4 ms·

I have a hard time thinking there's a problem here. I mean, if three beers a night will kill a person in the long run then the authorities need to be clear abou

I have a hard time thinking there's a problem here. I mean, if three beers a night will kill a person in the long run then the authorities need to be clear about that. It seems like that guideline is more due to the fact that alcohol is dangerous in excess -- excess meaning drunk -- and also addictive, which feeds into the danger, in excess. I go months at a time without drinking, and generally stay between 2-4 drinks when I do, but as soon as I hit that 4th I want to keep going and have a hard time stopping. If I were to follow your program of 20 units per week it wouldn't be long before there would be trouble. That's problematic, IMO. 18 years without being drunk? You've got the best of both worlds.

likemybooze 7y ago
I am now realizing when doing the math I misremembered and the US CDC unit of alcohol is 14g, so I am consuming 3 units/day whereas their guidelines are no more than 2 units/day. The UK in contrast says a unit is 8g, and suggests no more than 2 units a day (so slightly more than half the US guideline). Some countries call a unit 10g. If I recall correctly France suggests no more than 40g/day, so around 2/3rds of a bottle of wine (so 50% more than the US guideline). So the suggested “healthy” limits for reasonable drinking vary considerably between countries and I am definitely exceeding the US guidelines, and even slightly exceeding the French guideline.
- guerby 7y ago
  From France official health insurer web site : https://www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/themes/alcool-sante/definition-reperes-consommation https://www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/themes/alcool-sante/defini... "No more than 10 glass a week, with no more than two glass a day." A glass = 10g alcohol, so 14g/day. The web site also say there is no alcohol consumption without risk.
  - likemybooze 7y ago
    Interesting, perhaps some of the guidelines have been revised down in recent years. I distinctly remember both France and Italy having higher recommended daily limits and the only explanations I could find were that wine was part of the culture and thus the governments were reluctant to recommend substantially less than what people were actually drinking in practice.

likemybooze 7y ago

I am now realizing when doing the math I misremembered and the US CDC unit of alcohol is 14g, so I am consuming 3 units/day whereas their guidelines are no more than 2 units/day. The UK in contrast says a unit is 8g, and suggests no more than 2 units a day (so slightly more than half the US guideline). Some countries call a unit 10g. If I recall correctly France suggests no more than 40g/day, so around 2/3rds of a bottle of wine (so 50% more than the US guideline). So the suggested “healthy” limits for reasonable drinking vary considerably between countries and I am definitely exceeding the US guidelines, and even slightly exceeding the French guideline.

guerby 7y ago
From France official health insurer web site : https://www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/themes/alcool-sante/definition-reperes-consommation https://www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/themes/alcool-sante/defini... "No more than 10 glass a week, with no more than two glass a day." A glass = 10g alcohol, so 14g/day. The web site also say there is no alcohol consumption without risk.
- likemybooze 7y ago
  Interesting, perhaps some of the guidelines have been revised down in recent years. I distinctly remember both France and Italy having higher recommended daily limits and the only explanations I could find were that wine was part of the culture and thus the governments were reluctant to recommend substantially less than what people were actually drinking in practice.