Drinking

[Stan_Lite]

Drink quality, not quantity.

This man speaks the truth

Except, of course, on the odd occasion when getting totally banjaxed is the objective - on these occasions, any old cooking whisky will do (except Bells and Teachers, naturally, since they're cleaning "whiskies" )

 

[D.P.]

I tried alcohol quite young, only the odd taste - and I hated it. I grew up and kept the hate of it - before I went to University I was straight out "I'm not going to touch a drop of alcohol" - first night there, I had a few Vodkas and Coke. I started drinking - it was hard not to, one of the most integral parts of student culture and life is that you drink, and you drink lots. If you don't, you find yourself outside alone a lot.

I got drunk one night after a five hour train journey from home, I hadn't eaten and I was tired - the people on the bottom floor of the halls were playing some drinking game and I just sorta joined it. 14 shots later I was a little worse for wear. A few more shots and I was having trouble sitting down. On the floor. Against a wall. Eventually threw it all up, felt like I was going to die, world spun and for two days I was hungover and sick as heck.

After that I didn't want to go near a drop of alcohol. Since then, I've drunk twice. And both of those have been stupid mistakes.

I remembered why I don't like to drink. It ruins people's lives. It's harmful to your health. It reduces your judgement. It makes you do stupid things, such as cheat, fight and just generally be an idiot. It's popular (I know that's a very cliche argument for why not to like it, but I often don't like to follow a crowd, I prefer to do things my own way instead of what everyone else is doing). It's expensive. It's a bad thing to get sucked into. It's also a bad encouragement for younger generations.

I could find no reason, and can find no reason to drink. If people need to drink to relax, then fine, that's their own problem. I can see why a lot of people do though - it's not nice to be excluded because you have better judgement. I think it's as bad as, if not in many cases, worse than smoking.

Although this is all just unfounded rubbish, I would point out that there are numerous studies showing that reasonable quantities of red wine (around 1 glass a day) is benfitial to your health. It lowers the chances of strokes and heart disease, cancer, it lower blood pressure, can lead to weight loss, increase cognitive ability.
All statistically supported and published in peer reviewed journals.

Similar science supports this for small quantities of certain beers (not lager), and even spirits have been studied and shwon tohvae many benefitial effects for many people.

Standard strength beer has less calories than fizzy drinks or even ornage juice. Similarly, a glass of wine contains less calories than a large glass of Coke or ornage juice etc.


And there is no evidence at all that suggest low quantities of alcohol causes any liver and kidney problems. Only excessive consumtion over extended periods of time.

 

[QlimaxUK]

That reminds me of something i saw on telly ages ago about this woman who accidently drank some antifreeze, called 999 and they told her to drink a spirit which nutralised it, so moral of the story... drink 'can' save your life!!! lol

 

[Sinque]

That reminds me of something i saw on telly ages ago about this woman who accidently drank some antifreeze, called 999 and they told her to drink a spirit which nutralised it, so moral of the story... drink 'can' save your life!!! lol

My mum, when she worked in a hospital, was looking after a guy who tried to kill himself. I think he drank something and the cure was to give him a drip of pure alcohol. He kept waking up singing songs and was just wrecked out his face

 

[Gackt]

When I see people falling over themselves, doing things they'll later regret, finding out their liver is failing, being idiots, ruining their lives - I find solace in the fact that I'm not acting like that. Because, from my point of view, and yeah, it's only ever my point of view (as far as I'm concerned) it's dumb. And that's borne out of bad experiences and the like with it.

What I left out in my post is that, yeah, alcohol can be enjoyed in moderation with few ill effects. I get that, I can respect those who do enjoy in moderation to a certain extent. Perhaps my being a student and being surrounded by this student lifestyle has got me pointing out many stereotypes and generalisations but I'm only approaching this from how I've seen and experienced it.

I can be sensible with my drink - the example I posted was a one-time thing. When I said that I saw no benefits and that it was dumb, a lot of that is relating to myself personally - I see no benefits to me, and that to me, I thought it was a dumb thing to do. Like some think smoking is dumb, I think drinking is dumb.

Bigstan: You're probably right, I do need new friends - I was just pointing out the impression I got from the throng of people I've met at University.

Semi-Pro: I did forget to mention that I was leaning towards the classic binge-drinking-student lifestyle that seems to be quite widespread. I understand that there are those who do drink in moderation and I think it is unfair that they suffer because a lot (from what I've seen, an increasingly larger portion) decide to abuse it. I say better judgement mostly in relation to binge-drinking again.

Unfortunately when I get to ranting, I often leave out vital bits of information :/

 

[semi-pro waster]

My mum, when she worked in a hospital, was looking after a guy who tried to kill himself. I think he drank something and the cure was to give him a drip of pure alcohol. He kept waking up singing songs and was just wrecked out his face

If you consume methanol then ethanol can act as a competing inhibitor so that most of the toxic effects are nullified since they both pass through the body more or less unchanged, at least that is my laymans understanding of it but I'm happy to be corrected.

=C0ld c4Th0d3=: Ah, right. I suppose it depends how you define binge drinking since some set the bar very low but I do take the point that it isn't healthy to do often.

 

[fozter]

When I go out to clubs I most often realise that the shy people get wasted, just so they'll get up and dance.

I'll quite happily get up and dance when completely sober, it's great fun, so more than often I don't drink at all, or I have a few vodka red bulls to wake me up when I'm starting to feel a bit drained. I think if you aren't a shy person than the need to drink is decreased, because all you would do when mashed is act completely out of character and maybe provoke something bad happening.

Dunno if I've made any sense there but I think I've put my point across.

 

[Von Luck]

I love alcohol. I don't enjoy getting drunk and have a very low tolerance (I've not been sick or 'spinning room' drunk for about 15 years) but I love the taste of most alcoholic drinks and the buzz that accompanies sensible consumption.

Wine, beer, cider, whisky, cognac, tequila, vodka - you name it and I'll happily quaff it. With the exception of rum, alco-pops, SoCo or anything else that's sweet/sickly.

While I never drink to get drunk, I've noticed that my consumption had increased to the point where I drank every night without fail. Get in from work, cook dinner, have some wine. Standard routine and it felt like it was beginning to impact my health, especially with disturbed sleep.

As a result I'm currently abstaining completely (and feeling far better for it). Initially just for a month, to be followed by significantly reduced consumption in the long term.

 

[DanMc07]

I quite often go out a lot now and dont drink as I have to drive 5 minutes to the pub. I'm the only one that doesnt drink on the night, but that doesnt bother me at all. You shouldnt need to be drunk to make a night out of it. If you do, I feel sorry for you.

 

[D.P.]

When I see people falling over themselves, doing things they'll later regret, finding out their liver is failing, being idiots, ruining their lives - I find solace in the fact that I'm not acting like that. Because, from my point of view, and yeah, it's only ever my point of view (as far as I'm concerned) it's dumb. And that's borne out of bad experiences and the like with it.

I agree, its dumb. Lukcilly I don't know anyone who does any of those things and I wouldn't want to be friends with them anyway. I mean, damaging your liver requires serious quantities of alcohol to be consumed over yaers and years and years.