So, yes, a complete ascetic chasing immorality may not want to drink

Either you're missing a 't' or you're chasing immorality the wrong way.

scientists told people that 1 to 2 drinks per day is better for your health than 0 drinks per day.

One lab from one country, heavily promoted by the California wine industry. In Europe, this is confused with the fact that historically people drank weak ales because it was safer than water due to cholera.

Another scam with wellness influencers is resveratrol from wine -it does fuck all.

Great insights thank you

how much they drank, and then asking about their health

this kinda read as if they asked them about there health while they were drunk :) Would have made for an interesting curve.

Ethically because of the known dangers of abuse, no medical professional or organization should recommend alcohol consumption. It is NOT a safe drug to use by anyone's level of evaluation. It runs a similar levels of risk as driving a car, another activity that no health professional should recommend.

That being said, for those that are genetically predisposed to heart disease and diabetes, the proper dosage and timing of alcohol consumption helps to regulate cholesterol and insulin. This is backed not by surveys which are prone to the errors you described, but blood draws etc. aka testable evidence.

Genetically 3 out of 4 of my grandparents had diabetes and 4/4 had high blood pressure/heart disease. So when my blood tests started coming back with screwed up cholesterol ratios and my blood pressure started increasing in my 30's I read a shit ton of the scientific papers.

So I started having around 1.5 drinks per night. Within 1 year my cholesterol and blood pressure normalized. They have remained so for the past decade. My one glass of wine or whiskey after dinner is acting as a very enjoyable medication.

Word. My Friday evening beer math:

I always try to stick to one beer. These days I manage to not exceed a couple.

Hollywood needs to stop using it in every fucking scene. Two characters cannot have a conversation with beers to scotch, no cop comes home without cracking open a beer.

You can stop. I won't give unsolicited advice, but dm me if you want to talk about it

I've met a lot of wonderful people through this organization that has helped me immensely:

https://smartrecovery.org/what-is-smart-recovery

It isn't easy at first, but the pivotal moment is merely wanting to stop. You may not believe it yourself, addiction has this way of convincing you that you can't, but it gets easier with time.

It's been three years or so, but my life has turned around so much it's astounding. Highly recommend believing in yourself, and pushing through the tough days.

Stay kind to yourself friend

Keep wanting to quit, I think that’s the most important thing, keep the desire to quit alive. Especially when you stop. I’d put money on you pulling through brother!

Alcohol never had any sort of attraction to me thankfully. I don't really like having an altered mental state in the first place, and I never found a beer that I liked until I was 23. I'm 45 now and I've been drunk 3 times in my life and each time I was just wishing the effect would wear off. But I do have addictions, just other sorts of things. Wish you luck and strength in your journey.

They don't care if you live or die. They care about if their rich buddies are still getting your money.

Yes alcohol, sugar and automobiles are the big killers that we seem to just accept in an “oh well” kind of way. We came a long way on smoking so I’m optimistic about alcohol. “Record lows” doesn’t impress me as a phrase because I know how high the historic highs actually were 🤣

I believe in you.

I stopped drinking and it has been very worth the effort. It's hard, but I believe in you

You can do it, dawg!! It's not something that can be done easily, but it can be done.

Try GLP-1s or ketamine treatment

Joke solution: Convert to Islam.

Serious solution: I have no idea.

Why dont you stop drinking yourself and not outsource your decisions about your body to a brutal police state?

I am not tirelessly working to ensure you must be forced to drink every day, why would you do the opposite to me?

Yup. There's a reason ABC and Total Wine have a whole isle dedicated to THC drinks. People don't not use drugs anymore, they just found a cleaner drug.

“Apathy had to make out of body the status quo” -Clipping (Daveed Diggs)

I keep wondering if “just weed and occasional hallucinogens” will actually be an available path for the next generation. I think it’s reasonable advice but I don’t know what’s out there and available to them. It seems like a broader spectrum of shit than ever and things get mixed together. Can you still just buy an 8th of weed in a sandwich bag anymore? Can you get a paper tab of acid without worrying what else is in it?

Conversely, I do amphetamines (legally, prescription) and still occasionally drink. At the height of my drinking I'd have 3 drinks in a night (usually more like 1-2), maybe 4-5 nights a week, but the rule has always been that I would only drink if I felt safe to do so, had something else to do (while drinking), and most importantly, am not in any negative mood or depressed. These days I only really drink for celebrations, and looking around there isn't much left to celebrate. I still drink occasionally, but it's been down to like 1 drink every other week, with company (and only mead, my body can't handle beer or even wine anymore).

Covid accelerated my drinking. Still haven't come back down

Also, who has money for $15 beers. If going out means spending more than $50 it's not worth it. And the dating scene is trash so most male singles I know are avoiding traditional meet up spots like the plague.

I agree with most of what you said. For me however, Covid was when I learned how to mix cocktails. I figured out a very simple drink I like and now I have 2-3 mix drinks a week, almost never more than one drink per day though.

My secret ingredient is St. Germaine, thank you to The Expanse for introducing it to me!

Also in addition to what you and others said, I wonder if realizing why liquor stores were essential businesses put some people off from drinking as much or at all.

The worst part is that I don't even feel any better since quitting.