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Alcohol is only addictive to alcoholics, and precisely what makes an alcoholic is a subject of ongoing research. Assuming you're not an alcoholic (the more lik

Alcohol is only addictive to alcoholics, and precisely what makes an alcoholic is a subject of ongoing research. Assuming you're not an alcoholic (the more likely option) it's no more addictive than candy. Actually less addictive, as candy doesn't have a hangover. As for drinking due to peer pressure, well drinking is a social thing. But in my experience most people will be perfectly fine with you not drinking for whatever reason. You might lose out though being the only sober one at the party, and you'll be driving a lot of people home if you have a car. :) For my part I'll typically go through a 6-pack or bottle of wine on the weekend, I never drink during the week. There are some very tasty alcoholic drinks out there, and while I find getting plastered unpleasant a mild-moderate buzz is quite enjoyable.

humanrebar 9y ago
Resisting candy is harder than resisting alcohol for me. So in that sense candy is more habit forming. But habitual candy eaters don't get sick or die from going cold turkey from eating candy (1). It's not clear that clinical addiction is even possible with sugar (2). In that sense, alcohol is much more addictive. (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawal_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawal_syndrome (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar#Addiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar#Addiction
- TACIXAT 9y ago
  Withdrawal is possible with sugar and I could prove this (with myself, which is miserable). If any scientists want to monitor me for a week while I eat a bunch of ice cream, stop, and get violently ill, I would love to do this for the sake of science. I'm celiac. My symptoms are best described as withdrawals to various food. I had chronic sinusitis (which is associated with celiacs but not studied anywhere) my whole life until I tried an elimination diet to cut out wheat (at 23). It was the best I had ever felt. Since then (now 28) I have cut out caffeine, sodium nitrites, MSG, and most recently sugar. Once I started feeling better from not eating wheat, it was easier to identify other triggers. I get minor sinus headaches while consuming these regularly (I attribute these to "missing a dose" of something my body is dependent on) and when I cut them out I go into full withdrawal mode. I get a really bad sinus headache, I get nervous shakes, sometimes cold sweats, diarrhea, and vomiting. I don't drink mostly because I don't enjoy it getting sick (and it's tough to find gluten free, sugar free drinks) but I've been meaning to experiment with alcohol to see if the symptoms are similar. There is a crazy lack of research done on celiacs. I think withdrawal symptoms could explain a lot. Gluten has been seen to act similar to opioids in patients with Autism (while studies have shown that a gluten free diet does not affect symptoms of Autism, behaviors, etc). I also believe that undiagnosed celiac cases could explain why some people swear MSG causes them problems while many believe it is entirely harmless.
DanBC 9y ago
> Actually less addictive, as candy doesn't have a hangover. Since a hangover is part of the mechanism of dependency I'm not sure how you get to this conclusion.
mercer 9y ago
> Alcohol is only addictive to alcoholics, and precisely what makes an alcoholic is a subject of ongoing research. Could you elaborate on that? From what I know the whole term 'alcoholic' is generally avoided in research precisely because 1) we don't actually know whether 'alcoholics' exist, and 2) we do know quite a bit about the mechanics of addiction, and based on what we know it seems like anyone can be addicted to pretty much anything under the sun. Based on this, at most one could argue that alcohol is only addictive to those who are susceptible to addiction to alcohol (whether through circumstance or genetic factors). But that would be a tautology.

humanrebar 9y ago

Resisting candy is harder than resisting alcohol for me. So in that sense candy is more habit forming. But habitual candy eaters don't get sick or die from going cold turkey from eating candy (1). It's not clear that clinical addiction is even possible with sugar (2). In that sense, alcohol is much more addictive. (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawal_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawal_syndrome (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar#Addiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar#Addiction

TACIXAT 9y ago
Withdrawal is possible with sugar and I could prove this (with myself, which is miserable). If any scientists want to monitor me for a week while I eat a bunch of ice cream, stop, and get violently ill, I would love to do this for the sake of science. I'm celiac. My symptoms are best described as withdrawals to various food. I had chronic sinusitis (which is associated with celiacs but not studied anywhere) my whole life until I tried an elimination diet to cut out wheat (at 23). It was the best I had ever felt. Since then (now 28) I have cut out caffeine, sodium nitrites, MSG, and most recently sugar. Once I started feeling better from not eating wheat, it was easier to identify other triggers. I get minor sinus headaches while consuming these regularly (I attribute these to "missing a dose" of something my body is dependent on) and when I cut them out I go into full withdrawal mode. I get a really bad sinus headache, I get nervous shakes, sometimes cold sweats, diarrhea, and vomiting. I don't drink mostly because I don't enjoy it getting sick (and it's tough to find gluten free, sugar free drinks) but I've been meaning to experiment with alcohol to see if the symptoms are similar. There is a crazy lack of research done on celiacs. I think withdrawal symptoms could explain a lot. Gluten has been seen to act similar to opioids in patients with Autism (while studies have shown that a gluten free diet does not affect symptoms of Autism, behaviors, etc). I also believe that undiagnosed celiac cases could explain why some people swear MSG causes them problems while many believe it is entirely harmless.

DanBC 9y ago

> Actually less addictive, as candy doesn't have a hangover. Since a hangover is part of the mechanism of dependency I'm not sure how you get to this conclusion.

mercer 9y ago

> Alcohol is only addictive to alcoholics, and precisely what makes an alcoholic is a subject of ongoing research. Could you elaborate on that? From what I know the whole term 'alcoholic' is generally avoided in research precisely because 1) we don't actually know whether 'alcoholics' exist, and 2) we do know quite a bit about the mechanics of addiction, and based on what we know it seems like anyone can be addicted to pretty much anything under the sun. Based on this, at most one could argue that alcohol is only addictive to those who are susceptible to addiction to alcohol (whether through circumstance or genetic factors). But that would be a tautology.