Anonymous wrote:I developed a fairly heavy daily drinking habit during COVID. I quit completely, but no noticeable benefits except no hangovers. It didn’t even make a difference with weight. Everybody says no drinking is magic for weight, skin, hair but I didn’t see any of that. I trust it’s better for my liver and other invisible things, but no tangible effects.

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Anonymous wrote:We have long known that processed meat - bacon, sausage, pepperoni, as well as red meat is a carcinogen and it has been recognized as such and due to the industry you never ever hear about avoiding it on a regular basis whereas right now, huge alcohol is the devil message everywhere.

What's your gut instinct about why the focus is alcohol now vs red meat, processed food, environmental factors, etc?

DP here. It’s two things: the cannabis lobby and further testing by government to see how messaging works to change society. Will enough of society stop thinking critically and follow the herd if the right messaging is repeated over and over? For the last year, the answer was largely yes, but I think people are finally starting to wake up.

+1 I'm really starting to buy into the conspiracy theory that the cannabis lobby is behind the recent negative messaging around alcohol. Even in DCUM you had a post immediately after the surgeon general's recommendation asking for recommendations of gummies or a THC drink to replace alcohol.

You think the cannabis lobby is more powerful than the booze lobby? Come on.

OP here. You've summarized my take. Something seems off-normal and coordinated about the campaign to tell us that our skin, sleep, and spirit will improve with no alcohol. And it also seems that there's a lot of cannabis ads. But I would be surprised if cannabis is better organized than alcohol. Maybe cannabis is being bought up by powerful companies? On its face, it doesn't seem like this is the likely reason for all of this.

There is simply something going on here. In the NYT This Morning email there was a link to yet ANOTHER article about cutting back on alcohol. After just running one on Monday. One commenter on this article--because again, at least a few are starting to ask why, NYT--one person said they think it's Biden's last-ditch effort to make some kind of difference. That may be a stretch, and it's pretty pathetic. But something is up. This just doesn't make sense. Article after article, with nothing new.

I think the main thing that’s going on is that they reassessed the study/studies that suggested wine had any health benefits — turns out the benefits were relative only; wine drinkers weren’t being compared to non-drinkers, only to drinkers of hard liquors. Then the more they looked at the data using real controls, the worse it seemed.

Did people assume “something was up” when the media started discussing the harms of cigarettes, I wonder? It feels comparable — something that most of us do, that humans have done forever, that’s a source of real pleasure, that we assume probably isn’t great but can’t be *that* bad. If anyone remembers the anti-smoking shift, I’d be curious if the conversation/skepticism feels similar.

Anonymous wrote:This snobby no alcohol trend began out West - tech hubs Seattle and Silicon Valley. But you also have Mormon hub Utah right there. “Wholesome” and aspirational Mormon content viral on social media last few years.

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Anonymous wrote:We have long known that processed meat - bacon, sausage, pepperoni, as well as red meat is a carcinogen and it has been recognized as such and due to the industry you never ever hear about avoiding it on a regular basis whereas right now, huge alcohol is the devil message everywhere.

What's your gut instinct about why the focus is alcohol now vs red meat, processed food, environmental factors, etc?

DP here. It’s two things: the cannabis lobby and further testing by government to see how messaging works to change society. Will enough of society stop thinking critically and follow the herd if the right messaging is repeated over and over? For the last year, the answer was largely yes, but I think people are finally starting to wake up.

+1 I'm really starting to buy into the conspiracy theory that the cannabis lobby is behind the recent negative messaging around alcohol. Even in DCUM you had a post immediately after the surgeon general's recommendation asking for recommendations of gummies or a THC drink to replace alcohol.

You think the cannabis lobby is more powerful than the booze lobby? Come on.

OP here. You've summarized my take. Something seems off-normal and coordinated about the campaign to tell us that our skin, sleep, and spirit will improve with no alcohol. And it also seems that there's a lot of cannabis ads. But I would be surprised if cannabis is better organized than alcohol. Maybe cannabis is being bought up by powerful companies? On its face, it doesn't seem like this is the likely reason for all of this.

There is simply something going on here. In the NYT This Morning email there was a link to yet ANOTHER article about cutting back on alcohol. After just running one on Monday. One commenter on this article--because again, at least a few are starting to ask why, NYT--one person said they think it's Biden's last-ditch effort to make some kind of difference. That may be a stretch, and it's pretty pathetic. But something is up. This just doesn't make sense. Article after article, with nothing new.

I think the main thing that’s going on is that they reassessed the study/studies that suggested wine had any health benefits — turns out the benefits were relative only; wine drinkers weren’t being compared to non-drinkers, only to drinkers of hard liquors. Then the more they looked at the data using real controls, the worse it seemed.

This is not correct. The main issue with the controls was that ex-heavy drinkers and people who had given up drinking because of poor health had been included in the non-drinkers. Once these are stripped out, the health benefits of alcohol reduce significantly. That said, light and moderate alcohol consumption do reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The issue is that most researchers now believe that thesse benefits may be outweighed by the increased cancer risk. That said, the net impact on your health of light moderate drinking is pretty small, and much less than eg being obese. So, while you are probably better off without it - and certainly if you’re a heavy drinker - don’t think that going from drinking little to drinking nothing will do very much for your health.

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Anonymous wrote:We have long known that processed meat - bacon, sausage, pepperoni, as well as red meat is a carcinogen and it has been recognized as such and due to the industry you never ever hear about avoiding it on a regular basis whereas right now, huge alcohol is the devil message everywhere.

What's your gut instinct about why the focus is alcohol now vs red meat, processed food, environmental factors, etc?

DP here. It’s two things: the cannabis lobby and further testing by government to see how messaging works to change society. Will enough of society stop thinking critically and follow the herd if the right messaging is repeated over and over? For the last year, the answer was largely yes, but I think people are finally starting to wake up.

+1 I'm really starting to buy into the conspiracy theory that the cannabis lobby is behind the recent negative messaging around alcohol. Even in DCUM you had a post immediately after the surgeon general's recommendation asking for recommendations of gummies or a THC drink to replace alcohol.

You think the cannabis lobby is more powerful than the booze lobby? Come on.

OP here. You've summarized my take. Something seems off-normal and coordinated about the campaign to tell us that our skin, sleep, and spirit will improve with no alcohol. And it also seems that there's a lot of cannabis ads. But I would be surprised if cannabis is better organized than alcohol. Maybe cannabis is being bought up by powerful companies? On its face, it doesn't seem like this is the likely reason for all of this.

There is simply something going on here. In the NYT This Morning email there was a link to yet ANOTHER article about cutting back on alcohol. After just running one on Monday. One commenter on this article--because again, at least a few are starting to ask why, NYT--one person said they think it's Biden's last-ditch effort to make some kind of difference. That may be a stretch, and it's pretty pathetic. But something is up. This just doesn't make sense. Article after article, with nothing new.

I think the main thing that’s going on is that they reassessed the study/studies that suggested wine had any health benefits — turns out the benefits were relative only; wine drinkers weren’t being compared to non-drinkers, only to drinkers of hard liquors. Then the more they looked at the data using real controls, the worse it seemed.

Anonymous wrote:I agree PP. the people calling this a conspiracy are simply addicted to alcohol and are afraid of evolving.

Anonymous wrote:I agree PP. the people calling this a conspiracy are simply addicted to alcohol and are afraid of evolving.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I quit 6 months ago, with occasional drinks here and there for special occasions. I'm not fat (opposite-- skinny runner). Mid-40s.

Yeah, my cancer risk has gone down. The pp who mentioned red meat is right, and I stick to the recommended 1 serving per week of red meat.

I suspect that the benefits people talk about don't really accrue to people who just have wine with dinner. I was particularly interested in not waking up at night and here I am at 2am, having awaken yet again. It's fine if the benefits are all internal, and none it changes things for me since I have other reasons not to drink, but I can see why people are ambivalent about giving up a nightly glass when the benefits are oversold.

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Anonymous wrote:We have long known that processed meat - bacon, sausage, pepperoni, as well as red meat is a carcinogen and it has been recognized as such and due to the industry you never ever hear about avoiding it on a regular basis whereas right now, huge alcohol is the devil message everywhere.

What's your gut instinct about why the focus is alcohol now vs red meat, processed food, environmental factors, etc?

DP here. It’s two things: the cannabis lobby and further testing by government to see how messaging works to change society. Will enough of society stop thinking critically and follow the herd if the right messaging is repeated over and over? For the last year, the answer was largely yes, but I think people are finally starting to wake up.

+1 I'm really starting to buy into the conspiracy theory that the cannabis lobby is behind the recent negative messaging around alcohol. Even in DCUM you had a post immediately after the surgeon general's recommendation asking for recommendations of gummies or a THC drink to replace alcohol.

You think the cannabis lobby is more powerful than the booze lobby? Come on.

OP here. You've summarized my take. Something seems off-normal and coordinated about the campaign to tell us that our skin, sleep, and spirit will improve with no alcohol. And it also seems that there's a lot of cannabis ads. But I would be surprised if cannabis is better organized than alcohol. Maybe cannabis is being bought up by powerful companies? On its face, it doesn't seem like this is the likely reason for all of this.

There is simply something going on here. In the NYT This Morning email there was a link to yet ANOTHER article about cutting back on alcohol. After just running one on Monday. One commenter on this article--because again, at least a few are starting to ask why, NYT--one person said they think it's Biden's last-ditch effort to make some kind of difference. That may be a stretch, and it's pretty pathetic. But something is up. This just doesn't make sense. Article after article, with nothing new.

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Anonymous wrote:We have long known that processed meat - bacon, sausage, pepperoni, as well as red meat is a carcinogen and it has been recognized as such and due to the industry you never ever hear about avoiding it on a regular basis whereas right now, huge alcohol is the devil message everywhere.

What's your gut instinct about why the focus is alcohol now vs red meat, processed food, environmental factors, etc?

DP here. It’s two things: the cannabis lobby and further testing by government to see how messaging works to change society. Will enough of society stop thinking critically and follow the herd if the right messaging is repeated over and over? For the last year, the answer was largely yes, but I think people are finally starting to wake up.

+1 I'm really starting to buy into the conspiracy theory that the cannabis lobby is behind the recent negative messaging around alcohol. Even in DCUM you had a post immediately after the surgeon general's recommendation asking for recommendations of gummies or a THC drink to replace alcohol.

You think the cannabis lobby is more powerful than the booze lobby? Come on.

OP here. You've summarized my take. Something seems off-normal and coordinated about the campaign to tell us that our skin, sleep, and spirit will improve with no alcohol. And it also seems that there's a lot of cannabis ads. But I would be surprised if cannabis is better organized than alcohol. Maybe cannabis is being bought up by powerful companies? On its face, it doesn't seem like this is the likely reason for all of this.

There is simply something going on here. In the NYT This Morning email there was a link to yet ANOTHER article about cutting back on alcohol. After just running one on Monday. One commenter on this article--because again, at least a few are starting to ask why, NYT--one person said they think it's Biden's last-ditch effort to make some kind of difference. That may be a stretch, and it's pretty pathetic. But something is up. This just doesn't make sense. Article after article, with nothing new.

It's a new year, so there are a zillion articles about diet, exercise and health targeting everyone who's made resolutions. This happens annually.

Anonymous wrote:I drink 1-2 glasses of wine most evenings. So moderate to heavy. I read things like that I had to pee at night or woke up at night because of the alcohol. I read that alcohol caused weight gain and if you quit drinking, it just falls off. Relationships improve, they say.

None of this has happened for me. Possibly, I may experience less anxiety. But that's hard to tell for sure and hard to pinpoint causation.

I'm not going to reverse course, I'm kind of stuck with not drinking due to a medical reason. But, I do want to say that people are kind of overhyping the immediate benefits. If you're doing dry January, do it for the mental discipline, do it for the hot chocolate. The rest of it is kind of misleading.

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Anonymous wrote:LOL if I lost a lb a week from quitting drinking I’d be underweight fast.

I quit because it made me terribly anxious the next day. It made me puffy and bloated in the face. It made me sad sometimes while drinking. It made me foggy headed and unable to see my exH”s alcoholism and how I was enabling him.

Do you, OP. But your singular short term experience doesn’t reflect that of all people who quit drinking. For me it’s been a game changer.

Alcohol is super lowbrow/low vibration. Alcohol sober is so trendy out west (where I live) and I freaking love it. We have recognized how it ages us and keeps us inside getting fat and anxious, vs out experiencing the world at large.

I don’t hang with drinkers.

Teetotalers are so unbearable.

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Anonymous wrote:We have long known that processed meat - bacon, sausage, pepperoni, as well as red meat is a carcinogen and it has been recognized as such and due to the industry you never ever hear about avoiding it on a regular basis whereas right now, huge alcohol is the devil message everywhere.

What's your gut instinct about why the focus is alcohol now vs red meat, processed food, environmental factors, etc?

DP here. It’s two things: the cannabis lobby and further testing by government to see how messaging works to change society. Will enough of society stop thinking critically and follow the herd if the right messaging is repeated over and over? For the last year, the answer was largely yes, but I think people are finally starting to wake up.

+1 I'm really starting to buy into the conspiracy theory that the cannabis lobby is behind the recent negative messaging around alcohol. Even in DCUM you had a post immediately after the surgeon general's recommendation asking for recommendations of gummies or a THC drink to replace alcohol.

You think the cannabis lobby is more powerful than the booze lobby? Come on.

OP here. You've summarized my take. Something seems off-normal and coordinated about the campaign to tell us that our skin, sleep, and spirit will improve with no alcohol. And it also seems that there's a lot of cannabis ads. But I would be surprised if cannabis is better organized than alcohol. Maybe cannabis is being bought up by powerful companies? On its face, it doesn't seem like this is the likely reason for all of this.

There is simply something going on here. In the NYT This Morning email there was a link to yet ANOTHER article about cutting back on alcohol. After just running one on Monday. One commenter on this article--because again, at least a few are starting to ask why, NYT--one person said they think it's Biden's last-ditch effort to make some kind of difference. That may be a stretch, and it's pretty pathetic. But something is up. This just doesn't make sense. Article after article, with nothing new.