8 Drinks! Are You Kidding Me???
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8 glasses a day maybe alot not a week
I liked your first answer better0 -
oh absolutely. No doubt about it. Enjoy.
Clearly. I have maintained a weight loss for 12 years. I get A+ on my physical. My blood work is impeccable, and when I asked my doc if it was ok if i had wine with dinner most nights she said "no, what about the other nights. Have wine every night". The teetotalers on the board are a hoot.
In every thread on the subject on this dieting board. It's quite stunning.If it bothers you that much, it might be a good idea to ask yourself why.
This
lol - the "if you have an opinion about alcohol consumption that is north of abstinence then you must be an alcoholic" line of reasoning.
You're clearly in denial. As am I.
IMHO, there is a religious component to discussions about alcohol that is particularly prevalent in the U.S. and I think it clouds many people's perceptions of it. Also, heavy drinking has a certain connotation of drunkenness and poor behavior, and to redefine it as slightly more than 1 drink a day is a nothing short of a silly semantic game.
ETA: And on that note, I think I'll have another beer. *waits for gasps of horror*0 -
I tend to get it all in on one night, guess I'm a lush. I can live with that0
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OK Well...actually this is much less controversial to you probably than recent health research articles saying ANY amount of alcohol is not really safe and that the old one glass of wine/night recommendation is total bunk, there is no good evidence saying it actually can help you, and resveratrol levels are way to low for any reasonable health effect to be seen from it...and not only that but a study showing resveratrol does not reduce CVD risk or prolong life...
All and all the evidence for that alcohol has harmful effects is much stronger than any evidence it has a positive effect. Sad but true, and not many want to hear this. So I'll be leaving now, I'm just the messenger...and I'm still about to go have a drink after my hike.
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OK Well...actually this is much less controversial to you probably than recent health research articles saying ANY amount of alcohol is not really safe and that the old one glass of wine/night recommendation is total bunk, there is no good evidence saying it actually can help you, and resveratrol levels are way to low for any reasonable health effect to be seen from it...and not only that but a study showing resveratrol does not reduce CVD risk or prolong life...
All and all the evidence for that alcohol has harmful effects is much stronger than any evidence it has a positive effect. Sad but true, and not many want to hear this. So I'll be leaving now, I'm just the messenger...and I'm still about to go have a drink after my hike.
Yeah, I hear you on all this and have read into it fully. And I had one large drink last night and two small ones tonight. The health benefits are a sham. But, enjoy life in the ways that you enjoy. If it's not fun, don't do it.0 -
Source?Good grief. The CDC is run by human beings and many of them are not scientists or familiar with the latest research.
The CDC sets the guidelines, there's no opinions to be had, it's black and white. If you're HIV positive and your t-cell count drops below 200 you officially have AIDS, doesn't really matter what your irrelevant opinion is on the subject, same thing applies here.Personally I like to look at the evidence and make my own decisions rather than blindly following the guidelines of a public government organization.
That being said, I'm not saying you should feel bad about drinking 8 drinks a week, hell have 20 if you want, to be honest it kind of baffles me why you people are so upset at being labeled a heavy drinker, the amount of guilt and denial itt is sad to see.0 -
8 drinks is probably considered heavy!
Although 1 glass of red wine every evening is considered healthy (but I've done the math and that's 7). 0 -
Source?Good grief. The CDC is run by human beings and many of them are not scientists or familiar with the latest research.
The CDC sets the guidelines, there's no opinions to be had, it's black and white. If you're HIV positive and your t-cell count drops below 200 you officially have AIDS, doesn't really matter what your irrelevant opinion is on the subject, same thing applies here.Personally I like to look at the evidence and make my own decisions rather than blindly following the guidelines of a public government organization.
That being said, I'm not saying you should feel bad about drinking 8 drinks a week, hell have 20 if you want, to be honest it kind of baffles me why you people are so upset at being labeled a heavy drinker, the amount of guilt and denial itt is sad to see.
You need try a bit harder if you're going to troll here0 -
I'm fairly sure the last time I went to my doctor, I told him I had 4 pints a week (which is 8 drinks) and I was classed as a 'moderate' drinker.
Also; for what its worth, the last time I checked (and I admit it has been a while) the UK had lower levels of alcoholism than France.0 -
OK Well...actually this is much less controversial to you probably than recent health research articles saying ANY amount of alcohol is not really safe and that the old one glass of wine/night recommendation is total bunk, there is no good evidence saying it actually can help you, and resveratrol levels are way to low for any reasonable health effect to be seen from it...and not only that but a study showing resveratrol does not reduce CVD risk or prolong life...
All and all the evidence for that alcohol has harmful effects is much stronger than any evidence it has a positive effect. Sad but true, and not many want to hear this. So I'll be leaving now, I'm just the messenger...and I'm still about to go have a drink after my hike.
That's fine - life is all about calculated risk.
Getting into a car is much more risky (even sober) than consuming alcohol, given the injury and mortailty rate on the roads and yet we do it everyday.0 -
Source?Good grief. The CDC is run by human beings and many of them are not scientists or familiar with the latest research.
The CDC sets the guidelines, there's no opinions to be had, it's black and white. If you're HIV positive and your t-cell count drops below 200 you officially have AIDS, doesn't really matter what your irrelevant opinion is on the subject, same thing applies here.Personally I like to look at the evidence and make my own decisions rather than blindly following the guidelines of a public government organization.
That being said, I'm not saying you should feel bad about drinking 8 drinks a week, hell have 20 if you want, to be honest it kind of baffles me why you people are so upset at being labeled a heavy drinker, the amount of guilt and denial itt is sad to see.
You need try a bit harder if you're going to troll here
Trolling usually involves saying something inaccurate :^)0 -
This definately seems more like moderate to me. It would allow for 1 drink/day plus an extra of course, or perhaps they are classifying as heavy because they might assume that people would not have 1/day but not drink every day and have maybe 3 one day and 5 another or something like that? Personally I've cut back to 2-4 drinks/week if that. I never drank every day sitting on the bar stool and having multiple in one sitting started to catch up to me. I think that we tend not to count the occasional binging as a problem in this country but I think it's more detrimental that we realize.0
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Source?Good grief. The CDC is run by human beings and many of them are not scientists or familiar with the latest research.
The CDC sets the guidelines, there's no opinions to be had, it's black and white. If you're HIV positive and your t-cell count drops below 200 you officially have AIDS, doesn't really matter what your irrelevant opinion is on the subject, same thing applies here.Personally I like to look at the evidence and make my own decisions rather than blindly following the guidelines of a public government organization.
That being said, I'm not saying you should feel bad about drinking 8 drinks a week, hell have 20 if you want, to be honest it kind of baffles me why you people are so upset at being labeled a heavy drinker, the amount of guilt and denial itt is sad to see.
You need try a bit harder if you're going to troll here
Trolling usually involves saying something inaccurate :^)
So you really are comparing diagnosis of a viral infection to setting guidelines for alcohol consumption and further identifying the issue as black and white? That's really the extent of your analysis? Okay then. Don't hurt yourself.0 -
I'm not sure why this is so upsetting to people. When I was 180, I was labeled as "obese." When I got down to 179, I was labeled "overweight." There has to be a cutoff somewhere. If you're 5'6 and male, you're considered short. If you're 5'7, you're considered average. You have to draw the line somewhere.
I'm not sure why "they" saying that seven drinks a week is healthy while eight drinks a week is "heavy drinking." First of all, I don't think "they" are the same people. Second, I'm not sure if those two things are mutually exclusive.0 -
Now imagine being told: you know how you were of normal weight yesterday at your weight? Now you're not. Now you're overweight and have various potential health concerns.I'm not sure why this is so upsetting to people. When I was 180, I was labeled as "obese." When I got down to 179, I was labeled "overweight." There has to be a cutoff somewhere. If you're 5'6 and male, you're considered short. If you're 5'7, you're considered average. You have to draw the line somewhere.
I'm not sure why "they" saying that seven drinks a week is healthy while eight drinks a week is "heavy drinking." First of all, I don't think "they" are the same people. Second, I'm not sure if those two things are mutually exclusive.0 -
I recently read a study stating that even ONE soda a day is bad for your health. In fact, they even quantified the risks. I wonder how many folks on this thread drink a can (or 3) of soda a day and would find that study distressing?
cheers folks. Have a great week.:drinker:0 -
I hate reports like this because they're designed to make the consumer feel guilty for their behavior. Shame on the CDC for wording it the way they did. There are other ways to get the information out, but they're not attention grabbers, so they resort to cheap headlines like you see on the covers of women's magazines. "You SHOULDN'T do X...and if you do you're a BAD PERSON."
The fact is, these numbers are based on public health studies. I'm not an epidemiologist, but my husband and sister are and I recently listened in on their conversation about this... Basically they look at a broad number of people and their health behaviors and correlate them to risk of death from heart failure, stroke, etc., and then they determine what is more likely to make you die earlier rather than later. So after looking at the numbers and comparing multiple studies over time, etc., "they" come up with recommendations. Last "official" word is that for *optimal* health, they're recommending 8 drinks per week for women and 15 for men. The gender difference is not about weight or body mass, but because apparently men and women metabolize alcohol differently. When they say "optimal" health, they mean that consuming this number of drinks will result in the lowest risk for developing related health problems by the time you're X years old, statistically speaking. So in my case, say, if I had 8 drinks per week my risk of dying at age 80 from heart disease or stroke is x%. If I have 6 drinks per week or 10 drinks per week or whatever, my risk of dying at age 80 from heart disease or stroke is x% plus a factor of y. So I might die at age 78 instead. So here's my point ----> SO WHAT? I'm going to continue drinking what I want to drink (provided I'm not a complete irresponsible idiot about it, like driving my kids around while drunk or not making it to work because of killer hangovers or whatever) and I'll just die when I die.
So going from these boring public health data analyses to the CDC coming out and declaring "If you have more than 8 drinks a week you're a heavy drinker" is quite a leap and total BS, IMO.0 -
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Lol @ CNN0
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Drinks is a very vague measurement, it's best to measure in units and in the UK at least they advise this:
The government advises that people should not regularly drink more than the lower risk guidelines of 3-4 units of alcohol for men (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer) and 2-3 units of alcohol for women (equivalent to a 13% ABV 175 ml glass of wine). ‘Regularly’ means drinking every day or most days of the week.
8 drinks could be 8 large glasses of wine (250ml) or 8 smaller glasses of wine (175ml) that's a pretty big difference.0 -
I just want to say that sometimes conversations can be helpful. And if one person doesn't like to drink a lot or often, or has a negative experience of the effects, no one else should feel threatened by that. I think we can all agree that drinking is a personal choice. It is not quite the same as food choices. Many of us have many different factors impacting our own personal experiences and choices with alcohol. And one person may be able to drink more than another person and be healthy.
So, anyway, my main concern about alcohol is if it leads to aesthetic aging. That is something that matters to me enough to be a priority for me on this issue. And no I don't drink soda (as mentioned in the thread).
But, I have many other more important reasons why drinking regularly is not beneficial in my own personal life. And I didn't drink at all for a decade. I could get into the reasons, but it would be a boring overshare.0 -
They are trying to put you in a "box" and label you. It is meaningless.
8 drinks a week, even if not in one night, IS considered heavy by the medical community.
Wanna know how I know you're not a doctor, and know absolutely nothing about the medical community?
Many doctors have been recommending -- backed by actual science -- a glass of red wine per day for decades. That's 7 drinks.
Also, this comes from the CDC, one of the most alarmist of Federal agencies. These are the same people who will tell you that smoking cigars is as dangerous as smoking cigarettes, but then when you see the study their statement is based on, it consisted of people smoking 3 or more cigars per day (when the real life average cigar smoker only smokes 2-3 per week) and inhaling the smoke, something almost zero cigar smokers actually do.
And finally, there is no monolithic "medical community." Consensus on most issues -- particularly ones like alcohol consumption (and cigar smoking!) where there is little data, and much of it is conflicting -- is rare. This latest CDC press release is no exception.0 -
Have to chime in here. Years ago I was diagnosed with low HDL (Good) Cholesterol. This is very different from the typical High LDL (Bad) cholesterol problem many people have. Low HDL has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease.
So my doctor said there are two things I can do to correct this problem. One was to start running two miles a day, the other was to have one alcoholic drink a day (one not three) as long as it was low carb. Guess which option I chose? :-)
That was at least 15 years ago, my drink of choice is a gin martini (zero carbs) and my cholesterol has been spot on perfect ever since.
I'm not a doctor so speak to yours to see what he says. But one drink a day X 7 days is 7 drinks a week and he had no issues with it at all, in fact he recommended it.0 -
^^ And one more of this...
To me, it seems disturbing, how many people are defending those 8+ servings of drinks... Looking at this as an average over the course of maybe one year, if I would have one glass per day, that would be a lot of booze... Even worse, if I would find out that I 'HAVE TO HAVE' one a day to make it through, or engage in a lengthy debate to JUSTIFY my average number of drinks......THAT is a problem in my book...
Just my 1.5 oz on the topic....
I find it much more disturbing that people come into the alcohol threads and jump to conclusions based on nothing more than some message board posts...
Or people who find that having a discussion on a message board about the posted topic is a "lengthy debate"...
Or people who make a message board post to weigh in on a discussion that they find disturbing....
This is why we are friends :drinker:0 -
Who cares? I personally don't drink at all for religious reasons, but if you want to enjoy a drink and it doesn't affect your relationships, home life or work in any negative way, go ahead and drink. Don't worry if the CDC or whoever labels you a "heavy drinker".
If I got my panties in a bunch every time someone said something about me that I didn't like/wasn't true, I'd be dead twice over from atomic wedgie.0 -
A glass of wine as measured by the report was 5oz.Drinks is a very vague measurement, it's best to measure in units and in the UK at least they advise this:
The government advises that people should not regularly drink more than the lower risk guidelines of 3-4 units of alcohol for men (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer) and 2-3 units of alcohol for women (equivalent to a 13% ABV 175 ml glass of wine). ‘Regularly’ means drinking every day or most days of the week.
8 drinks could be 8 large glasses of wine (250ml) or 8 smaller glasses of wine (175ml) that's a pretty big difference.0 -
I think the only reason to get upset by any report is if it will affect you personally (like higher insurance costs or a stigma that concerns you). There are so many variables when it comes to alcohol consumption, such as height, weight, health, family history, etc., that it's difficult for me to understand how they determine 8 drinks per week for all females falls into a heavy drinker category. Personally, I gave up regular drinking in my 30s. These days I may have a drink or 2 every year, usually at some holiday event. I come from a long line of truly heavy drinkers (6-pack a night and more on the weekends) and I found myself falling into that pattern in my 20s and early 30s.0
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8 drinks in one week is just one beer (or whatever) and just two one night. That's barely a heavy drinker. Eight drinks a night is a lot, but in week? Meh.
I drink maybe 2 beers once a week. MAYBE- there are weeks i do not have anything to drink.
There are weeks when I have a beer- and maybe a glass of wine.
So to me- even the idea of having a beer a night EVERY night is a lot.
But- I know I have no issues with it- and a drink a night isn't THAT much- at this point everyone is eager to prove a point or try to "fix" health issues.
Just take are of yourself- listen to your body and eat to meet your goals. Ignore the rest of the drivel.0 -
Medically, it has to do with the line between the drinks being "good for your heart" and "bad for your liver". It's a medical distinction, not based on alcoholism but based on body function. A liver is a liver. Most women will have similarly sized livers.0
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