Ahem… Total B…S…! I’m pretty sure if I’d said I’d eat my hat if I saw another media article claiming that alcohol is good for you within a week, I’d be busy crunching through my beret. When I was drinking I loved articles such as the recent one about ‘alcohol being good for the gut’ – Why red wine could be good for your gut (in moderation) – oh yes they always add that bit.
I loved them because they helped me (in denial) to justify my drinking. Of course if I had read the small print in detail I would have seen that they weren’t ever categorically stating that the ‘health’ or the effects they saw in their studies were directly caused by the alcohol, Most studies are observational , and I’d argue that in many cases, if the people they studied had good health, or a healthy gut or whatever, it was DESPITE the ‘one or two glasses of wine’ they drank, not BECAUSE of it.
Just because I’m on a ‘Sobriety Rocks’ tip doesn’t mean I’m not aware that lots of people drink and remain healthy. Alcohol does affect us differently and some people are able to drink the occasional glass of wine and they have that ‘off switch’ that tells them one is enough. But that doesn’t mean its GOOD for you, that is recommended, that would be utterly ridiculous.
Every single news article you see includes the words ‘in moderation, but none of them go on to explain that contrary to some people remaining healthy despite drinking in moderation – alcohol is still an extremely harmful drug.
When you take into account harm done, not just to the individual but the economy, family, NHS the impact on society, alcohol comes out top, the number one most harmful drug.
Alcohol is the only drug we have to justify NOT taking
Shocking isn’t it, yet because we want to justify our drinking we lap up these articles about how beneficial it is. A few officials have stuck their neck out and stated, that there is no ‘safe limit’ for drinking, so how ridiculous to try and convince us of the beneficial effects.
It’s not so very many years ago that there were mainstream ads extolling the virtues of smoking with Doctors promoting it, I couldn’t be certain that alcohol will become as unacceptable as smoking but lets hope a few more people start calling out these ridiculous pro-alcohol stories.
Yes resertatrol found in red wine can be beneficial, so eat the red grapes!
As Catherine Gray says in The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, drinking a glass of wine to get the beneficial effects of grapes is like ordering a big mac to get the gherkin…
Are you in denial? I fess up, I definitely was!!! No need to stay that way though, arm yourself with the facts about alcohol and choose another way!
Sobriety Rocks – Who Knew!