Drinking wine each evening

[Mamabear2424]

Is it ok to drink wine every eve?? I have a glass , sometimes 2 every evening and I love it, it makes me happy. Dh says mental health more important so if it makes me happy I should just do it. I am a healthy 40 something with a professional career. I just love wine.

@Mamabear2424 You can do whatever you want to, obviously. And sure, there are absolutely loads of people who drink more than you and don't cause themselves too much damage. But you asked. And the fact is alcohol is a poison. There's no need to tell people to "get over themselves" because they're telling you the truth you don't want to to hear. Honestly I think the denial is maybe worth a think about, even if you then decide to carry on drinking the same amount.

Have you forgotten the topic of your own thread?
Yes of course your list is not good for you. But these being not good for you does not make alcohol any better for you.

Anyway good luck on your 2 dry days. Hope it goes well.

I'm not aware of a single person having suggested otherwise. However, I'm also not sure what other people's poor habits have to do with your drinking habits.

If I eat too much chocolate, the impact of that on my health is not lessened by the fact that you're drinking two glasses of wine every night.

If you're comfortable with the fact that you're drinking more than the recommended limits, that's entirely your choice. But the fact that other people drink more than the limit too, or that they have other bad habits instead, doesn't in any way reduce the risks to your health.

Ultimately, you don't have to justify your drinking habits to anyone. You're an adult and alcohol is not illegal. You can drink as much or as little as you like. But you must have had some level of niggling doubt about how much you are drinking because you wouldn't have started the thread otherwise. Just be honest with yourself about the choices that you're making and the risks that you are and aren't willing to accept. The opinions of random strangers on the Internet - whether they agree with you or not - are not relevant or important.

Surely it’s about individual quantities and personal consumption? I don’t doubt that alcohol consumed excessively is more of a drain on the country than heroin. But on a personal level it’s hard to argue that a glass of wine 4-5 times a week is worse than shooting up heroin…

Sigh, i have said many times i posted as it was niggling me, i have also said due to discussing this i will have 2 free days. The point is people make out they have perfect lives and 100% healthy and do all the right things, which is so untrue.

Also agree with a poster saying 14 units is just an 'arbitary made up number ' plucked out , i dont think there is any medical evidence.

I may as well smoke some weed then or shoot up heroin....if alcohol is the worst and weed right at the end of the list, gosh we live in a messed up country , one is bad yet sold everywhere, one illegal yet ok!

The World Health Organisation published an article in The Lancet in January 2023 regarding the health risks associated with any alcohol consumption no matter how light . It’s worth a read. Obviously you can ignore it but it explains the risks clearly- especially the risks of developing cancer.

The risks and harms associated with drinking alcohol have been systematically evaluated over the years and are well documented. The World Health Organization has now published a statement in The Lancet Public Health: when it comes to alcohol consumption, there is no safe amount that does not affect health.

You're not wrong about it being messed up. It doesn't actually make any sense that weed is illegal and alcohol isnt. But if you don't believe me here's a link to a website with the study. It's actually a more recent one than I'd previously seen (2020) and has been updated to show that alcohol is now only the 3rd most harmful, after crack and meth but STILL ahead of heroin and everything else.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.592199/full

I'm not telling you what to do btw. I just think a lot of people close their minds to the risk. If you'd seen a loved one die from alcohol related liver disease (who honestly I hadn't even realised was an "alcoholic" until the last year of their life when they were told to stop drinking or they'd die, because their drinking was fairly like yours. Every day, probably 4 drinks a day on average) then you might feel differently. I just think a lot of people think you have to be destitute, drinking from morning to night to be an alcoholic or cause massive damage but that's not necessarily true. Some people get lucky. Others don't. You can decide to do what you like but it's good to at least understand the risks.

I don't think people really are making out that they're perfect. Long and short of it, it's your life, do as you see fit.

Sorry OP. I was wrong. The report I linked to before actually shows heroin, crack and meth are all worse. So it's slightly less bad than I thought. A 2010 study showed alcohol as the worst of all and that's what I was originally referring to. I've linked it below but obviously the 2020 one is the most up to date information.
I'm not sure if that's a ringing endorsement though, being better than those 3 drugs.

Anyway, whichever of the 2 studies you go by would suggest that you'd indeed be better off smoking weed or dropping ecstasy or LSD than drinking (not that I'm suggesting you should do that either) 😂

www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/25/what-is-the-most-dangerous-drug

You can sigh all you like, OP. I don't think anyone here is pretending to live a perfect life. That isn't the point.

You can of course choose to ignore the 14 unit guidelines if you wish. It's your life and your health. However, it's a bit odd to suggest that it's just a random number plucked from nowhere without any medical evidence. The rationale for setting the recommendations at that level is in the public domain - I'm happy to point you towards it if you're interested but I suspect that you're more invested right now in finding reasons why you don't need to cut down. Fair enough.

Well in an ideal world you'd be happy and relaxed without it I suppose. Alcohol happy is fake happy and sometimes masks pretty rubbish real feelings, and helps you tolerate things you'd be better off changing.

It’s fascinating that the recommendations vary so much around the world. It’s almost as though there’s no scientific consensus..

I say this as someone who probably drinks a similar amount to the OP so I'm certainly not anti-alcohol but if alcohol was invented tomorrow and studied would it be legal? I don't think so. The health issues, drink driving and anti social behaviour linked to it makes me think it wouldn't be, but thats a hypothetical debate...

I think the main scientific consensus is probably that it's safer not to drink any alcohol at all, but most national governments would probably balk at telling their citizens to stop drinking altogether.

Backup thread, someone mentioned the size of wine glasses, and that reminded me that my glass a night is in a small glass - mine also came from a charity shop. I get 5-6 glasses out of a bottle.

Day 5 of Dry January, and I've not noticed any difference in the way I feel or how I'm sleeping. In the evenings, I do think, ooh a glass of wine would be nice, so it's definitely a habit. But I'm not bothered that I can't have one.

Do I feel that I am poisoning myself? No. Every now and again, I'll catch sight of something telling me that I'm killing myself drinking coffee, or about the toxins in vegetables, dairy produce or tap water. I know that pollution, stress and lack of exercise are bad for me, but that's my life sometimes. I do feel overweight, but my BMI is in the normal range, I don't eat meat, I don't smoke and I'm rarely ill. I'll take my chances with a glass of wine every evening (from Feb), so long as I can get to and keep to my target weight.

14 units may be an arbitrary guideline but it gives an indication, since the fact is any alcohol has a negative effect and less is better than more. Men used to have a higher guideline - 21 units I think - and that has been lowered to 14, presumably based on evidence of some sort. All this had been made clear repeatedly so I don't see the point in continuing to mentioni it is 'arbitrary' and making it sound like it's a random number with no basis in fact at all.

Assuming 2.5 bottles a week equates to 25 units, and OP is cutting out 2 days of drinking, this would mean she drinks 3.57 units a day on average, which would be 17.86 units over 5 days, which is still over the guideline. I guess she wants to keep drinking beyond the recommended guideline, hence the need to keep making it sound like 14 is plucked out of the air.

Also arguing that everyone else must also be unhealthy in some other way as a justification for drinking too much is not only fallacious but irrelevant. This thread is discussing the merits, or lack of , relating to alcohol only.

As it happens I barely ever drink coffee, never smoke anything, drink fizzy drinks only occasionally, am a healthy weight, regulate my diet as I wish to stay healthy and take exercise several times a week. However I do drink wine fairly regularly, so not a total paragon of virtue!

Torn on this one. I used to drink wine a LOT. To the point I stopped drinking all together for over 2 years due to alcohol induced fatty liver. I was so bloody miserable during those 2 years. For the last year I have had 2 glasses on a Friday and 2 on a Saturday. Wouldn’t ever increase that as agree is slippery slope, however completely agree that it does make you happier!

Google it

I think it’s too much, how would you feel if you missed a night.

There is no other country in the world that has the same drinking guidelines as the UK..why the lack of consensus on this?

Men in Spain are recommended 35 units..no other country has men and women at the same level. (Or only a handful do - has the rest of the world got this wrong??)

I’m playing Devils advocate slightly but this blind clinging to the 14 units is annoying. 13 units good? 15 bad? Unless you’re a man in Spain then double that is ok…

I guess you’ve got to look at the health of people in those countries particularly in relation to alcoholism and general poor health.

I agree it’s not as simple as 13-15. It’s a habit which is an issue.

There’s also the issue that you have to make it doable. For a population that relies heavily on alcohol, no one will reduce it they think they have to reduce too much.

I do find the “point and look over there” type of arguments quite silly. “Yes drinking wine is bad but look at all those other people eating lots of chocolate and takeaways”.

It’s like if you dare to mention the impact of anyone’s behaviour on the planet you are not allowed to do so unless you yourself live in a hedge with no car or children. It’s quite a childish mindset.

I wouldn’t listen to anyone pretending to be perfect. We all have our different vices (unfortunately mine is sugar atm). The point was you asked about alcohol and you’ve got your answer.

I think we only have different recommendations for men and women here because of the different average size between the two. Men and women in Spain are all more slim and alike so have similar tolerance.