glass of wine a night is included in that for me.

I had a very close friend pass away from cancer at 31. She was in perfect health. My grandparents and great grandparents all drank daily and lived healthily into their 90s. There are no guarantees in this life.

For what it's worth, I have dealt with anxiety in the past and have been prescribed daily Xanax. I don't take it because the studies about its long term effects worry me. I don't see how a glass of white wine as I fold laundry is any worse than that.

Well, the difference is Xanax is a prescription drug and you use it as such. Alcohol is free use, and it’s easy to not respect that it really is a carcinogen, a mood depressant, and a bu ch of other things. But, people will defend its use because they enjoy it, and honestly - that’s fine. But, do you feel the same way about heroin? I mean, if someone just enjoys it, what’s the difference?

You don’t need to defend your alcohol use to me, but yet.. you did. It’s a legal, and marketed drug and poison. Have you looked up it’s long term effects? Really, Xanax worries you but alcohol doesn’t? C’mon. DCUM must be the most “but look at the studiiiiiies” population on the internet, but no one seems to ever pick the studies that would support their own bias. And thus, 10% of the heavily educated population are problem drinkers.

Fried potatoes also cause cancer. Do you avoid those? Is everything in your house toxin free? So many things are carcinogens. Again, it's about risk tolerance.

But is it a good idea to eat two servings of French fries every night? Not just now and then but every night?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're ok, as long as you don't go beyond that and start the heavy stuff.

No, it’s not that simple.

- recovering alcoholic

OP, there are lots of rationalization on here. It’s a slippery slope if you are drinking more than what you did when you started, which is something Annie Grace talks about. If you’re worried about your drinking, that’s already your red flag.

People will justify the “it’s not abnormal” thing, but the statistics will show you that no, most people aren’t actually drinking every day.

It’s not worth it, it’s not worth it, it’s not worth it. You will be forever chasing the buzz, and it will be fine in this age of mommy wine culture. But it isn’t actually helping you. It only gets worse, and that’s the insidiousness of it all. Everyone pictures the homeless person, or the down and out drunk, but that’s not all alcoholism looks like. It looks like me, with a job, a family, and the perfect life from the outside. And my bottle a day wine habit, plus whatever else anyone poured. But it was okay. Everyone had a few glasses a day, right? Of course, mine started to become hidden but it wasn’t always that way. I did have the hard stuff, but not always. I drank alone, but not always. My DH drank the same amount, but he doesn’t have the problem I do.

The thing is.. it’s not a problem until it becomes a problem, and by then, it’s a huge problem because you’ve already been asking if it’s a problem and avoiding the real answer.

I’m sure I’ll get raked over the coals for being an alcoholic, but that’s okay. I was just like all of you not that long ago , telling myself it was just one or two drinks. And it was, until it wasn’t.

I don't know why people would rake you over the coals. I think you raise a lot of good points. All of what you say can be true for some, but not everyone, and it's entirely normal for people who drink to wonder/worry about whether they're drinking too much -- worrying is something conditioned into women from birth and that alone doesn't mean that you have a problem.

But I do want to say that for many, many people you can drink 1-2 glasses a night or so for your entire life and never really develop a "problem." I personally wouldn't be comfortable with that level because to me it seems like a habit if it's every day, but that's kind of my point -- do you find it difficult to NOT drink, OP? Is 1-2 glasses becoming solidly 2, and 2 creeping into 2-3 (or are you being truthful about the size of a glass?)

If so, in your shoes I'd cut back. Or stop for a while and see what happens.

And this is where I don’t want to go all scorched earth over alcohol, but - no one needs to have 1-2 drinks a day. There actually zero benefit, and all consequence. It’s a problem because it’s not healthy, necessary, and actually dangerous. Of course, it’s been marketed to be awesome, healthful, and glamorous and no one cares.

But I hear everyone crying about the Europeans! Well, the UK is fighting a surge of alcoholism and liver related illnesses. And say what you want about Italy, Germany, whatever... in general, they aren’t drinking “to unwind”. A glass of wine is completely normal as part of a meal, or whatever. That said, do your research. They identify the most hazardous drinkers the same as here - highly educated, better off, people.

NP- the benefit is that I enjoy it. There are a lot of things with no benefit that I do because I enjoy. That's life. How sad an existence if I were to only stick to things for purely utilitarian purposes. We get one life, I would like to enjoy it in the ways I prefer to, and one glass of wine a night is included in that for me.

I had a very close friend pass away from cancer at 31. She was in perfect health. My grandparents and great grandparents all drank daily and lived healthily into their 90s. There are no guarantees in this life.

For what it's worth, I have dealt with anxiety in the past and have been prescribed daily Xanax. I don't take it because the studies about its long term effects worry me. I don't see how a glass of white wine as I fold laundry is any worse than that.

Well, the difference is Xanax is a prescription drug and you use it as such. Alcohol is free use, and it’s easy to not respect that it really is a carcinogen, a mood depressant, and a bu ch of other things. But, people will defend its use because they enjoy it, and honestly - that’s fine. But, do you feel the same way about heroin? I mean, if someone just enjoys it, what’s the difference?

You don’t need to defend your alcohol use to me, but yet.. you did. It’s a legal, and marketed drug and poison. Have you looked up it’s long term effects? Really, Xanax worries you but alcohol doesn’t? C’mon. DCUM must be the most “but look at the studiiiiiies” population on the internet, but no one seems to ever pick the studies that would support their own bias. And thus, 10% of the heavily educated population are problem drinkers.

Fried potatoes also cause cancer. Do you avoid those? Is everything in your house toxin free? So many things are carcinogens. Again, it's about risk tolerance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s so sad how strongly you will all defend alcohol to your deaths, just to justify your own use. You don’t think smoking was also once such a thing?

Well alcohol has been around for much of human history, while chemical filled cigarettes were mostly an invention of the 20th century. But keep plugging away at those false equivalencies.

Actually, like alcohol use, smoking tobacco goes back 5000 years and is culturally significant in many cultures, but usually on ceremony, not as a frequent habit. But hey,myou keep defending your daily poison, your way.

I’m guessing you don’t want to know that drinking a bottle of wine is the same as smoking 5-10 cigarettes, right? Because you enjoy it.

What on earth are you talking about? The same as smoking cigarettes?

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/alcohol/alcohol-fact-sheet

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh293/193-198.pdf

The NIH doc with the Italian/Swiss study actually discredits the statement that "alcohol is the same as cigarettes" if you actually read the study (I know, I know, so much to ask). And they found an elevated (75%) risk of some of the cancers studied for drinkers at 2 standard drinks a day. Nothing in this about levels less than that, which is what most people in this thread are talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s so sad how strongly you will all defend alcohol to your deaths, just to justify your own use. You don’t think smoking was also once such a thing?

Well alcohol has been around for much of human history, while chemical filled cigarettes were mostly an invention of the 20th century. But keep plugging away at those false equivalencies.

Actually, like alcohol use, smoking tobacco goes back 5000 years and is culturally significant in many cultures, but usually on ceremony, not as a frequent habit. But hey,myou keep defending your daily poison, your way.

I’m guessing you don’t want to know that drinking a bottle of wine is the same as smoking 5-10 cigarettes, right? Because you enjoy it.

What on earth are you talking about? The same as smoking cigarettes?

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/alcohol/alcohol-fact-sheet

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh293/193-198.pdf