2 Beers A Day Without Fail

[Mcnerge]

Pah! 2 beers a day, are you kidding my firend?

You are not event remotley close to becoming an alcoholic.

I average 8-10 small singha per evening. Never before 6pm in the week. Being English, i convert this to pints which gives me 4-5 pints per day. This is probably what your average bloke back in the UK would fire back whilst sitting in a pub reading the paper.

I have been drinking like this for close to 13/14 years. Im 34. I have a beer belly, but dont care a flying bugger.

I never drink spirits at home. I rarely drink spirits when im out. I dont like them. I love a beer. I do have rare nights off the beer.... maybe every couple of weeks ill have 2 nights off. This dosent bother me other than a slight 'umm, would love a beer now' feeling.

Im convinced its a British thing. Back home, its not unusual to go to the pub at lunchtime and see a couple of business people having a meeting over a few beers. Or a bricklayer/plumber/elctrician nipping into the pub for a couple pints (4 small cans) whilst having his lunch. This would be unusual anywhere else in the world. Beer for us Brits is just par for the course and ingrained in us.

I live up-country. The Chinese/Thai bloke at my local shop is intrigued by me. Just a few days ago i stacked up 10 cans on the counter and a guy infornt of me said 'getting mao tonight?' the shop owner laughed and said 'ha, he would need 20 of them to get mao'.

Conversley, give me half a bottle of wine or a few vodka tomics, and im pissed as a newt yet i could polish off 15 small singha and not miss a step.

No mate. You are not an alcoholic.

Hi ya getbackjojo...

It appears you don't travel around much, I have spent a number of years in both Australia & New Zealand and having a "Liquid Lunch" is the norm, in both of these countries.

White Colar & blue Colar "Aussies & Kiwis", are proud to be two of the heaviest beer drinking nations in the world, except maybe for the Germans and wouldn't have it any other way.

New Zealanders until the late 90's had beer delivered to the Hotels in 20,000 liter Tanker Trucks...Way to go...Kiwis...

Cheers, Mcnerge.

[Westerner]

Hi all, I would like some opinoins,

Is 2 beers everyday a problem?

It used to 6 and then with the new year a resolution was made to stop but instead was able to control 2 a day over a period of a few hours. So is a 2 beer a day habit alcoholic? Is it a problem?

There are no consequences besides the nagging from the miss.

Thanks

MisterMan, I believe in moderation and 2 beers a day is moderation. Cheers mate

[yorkman]

OneEyedJohn makes an interesting point about having a "dry" day or two and seeing if that bothers you.

Quite, nobody has addressed this so I will in another topic because it has been a bit ignored here

[sabaijai]

Interesting.

I'd like Sheryl's considered opinion.

Cheers

Well since you asked....

First of all, the problem with media reports on just about all scientific studies is that they don't understand the difference between correllation and causation. The fact that relatively high rates of death are found in one group of drinkers as opposed to another (or as opposed to non-drinkers) does not mean that the drinking (or non-drinking) is the cause of the higher mortality rate, only that there is some sort of association.

With respect to high mortality rates in non-drinkers my guess would be that the survey population were from a culture where at least occasional drinking is the norm; in such cultures a high proportion of tee-totalers are recovered/recovering alcoholics many of whom may damaged their livers considerably before stopping. There are other possible confounders as well but that seems to me the most likely. Certainly not drinking by itself is not a threat to health, but in a culture where drinking is the norm, non-drinkers by definition are unusual people and will have other traits/factors different from the norm which may influence health.

A study of non-drinkers vs drinkers done in a population with different norms (for example, in south Asia, where it is quite normal to never drink) would get very different results.

As to the original topic...I think Popcorn summed it up nicely. The disease of alcoholism is defined by the element of compulsion, of needing to drink. It is quite possible to be an alcoholic but only drink beer, or wine,; to drink only on evenings or weekends; and even to drink only a limited amount (altho that's less common) if one is unable to do without it.

While on the whole alcoholics are much more likely than non-alcoholics to drink in excessive amount, it is possible to not be an alcoholic and yet still be drinking more than is good for your health. As to what that amount is, as the article indicated there is no fixed magic number established by research. Also, individual factors weigh in...age, chronic health problems like diabetes, hepatitis B or C or other liver problems, kidney problems, etc. You folks know who you are....

And as one ages, all the body organs, including the liver, become less able to regenerate and tolerate abuse. The same amount of alcohol that you bounced right back from in your 20's may well do damage in your 50's.

Just to expand on this, substance abuse and mental health professionals distinguish between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence.

Alcohol abuse is diagnosed when one of the following four criteria is met. Because of drinking, a person repeatedly:

• fails to live up to his or her most important responsibilities
  
• physically endangers him- or herself, or others (for example, by drinking when driving)
  
• gets into trouble with the law
  
• experiences difficulties in relationships or jobs
  

'Alcoholism' is the popular term for a disorder recognized by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) as alcohol dependence. The hallmarks of this disorder are addiction to alcohol, inability to stop drinking, and repeated interpersonal, school- or work-related problems that can be directly attributed to the use of alcohol.

See pinned topic above for further details on the differences between alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence (which are often hazily lumped together using the term 'alcoholism', which traces its origins to the 19th-century American medical establishment).

Whether your body can physically tolerate X number of drinks per day is another question, dependent on age, general state of health, genetics, etc.

[YangYaiEric]

Two small beers a day doesn't even register a one on the Richter scale although the whinging anti drinking scrotes will try and tell you otherwise. Enjoy your beers and enjoy your life with a clear concience (sp?) and just ignore the raised eyebrow tw@ts who need to get a life.

Here,here! Spot-on sir! Well said!

I personally like to have a glass or three of Chang after my bacon sandwich breakfast; really starts the day right for me !

BUT, I dont consider myself an alcoholic in ANY sense of the word! I simply enjoy drinking beer. I never drink to the point of getting DRUNK, just tippsy and relaxed. I have on average 2-4 LARGE bottles daily, and I'm HAPPY! No Problems !

Enjoy life while there is life left to enjoy!

[jayenram]

White Colar & blue Colar "Aussies & Kiwis", are proud to be two of the heaviest beer drinking nations in the world, except maybe for the Germans and wouldn't have it any other way.

Just for information (2001)

http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/w...ntries-map.html

[Chris Lawrence]

I have not heard a bunch of opinionated wanke_rs in all my life.

Yes I agree that x amount is to much to drink but what is x and who are the people telling another person that that is too much. The fact is that it interferes with your life and that you feel that it is a problem then you should decide to do something.

What I have experience is that what the medico's say is rehashed over and over again for the only purpose of getting funds to start a new program.

I saw a program start that was to save heroin users developed buy a guy from Israel. The drug he was using didn't work without other interventions. This program was transferred in to a service that was Liverpool Oz. I went to this service and saw how they operated. $1.7 m in fees and still looking to rely on NA or AA.

Please if you are going to offer the medical out to how a person will deal with addiction, be a little bit more sensitive to the people that do have a problem. Try not to make judgments because u grew up in an Alcoholic house.

I have seen what people's opinion have done when people have put there hand out. Some people have been knocked from pillar to post. They don't need to hear self opinionated objective comments when we forget this is a subjective disease. Get to know the person before you give your opinion

Do some street work then you get to know the problem.

A friend of mine was a sky diver, but spent 5 years in D & A. He said Chris about every 5 years the medicos reinvented the same old same old. The only thing it did was kill people. They did not go and talk to the client.

Just my 2 bobs worth

[mikethevigoman]

Hi all, I would like some opinoins,

Is 2 beers everyday a problem?

It used to 6 and then with the new year a resolution was made to stop but instead was able to control 2 a day over a period of a few hours. So is a 2 beer a day habit alcoholic? Is it a problem?

There are no consequences besides the nagging from the miss.

Thanks

I drink an average of 2 a day,but take the 14 in one night usually on a sunday , is that ok !

[Chris Lawrence]

Up to you son, if you think it is a problem stop. See how you go.

[Chris Lawrence]

No roblem unless missing a nght bothers you.....but you are drinking just within the safe dinking limits I would think, depemding on how strong the beer is.

I wish I could just dink 2 beers a day...once I start I cannot stop even if I start out with the intetion of having just one

It's all or nothing for me.

Enjoy your life, you obviously never get drunk so you can't cause any damage.

ThaiPauly has got this topic by the balls.

Its up to the individual. When you work out you cant you can't. Keep it simple

[chavy]

Pah! 2 beers a day, are you kidding my firend?

You are not event remotley close to becoming an alcoholic.

I average 8-10 small singha per evening. Never before 6pm in the week. Being English, i convert this to pints which gives me 4-5 pints per day. This is probably what your average bloke back in the UK would fire back whilst sitting in a pub reading the paper.

I have been drinking like this for close to 13/14 years. Im 34. I have a beer belly, but dont care a flying bugger.

I never drink spirits at home. I rarely drink spirits when im out. I dont like them. I love a beer. I do have rare nights off the beer.... maybe every couple of weeks ill have 2 nights off. This dosent bother me other than a slight 'umm, would love a beer now' feeling.

Im convinced its a British thing. Back home, its not unusual to go to the pub at lunchtime and see a couple of business people having a meeting over a few beers. Or a bricklayer/plumber/elctrician nipping into the pub for a couple pints (4 small cans) whilst having his lunch. This would be unusual anywhere else in the world. Beer for us Brits is just par for the course and ingrained in us.

I live up-country. The Chinese/Thai bloke at my local shop is intrigued by me. Just a few days ago i stacked up 10 cans on the counter and a guy infornt of me said 'getting mao tonight?' the shop owner laughed and said 'ha, he would need 20 of them to get mao'.

Conversley, give me half a bottle of wine or a few vodka tomics, and im pissed as a newt yet i could polish off 15 small singha and not miss a step.

No mate. You are not an alcoholic.

If I didn't know better I'd swear I posted this myself. Strange?

I know I go over board at the weekend (SAt/Sun) then Monday have a few with the "Soundman" however , I wouldn't consider my self an alcoholic....rather a habitual binge drinker.

[ChangMaiSausage]

My grandad drank two can of beer/larger every day for as long as I knew him, he lived until he was well into his nineties. When he passed away and his house was emptied we found that all of the spirit bottle had been filled with either water or cold tea!!

God Bless him.

[Jockstar]

I still drink at least 4 small beers a day. I dont get drunk as much as i used too. Though this weekend gone. Killed me. 3 days on it hard. Cant do it as much as i used to.

[freitag1]

Some guys here have a distorted view of reality. Two cans or small bottles of beer is the limit. I helped for a couple of month in a clinic for alcoholics and we had even cases who were just drinking 1 liter of beer a day and got addicted.

[rixalex]

Some guys here have a distorted view of reality. Two cans or small bottles of beer is the limit. I helped for a couple of month in a clinic for alcoholics and we had even cases who were just drinking 1 liter of beer a day and got addicted.

I think that there are many different forms of addiction, from a hard chemical addiction in which not just your mind, but your body demands something, to a mild yearning.

To me, a litre of beer a day doesn't sound like much of an addiction, more like a habit. And to break this habit i don't think would be difficult, unless of course the person had other issues.

[pop_corn]

I guess depends on why do you HAVE to have two a day, can you just start to reduce that???

alcohol will never be so good for you body, you know? 14 beers a week sounds alot for me.. I remember that before, a year or a bit more I used to have 5 to 6 drinks each time I was out (once a week) and I put that on my mind, so eventually everytime I was out I was like almost counting them. ummmmm then I thought.. what if I actually DONT drink? or reduce that quantity? O_o! BINGO! I did.. so many times Im out without any drink at all, or just 1 or 2.. anothers I can have 7.. lol! it alls depend, you know? but hey, dont make it like a ritual. not at least "the ritual of drinking" keep healthy!

[Jingthing]

as far as I knew is not only about the quantity of the alcohol, is also how often do u consume it. If u need to drink every day, then there is a problem. Alcoholism have different levels and stages, probably u are in a early stage, but doesn't mean that "there is no problem at all"

This is interesting to me because this year I started drinking 1 to 2 drinks per day as is now widely recommended by recent medical studies showing this prevents heart disease. (1 to 2 for men, 1 for women.)

Previous to this drinking decision, I was drinking one or two times a week, probably getting really drunk every few weeks or so for entertainment purposes, and always regretting it the next day. Not so healthy.

I do not HAVE to have these drinks. I am not addicted. I do not go into withdrawal if I don't have them. I just choose to have them, for my health, and I also enjoy the taste. It is never enough to get drunk. Am I an alchoholic? I know I am not. However, if I was I am sure I wouldn't be able to stop at the 1 or 2.

Edited March 9, 2008 by Jingthing

[clubJWP]

Hi all, I would like some opinoins,

Is 2 beers everyday a problem?

It used to 6 and then with the new year a resolution was made to stop but instead was able to control 2 a day over a period of a few hours. So is a 2 beer a day habit alcoholic? Is it a problem?

There are no consequences besides the nagging from the miss.

Thanks

hi there, iam from an organization that helps people to come out of alcohol addiction. you are surely not an alcoholic. why iam saying this? because if you can come down to 2 from 6, that is an achievement. a normal addict will have problem in doing so. but my advice would be to control your urge further. you can do it. drinking should be occassional, and for enjoyement. not to get a high, that high you can get by doing many other things in life.

JWP

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[clubJWP]

Hi all, I would like some opinoins,

Is 2 beers everyday a problem?

It used to 6 and then with the new year a resolution was made to stop but instead was able to control 2 a day over a period of a few hours. So is a 2 beer a day habit alcoholic? Is it a problem?

There are no consequences besides the nagging from the miss.

Thanks

hi there, iam from an organization that helps people to come out of alcohol addiction. you are surely not an alcoholic. why iam saying this? because if you can come down to 2 from 6, that is an achievement. a normal addict will have problem in doing so. but my advice would be to control your urge further. you can do it. drinking should be occassional, and for enjoyement. not to get a high, that high you can get by doing many other things in life.

JWP

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and if you need feel further assistance feel free to contact us at: http://www.alcoholaddiction.org

[Samuian]

....drinking should be occassional, and for enjoyement. not to get a high, that high you can get by doing many other things in life.

JWP

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Do you mind to let us in on this one?

Aren' there risks involved anywhere?

A good friend of mine was a skydiver.... always bragging on about the adrenalin boost he got from it until... he kissed the surface...

should I go on?

With the mountain bike enthusiast, the diver, the mountain peak freak..?

Much has been said in this thread... enjoy, what ever there is, and do not let common sense down!

in France, Greece, Spain, Portugal wine is consumed on a daily base, in many european countries beer is consumed by as much as 200 + liters a year!

People who do have a problem, have a problem and need help.. drinking or not drinking.. I had an Auntie, she was addicted to coffee...

Ahh well..