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Is moderate drinking actually healthy? Scientists say the idea is outdated. (news.stanford.edu)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/science@lemmy.world
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[–] 128 points 1 year ago (27 children)

My dad lived a healthy lifestyle. Worked out everyday except the weekends; even competed in amateur competitions. He followed all the scientist’s advice and ate what was healthy and stayed away from what wasn’t. Still got Stage 4 cancer and died before his 69th birthday.

Point is: we’re still going to die, no matter how healthy we are. If you want to drink, do it responsibly (don’t drive, or text). Enjoy as much of this shitty life as you can, while you can.

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  • [–] 43 points 1 year ago* (7 children)

    Yep, as the saying goes, living will kill you.

    My approach is moderation. Enjoy life, enjoy those guilty pleasures, but, do it in moderation.

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  • [–] 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Everything in moderation, including moderation

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  • [–] -2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Is that a saying? Does anyone other than yourself say it?

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  • [–] 55 points 1 year ago* (7 children)

    Same with people who smoke or eat bacon every day and live past 100. It's an odd crapshoot.

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  • [–] 28 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I've seen it said that your date of death (if natural) is somewhat set in stone by genetics, but the condition you'll spend your final years in will be the result of your lifestyle instead. So living to excess will fuck you up in your later years but won't necessarily kill you any sooner.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago

    20-30% of lifespan is based on genetics and 20-30% of health in later years as well. The rest is all lifestyle.

    This is controlling for external elements like accidents or disasters.

    So somewhat genetics is true but it can be overcome with lifestyle to some degree. Figuring out which lifestyle choices is tricky and one of those times where sciences' replication crisis makes it all muddled.

    Advancement in medicine also plays a role because it can reign in some poor lifestyle choices that were death spirals just a generation prior.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Oh no. My grandmother is 92 and my grandfather is 93 and my great grandfather passed at 102.

    I don't know if I want to live that far. I better start drinkin'.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago*

    I think the point of the comment you replied to was that you will live until said ages potentially, but the quality of life in the last decade or so will be very poor. Growing up in a society where men drink a lot more than women (at least in my grand parents generation) I can tell you that you will likely also die from alcohol abuse sooner (generally heart attack or diabetes, but that last one also has genetic accelerants), but it is true that the last few years are not pretty.

    Edit: when abusing alcohol heavily.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Getting cancer is largely based on genetics.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    certain cancers like breast or thyroid and certain stomach are genetic.

    For everything else age is a huge factor. It’s usually in late 60s a person gets more chances of cancer as your cells age and create mutations.

    Certain life styles such as HPV are on the rise because of …well basically free loving in the 70s/80s prior to the vaccine. This is why you’re suddenly seeing a huge spike in throat cancer right now in 60 yr olds. Especially men and a lot of women are getting cervical cancer right now as gardisil was not around when they were most sexually active.

    And then you have certain hernias as you age are likely to happen that can lead to stomach cancer as your cells will make more mistakes to try to heal these hernias.

    Basically your cells heal. And each time they heal they increase in chances of mutation of becoming cancer. This becomes even more so as you age.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

    This argument is so odd and it depends on what you take away from it.

    Is the message "some people still get sick, so what's the point".....that's very misguided.

    The point is that all the lifestyle actions you take, give you the best chances, but there are no guarantees with anything in life. You're still playing the odds, but trying to stack them in your favour as much as possible. If you prepare for an interview, you're not guaranteed to get the job; but you prepare to give yourself the best chance you can. You can't decide to do nothing because the outcome is not guaranteed. Concluding "why even bother" is such odd thinking.

    Sorry about your dad though, RIP.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    The message is meant to be that you shouldn’t waste your time chasing the perfect healthy lifestyle, because in the end you’re going to die. Instead, do things that you enjoy while you have time to enjoy them right now.

    Nothing in the above should suggest to go buck wild and live an unhealthy lifestyle. For example, despite my experience with my dad and his chase for the healthy lifestyle, I too exercise, eat healthier, and drink in moderation. I’m certainly not trying to stave off death (who wants to live forever?). Rather, I’m trying to make the best of the life I have so I can enjoy time with my family.

    That’s the point I was trying to make. 😊

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    Some things will cause you to probably get cancer like using tobacco heavily but there isn't any way to make yourself healthier really, if you're going to have a major medical problem like random cancer it's going to happen. Being healthier just makes it easier to resist it or have a better chance of survival.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    Cancer is a bitch because even if we cured everything but cancer...we would still get cancer eventually. Cancer comes for even the immortal. Without that cure, we all would eventually get Cancer.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    i mean you could also do other enjoyable things that don't harm you, and enjoy life for as long as possible..

    It's so sad to see people cling onto alcohol like it's the only thing they enjoy in life, if you think a less healthy life is worth drinking alcohol then i'm sorry but that sounds kinda alcoholic to me.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    It is entirely possible to enjoy alcohol in moderation, without even getting drunk, or causing any personal or social problems.

    Granted, your experiences may differ, and I do respect that. I only mean to point out that the world is not so black and white, and that there are many varying degrees of grey in between each extreme.

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  • [+] -10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    No shit sherlock. Everyone has a different tolerance, sensitivity and trigger points for all kind of problems to appear out of nowhere. But this advice is bullshit.

    Having hard facts and learning how it affects the body goes further than "enjoy life, my granny smoked till she was 100 years old, I should be fine with 1 cigarette a day" kind of thinking.

    If you ever have any accident by accident, your chances of survival or recovery is diminished for your use of harmful substances. Everything is perfect until it isn't.You're supposed to use science as a basis of making things more manageable when dealing with uncertainty. But, you'll then blame the doctors, saying how you had no any other problems with you and how healthy you were.

    You're the kind of people in hospitals who say "I've never had a pill in my life and all these doctors are crazy psychopaths that say crazy things to make money off of me"

    Reddit seems to be leaking.

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