😆 @ binners cartoon. 😆

I’m not sure it’s as clear-cut as drinking = bad, and abstinence = good.
Drinking can be used to relieve periods of stress, obviously this shouldn’t be a permanent solution but it has helped get me through some very difficult weeks.
There are studies showing that Jewish and Muslim men have higher rates of depression than the gentiles/infidels because they DON’T drink.
Pubs can also play an important role in promoting “Social capital” – networks of friends, helping to alleviate the loneliness of modern life for many people.
The problem is BINGING/EXCESS. This goes for everything – food (as big a killer IMO), booze, smoking, I’d also include exercise in this.
Rather than promoting a culture which heckles against any type of pleasure, we need a network of friends, who will occassionally say “lay off a bit big fella” when it starts to become a lifestyle of excess.

Damnit Binners, now I have a strong desire to play the Withnail and I drinking game.

(Not really. Do not under any circumstances ever try to play the Withnail and I drinking game, kids, it’s quite a bad idea.)

It might be a good thing for the younger generation if my age group (50+) peg out earlier than the projected life expectancy as the poor sods might have some houses to buy & not get taxed to the hilt.

I know I drink too much for the good of my health, but it does take the edge off what for me is an emotionally draining existence. Luckily I’m not an aggressive drunk or that could be a problem.

I thought they’d dropped using units per week as a measure of whether you were drinking too much – the labels on the back of my bottles say “recommend do not regularly exceed: men 3-4 units daily, women 2-3 units daily” (so that’s already above the 21/14 units mentioned in the article – it seems 28/21 is OK or even a bit more if you have a couple of heavy nights a week which is apparently fine).

If I’m reading correctly, that article is saying that when surveyed, people who are actually healthy were drinking more than some arbitrary outdated limits which they reckon means they’re not as healthy as they actually are. I’m also less than convinced that damage due to alcohol is in any way linear with consumption – they might have managed to fit a line to whatever data they generated, but that’s not the same thing at all.

Not that I’m condoning genuine middle class alcohol abuse – there is plenty of that about and I had an aunt who was an alcoholic and died of alcohol related illness. I’m just not convinced that drinking more than 4 units in the evening with a meal in the comfort of your own home is actually that. FWIW my personal average consumption is well below 21 units per week as I often have completely dry weeks, though I do sometimes go well over that.

aracer is right – govt guidelines are stated as daily as they want to avoid binge drinking, because otherwise people think that 7 units on consecutive nights is ok, which it isn’t

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/25/special-occasion-drinking-bottle-wine

treat the above link as a quiz – I do, or have done 11 out of the 12

no real evidence that 9 pints of beer a week is safe

FTFY

I knew you were a yummy mummy lunchtime fizz kinda girl Ed! 😀

The quoted limits also take no account of body weight. A 6ft3 16 stone male can drink more than a 5ft6 8 stone male for the same risk of harm.

was just about to comment but was interrupted by a call from Majestic telling me my order was ready

I will be adding to the statistic tonight, I’ve got mates around and we’ve been off the beer for all of Ramadan (though none of us are religious, we just do it during this time of year, in part because we’re riding more and training more whilst it’s good weather and the suns out)

Vodka & Tonics all round.

You complain about the lack of evidence for official limits and then make an evidence-free statement yourself.

The recent relative cheapness and social acceptance of regular alcohol consumption in our society is already thought to have contributed to a
You pick someone up for making an evidence-free statement then make one yourself? How very STW

Yeah, cos everyone who drinks more than the recommended daily limit immediately heads out in their car to mow down pedestrians.

But that’s not what he was even suggesting, which was perfectly obvious and yet you completely distorted it for some reason.

Dear God, sometimes the lazy, sanctimonious, self-righteous, puritanical, judgemental, superior, middle class, Daily Mail-esque bleating on here really defies beief!

You’re telling us!

I’m on an early finish, so we’re all off to the pub now.

Its likely to get messy

Cheers all. Have a nice afternoon 😀

IMO the threshold is bollocks. They lump together people who have a pint or two per night along with those who have a couple of bottles of wine, and find out that this group on average has health problems. But those who drink a pint or two (2-3 glasses of wine) didn’t!

It blows my mind how calorific alcohol is. If anybody is thinking about shaving a few pounds then you could do a lot worse than looking here! 🙂

By a lot I mean nearly twice as much per gram as sugar. Crazy!

yep, and that’s BEFORE you factor in the alcohol-enhanced loveliness of kebabs, take away pizza and chip shop teas

Fast forward 20 years and the chap was right, i have seen people lose jobs, relationships, friendships, lose their bite, lose their enthusiasm and 99% of the time alcohol has been the underlying cause.

I’ve seen friends go through similar scenarios and 100% time alcohol had nothing to do with it.

Alcohol dependency is bloody awful though see far too much of it at work.

By a lot I mean nearly twice as much per gram as sugar. Crazy!

On the plus side, a bottle of wine is probably several of your five a day.

binners – Member
As long as it’s wine of an acceptable standard then it isn’t alcoholism.

Chin chin daaaaahling

😀

I knew you were a yummy mummy lunchtime fizz kinda girl Ed!

yeah ! choose between

a flat roof pub with a load of daft middleaged blokes
a load of yummy mummies squiffy on prosecco

me, with my reputation ?

But that’s not what he was even suggesting, which was perfectly obvious and yet you completely distorted it for some reason. [/quote]

So by “no mention of the ‘human’ cost such as the effects on others be it family, work colleagues or the people you kill when you drive after ‘just a couple at lunchtime'” he wasn’t actually suggesting that drinking a bit more than their arbitrary limits turns you into somebody who kills people in your car? Given the number of people who are killed by sober drivers I’m wondering whether it’s actually the human cost of alcohol we should be worrying about.

Hmm, ed’s link really is a guide to middle class alcoholism though.

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what has the world come to.
a shadow of its former self.
the friday EDL thread is now just a load of folk justifying their own drinking habits.

E – half a stale flapjack
D – water (expensive pish lager later)
L – R6

Surely less a question of units, and more a question of the relationship with alcohol. Are you enjoying a glass of wine, or are you self-medicating? Can you relax, socialise etc. without it?

So by “no mention of the ‘human’ cost such as the effects on others be it family, work colleagues or the people you kill when you drive after ‘just a couple at lunchtime'” he wasn’t actually suggesting that drinking a bit more than their arbitrary limits turns you into somebody who kills people in your car?

That’s right, he wasn’t.

Given the number of people who are killed by sober drivers I’m wondering whether it’s actually the human cost of alcohol we should be worrying about.

I think it’s fine just to have a separate conversation, although there will no doubt be elements of each conversation that would be present in both. I don’t think it’s necessary to ignore one problem just because another exists.

I thought this survey simply identified richer middle class people spend more on alcohol, which does not necessarily equate to more units.

From what I have read in the press etc, I thought the problem was with cheap booze freely available to poor people.

This contradicts this but there is no direct evidence of units or is there?

Good to see Binners on form today!

FWIW, I have always found people who don’t drink to be very dull and a bit odd!

(not wanting to insult anyone mind! 🙂 )

Does anyone want anything from the bar while I’m going?

In which case what was the relevance to this thread?

Pint of Vodka please Binners. I’ve got some units to use up.

Bucket of Red Bull with that?

…. And a straw? 😀

Have they got any peanuts? I need something to line my stomach if we are going on a bender.

I’ll grab you a pork pie. I’ve just had one to see me through to the inevitable kebab later 😀

Just an ice cube and a straw please

Does anyone want anything from the bar while I’m going?

Maybe later just pulled around form yesterday’s all day session.

Have they got any peanuts? I need something to line my stomach if we are going on a bender.

Eating is cheating, just MTFU!