8 Drinks! Are You Kidding Me???

terra415
terra415 Posts: 13 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So while at the gym this evening, something really bothered me. I saw CNN on the television flashing, "CDC now classifies women drinking 8 drinks a WEEK to be 'Heavy Drinkers'". This of course just put a wonderful spin on my Friday. I never considered myself a heavy drinker by any means, but when a time and place occurs, I can throw down with the best of them. I do imbibe the occasional drink or two 3-4 evenings a week. Sometimes it feels right and sometimes I could care less. But for some reason as I envisioned a good beer in my hand after a long hard day (even a hard Friday) and collapsing into bed, this whole news feed started to bother the crap out of me. For some reason I feel so bad taking that drink. It kind of makes me want to drink more, or go for the popcorn buttered to hell and a 2 liter of coke, because that seems less of a problem.

I would say since being on MFP I have lost a great amount of weight and really do not drink like I used to. It is more shocking when you actually have to log that stuff. But by no means have I stopped. I find it interesting. I cannot be the only woman on here that has issues with this whole condemnation. Understandably, wouldn't it be worse to have all 8 drinks in one night? They need to clarify this stuff. Seriously! Okay, please someone! Anyone! Shed some light....
«134567…10

Replies

  • KameHameHaaaa
    KameHameHaaaa Posts: 837 Member
    Haha just women huh? What a crock. 8 drinks is nothin!
  • jessspurr
    jessspurr Posts: 258 Member
    I would consider someone who had 8 drinks a week to be a heavy drinker (regardless of division). The only reason I think that though is because I personally only have maybe 8 drinks every 3 or 4 months. So I guess you have to have something to compare it with to classify anything as "heavy" or "light". To someone who drinks 8 drinks a night, you would be considered a light drinker. To someone who doesn't drink at all maybe they would consider you a heavy drinker. If you don't consider yourself a heavy drinker then there ya go! Just my two cents!
  • jessspurr
    jessspurr Posts: 258 Member
    They are trying to put you in a "box" and label you. It is meaningless.
  • baba_helly
    baba_helly Posts: 810 Member
    I was just discussing this with my co-worker today. I don't generally believe any health related stories on the news as they are generally not verifiable by science and are also geared more toward being memorable by way of shock value than being completely accurate.

    That being said, I don't know why you would let a story on the news make you feel guilty about your food & beverage choices.
  • psmd
    psmd Posts: 764 Member
    They are trying to put you in a "box" and label you. It is meaningless.

    I hate to be a downer but it is not meaningless. There are a lot of implications to being a heavier drinker, including a higher risk for alcohol dependence, medical issues, and mental health issues. And yes, 8 drinks a week, even if not in one night, IS considered heavy by the medical community.

    It's normalized in college and in our twenties, but most people naturally decrease their intake by their thirties. Everything in moderation unfortunately.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    If a goofy story on CNN can ruffle your feathers that badly, maybe you should ask the gym to change the TV channel next time.
  • xDawnsgrace
    xDawnsgrace Posts: 436
    i would consider "heavy drinking" more like a litre of vodka a night. 8 a week seems.. low.
  • fryfat
    fryfat Posts: 36 Member
    They can call it whatever they want, but when I'm done with this diet I'm having a drink or 8.
  • Aemely
    Aemely Posts: 694 Member
    I'd think this would be highly variable by person. If you don't have alcoholism in your family *and* if your normal "drinks" have very little alcohol in them, I'd be less worried.

    This Unit/Calorie calculator seems to be more useful than the generic advice: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/understand-your-drinking/unit-calorie-calculator/ , as does this "self-assessment" tool: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/selfassessment .

    I'd take the CDC's advice with a grain of salt (which apparently is now not as bad for you: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20140402/cdc-salt-guidelines-too-low-for-good-health-study-suggests)!!!

    :drinker:
  • trophywife24
    trophywife24 Posts: 1,472 Member
    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.
  • pipertargaryen
    pipertargaryen Posts: 303 Member
    ROFL. Per week, I'd say I have about 16 glasses of wine (1 and a half or 2 per night). I get drunk a total of never! If I have to work a night shift, I don't drink. If I had a night job, I wouldn't drink. I NEVER drink cocktails or hard liquor or pound beers. But I love a glass or two of wine.

    I've lost 49lbs, and at this rate I'll hit the 50 mark by the 30th - which is exactly 6 months since the start of my journey, which is 1.92 pounds per week, or something. Which means, obviously, my drinking has not impeded my loss. I'm healthy and strong in ways I've never been. So, this study? I think it needs a drink :)

    Edit: There's no alcoholism in my family, luckily. I'm the only one that drinks regularly. I take my wine with my supper (usually salmon or steak - it's just a delicious combo!). Now, my boyfriend is a teetotaler. He considers 1 drink a YEAR excessive (and he and his family own the busiest bar in town - go figure :laugh: ).
  • Grumpsandwich
    Grumpsandwich Posts: 368 Member
    and yet they suggest 1 glass of wine a day is good for you. Thats like teetering on the edge there! OH NO! lol
  • Jlew64
    Jlew64 Posts: 13 Member
    I saw a similar segment on CBS this morning... the piece was centering around alcohol related diseases and death... http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/26/325489951/excessive-drinking-causes-10-percent-of-deaths-in-working-adults

    It wasn't necessarily trying to label people. BUT even the interviewer questioned whether one drink a day could be considered heavy drinking. The piece also discussed the more serious issue (health-wise) of binge drinking... 4,5,6 drinks in one sitting.
    http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/moderate-binge-drinking
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    It seems like it would depend on what one is drinking and what they consider a 'drink'. But eh.
  • RabbitLost
    RabbitLost Posts: 333 Member
    The CDC has been spending a lot of time playing in back yards it does not belong in. There are other sources that are better for sodium, alcohol and many other substances. My doctor uses the American Heart Association guidelines. And even those guidelines contain the following disclaimer: "Also, it's not possible to predict in which people alcoholism will become a problem."

    TL;DR? Meh.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    If it bothers you that much, it might be a good idea to ask yourself why.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Seven drinks is moderate. 8 is "heavy". Kinda nutty when you consider most medical professionals think it's great to have a glass of wine nightly. But hey, you had two last night? HEAVY. That seems odd.

    You and hubs share a bottle of wine nightly? heavy. 2.25 glasses, with dinner. (and now it's heavy for both because he had the .25)

    Later in the article (on the CNN website) another measure said "heavy" was defined as: They say "heavy use" is "five or more drinks on the same occasion, on each of five or more days in the past 30 days."

    That's quite different.
    I dunno.
  • amandzor
    amandzor Posts: 386 Member
    Personally. And this is just for me. If you're an adult do whatever it is you're going to do.

    But I believe that drinking 3-4 days a week...is at least heavy to moderate drinking.

    Think about it. You go to the gym 4 days a week, you're considered a moderate gym user.

    Then again, I drink maybe once a month.
  • jessspurr
    jessspurr Posts: 258 Member
    They are trying to put you in a "box" and label you. It is meaningless.

    I hate to be a downer but it is not meaningless. There are a lot of implications to being a heavier drinker, including a higher risk for alcohol dependence, medical issues, and mental health issues. And yes, 8 drinks a week, even if not in one night, IS considered heavy by the medical community.

    It's normalized in college and in our twenties, but most people naturally decrease their intake by their thirties. Everything in moderation unfortunately.

    Actually, blinding labeling people with arbitrary adjectives is pretty much meaningless. I didn't say that being a heavier drinker was meaningless.
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    I'll just get a bigger glass.
  • wonderwoman234
    wonderwoman234 Posts: 551 Member
    If it bothers you that much, it might be a good idea to ask yourself why.

    This
  • RestartingAgain1
    RestartingAgain1 Posts: 47
    I rarely drink, but this is say 2 glasses of wine every other day is heavy... and having one glass a night(which is recommended) is almost being a heavy drinker. thats insane
  • Blacklance36
    Blacklance36 Posts: 755 Member
    Haha just women huh? What a crock. 8 drinks is nothin!


    What a bunch of lightweights.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I think it depends on the person. I can't drink 8 drinks a week (also depends on what they consider a drink to be). I would have a headache, brain fog, tummy ache, be less productive, and emotional. But, that's just how I am. Other people do fine with more. If you are doing fine, and happy, then nothing to worry about. Maybe because I weigh 100 pounds.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    If it bothers you that much, it might be a good idea to ask yourself why.

    I second this.

    It may be the fact that I don't drink but I believe someone who drinks 8 drinks a week is a moderate to heavy drinker. Who has time for that?

    In the medical community, 8 drinks a week is without a doubt classified as a heavy drinker.
  • redheaddee
    redheaddee Posts: 2,005 Member
    So one beer or one glass of wine with dinner each night, maybe 2-3 on a Friday...guess I am a heavy drinker. :shrugs:
  • Atrocity108
    Atrocity108 Posts: 328 Member
    Years ago, I had a doctor who insisted that I was an Alcoholic, because I was consume 4 or more beers in one setting. Now, I told her that these sittings would only happen once every two months or so (as I do not drink that much.). She still insisted that I needed help, that I was an alcoholic and a binge drinker.

    I never saw her after that.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    I personally don't think 8 a week is much, there are some weeks where I don't hit that many and some weekends where I hit that many. We discussed this at lunch today, four women one in 20s, one 30s, one 40s and one 50s. We all thought it seemed low.
  • shmerek
    shmerek Posts: 963 Member
    Haha just women huh? What a crock. 8 drinks is nothin!


    What a bunch of lightweights.
    I would be dead on my feet if I had a drink a day. I weigh a buck and change and never drink.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    Years ago, I had a doctor who insisted that I was an Alcoholic, because I was consume 4 or more beers in one setting. Now, I told her that these sittings would only happen once every two months or so (as I do not drink that much.). She still insisted that I needed help, that I was an alcoholic and a binge drinker.

    I never saw her after that.

    By medical definition, a binge drinker is a woman who consumes 4 or more drinks during one sitting or a male who consumes 5 or more drinks during one sitting. So that is why she was referring to you as a binge drinker.

    However, for a male to be considered a heavy drinker, he would need to consume 15+ drinks a week (which you do not do).

Categories