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.

I agree Serv that it doesn't have to mean a slippery slope. I've seen lots of people cut back as they get older as they can't tolerate alcohol as well, my mum for starters, or because you become more health conscious or your taste for it just goes. Same as smoking. Decades ago people used to say that social smoking would always lead to full on smoking which just isn't the case for everyone

Yes, but if you're talking about just for your own consumption that could be, like, 25 units. Well over the recommended 14 unit limit. It's just not healthy long-term, is it? Drinking 2 units a day causes one extra woman out of every 50 to develop breast cancer.

etc etc blah blah, fingers in ears time. I'm saying this because I know it's bad for me but it's crept up for me over the Christmas holidays too because I like the taste of it with food and have had plenty in over Christmas to crack one open during meal prepping. Result is I've only had one alcohol-free night. Most nights it's a large glass of wine this holiday, maybe into a second one. Every night. I know it's not good for my health. My skin looks dehydrated and my digestion is affected. I find myself going in the kitchen to cook and thinking of getting a glass while I start chopping veg and listening to music. That's purely a habit thing rather than a dependency as such, so I'm just going to break the habit and start having a glass of sparkling water or something like that instead.

Like others say, it's a slippery slope. Don't try to kid yourself that it's alright and that it's good for your mental health. That's just daft.

Indeed it is. No one's quite sure who originated it though. Some say Louis Pasteur, some say Brillat-Savarin. Whoever it was, it sounds good!

I think it is too much.

What is it you like about the wine? Is it the taste or how it makes you feel?

If it's he former, can you find another way to get the taste? If it's the later, can you find another way to get the effect?

https://www.livestrong.com/article/515297-the-effects-of-two-glasses-of-wine-a-day/

"Disease Prevention or Cause?

According to an August 2016 article published by Nutrients, chemical components in wine called polyphenols, including resveratrol and quercetin, are natural substances that have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties — which have been shown to help prevent and treat cancer.

However, according to the National Cancer Institute, alcohol consumption of as little as one drink per day has been shown to increase risk of developing some types of cancer, including head and neck, esophageal, liver, breast and colorectal."

Excellent! Trust the French! Totally right though!

Bingo. We have a winner.

ooh what did I win!

Happiness from alcohol is very far removed from good for mental health

But do we aspire to drink like the French?
Because a different country does something does not mean it is a good idea to copy.

It might be better if we did. The French tend to drink to enhance the pleasure of their meals but many Brits tend to drink to get drunk.

12 crates of red wine with two complimentary wine glasses.

So by increasing the acceptable units we are going to change UK drinking habits?
Also this idea of french drinking habits being somehow classy as opposed to us uncouth Brits is sooo outdated.

And your body doesn't care if you are drinking to enhance food, to get drunk, to relax or to erase memories

If you like it & it suits you / your lifestyle, then fine.
I rarely drink. Wine makes me sick. That’s fine, too.

Indeed. Or a Spaniard. I have a glass of wine with my dinner every evening. Have done for years. Never more than that!

Surely the reason that you drink is likely to dictate how much you drink? If you are drinking to forget, you will drink a lot more than a glass with your dinner.

When I was young a glass of wine was much smaller it was 125 ml now it’s 250ml. I’m pretty sure it used to be six glasses of wine to a bottle. This is the issue with everything food and drink wise that’s problematical people have forgotten moderation. Just have a smaller amount per day. I bought some really lovely old wine glasses from a charity shop and the size is much smaller, I get drunk ridiculously easily, I am an absolute lightweight so this was better for me.

Good for you, Poppet.

That is twice the recommend amount though, before any Weekend drinking.

No. Its not OK to drink every evening

It's not OK to drink more than 14 units a week

Try having a month off. See how you go. If you can't stop thinking about wine, then you have an addiction - mental/emotional and or physical

Once the alcohol free month is over , make sure you have 3 days a week alcohol free and stick to 14 units a week

Too much and unhealthy.

Thank you for the reply. This post is not aimed at you at all. I just to reply to thank you....

I can't think of anything worse than one glass before bed. That's because I've lived my life drinking to get drunk you see.

All or nothing. Quite often nothing. More often all.

I've recently had full bloods done and I was gobsmacked that my lft was normal.

Then... Over the summer burning pain in my feet, stabbing pains, so bad at night that I'd be crying. I have a high pain threshold but the relentlessness and the lack of sleep - feeling someone is sticking red hot needles under my toenails.

Within these 6 months I've gone rapidly downhill, there is no feeling in parts of my feet, my toes are numb - except of the stabbing pains and burning from the inside. It's affecting my hands now, thumbs are numb the touch, yet the pain of trying to reach and pick something up is immense.

Alcohol induced neuropathy.

It will never get better.

As a poster said above - would you take a neurotoxin pill? Because that's what has happened. My peripheral nerve system is fucked. It's constantly sending pain signals to my brain or vice versa. Numb on the outside. The most unimaginable pain on the inside.

It's only going to get worse.

The 'you've got to die of something' brigade just strike me as so naive now. I'm not going to die due to alcohol, but I am going to live the rest of my life in worsening pain and lose control of my feet, lower legs, hands and arms.

I'm in my 40s.

I'm not telling anyone what to do. I thought drinking too much caused liver problems etc etc.

No, that's all fine. Assuming I live until an average age I get to spend 30 odd years in pain, unbalanced and with useless hands. I'm not allowed to drive anymore, and because of my hands it's unlikely even an adapted car would be approved.

So, there we go. It was all shits and giggles at the time 🙄😁

@Mamabear2424 Mumsnet is NEVER going to tell you it's ok to drink more than a sherry at Christmas! I can't believe you asked 😂

Bloody hell. I didn't even know this was a thing. I'm so sorry that you're going through this. May I ask how much you were drinking? I often wonder if the 14 unit 'rule' is too high

^^This.

But too much sugar, salt , caffeine, saturated fat isn't good for us either, we all know it.

Just keep things in moderation and enjoy your life.