What is a 'normal' drinker?

[Puwa]

Hey guys, I stumbled on this subforum while browsing through topics on TV. I'm not a drinker myself, but I want to recognize and appreciate all of you who are working to overcome your addiction. I can only imagine how difficult it is. Best wishes and good luck to all!

[Hummin]

On 9/26/2016 at 4:15 PM, ExpatOilWorker said:

I am surprised that nobody have yet tried to quantify what is "normal" drinking. Most health guidelines suggest 3 units of alcohol per day on average is tolerable. Keep in mind that a unit of alcohol is defined as 10 ml of pure alcohol.

 

A weekly intake of 21 units could be:

1 bottle of wine

6 beers

 

Personally, on average, that is my upper limits.

Drink a couple of times a week some few glasses or units to food, would be a normal drinker to me. And if going party, then social drinking some few units up to 5-6 would be normal where I come from. 

[nausea]

Someone who drinks on social occasions, or maybe as the odd tot at the end of the day. Depends on the culture. I would imagine a lot of French could get thru a bottle of wine a day, just through social interactions. In the UK the parallel would be someone who binges every now and then, but the rest of the time drinks tea. I remember something from Freud - he said that one way modern man finds his situation tolerable is thru the prudent use of alcohol. Freud always amazes me, so far ahead of his time - he got the father figure, mother figure exactly right, not that it helped me much, but it did help explain an otherwise rather perplexing situation - when your SO starts comparing you to her mother.

[mogandave]

A “normal” drinker is someone that does not worry about their drinking one way or another...

[cooked]

Depending on your doctor and your wallet, any amount of alcohol might be considered 'abnormal'. The effects of alcohol are slow to make themselves apparent and by the time you notice this it may be too late to realise that it was abnormal to have drunk so much. Or maybe you don't care, in my case my family cares. 

I drink, generally one small Chang a day, sat in the garden spoiling the dogs in the evening.

[Shamrock 1234]

I, too, have been exposed to the Irish drinking culture. Was at a "do" at Castle Leslie last year and several of the ladies present found it difficult to walk out of the dining room after the meal. This is not normal drinking. I once heard the definition of an alcoholic is someone who has a drink every day. As a therapist who has worked in "Rehab" I would say that blood sugar issues plague the drinker. Thus to balance drinking, one has also to look at diet and nutrition. Remember, alcohol is mainly sugar. It causes blood sugar levels to rise and then crash significantly. I wrote a blog post about this recently. I will attach the link.

https://topwellnessconsultant.com/sugar-is-not-your-friend/

[mogandave]

I, too, have been exposed to the Irish drinking culture. Was at a "do" at Castle Leslie last year and several of the ladies present found it difficult to walk out of the dining room after the meal. This is not normal drinking. I once heard the definition of an alcoholic is someone who has a drink every day. As a therapist who has worked in "Rehab" I would say that blood sugar issues plague the drinker. Thus to balance drinking, one has also to look at diet and nutrition. Remember, alcohol is mainly sugar. It causes blood sugar levels to rise and then crash significantly. I wrote a blog post about this recently. I will attach the link.
https://topwellnessconsultant.com/sugar-is-not-your-friend/

Alcohol is not mainly sugar.

[Shamrock 1234]

When a person drinks alcohol, the body reacts to it as a toxin, and channels all energy into expelling it. This means that other processes are interrupted – including the production of glucose and the hormones needed to regulate it. This is most noticeable is in heavy drinkers, as over time drinking too much alcohol decreases the effectiveness of insulin, which leads to high blood sugar levels.

Alcohol also affects blood sugar levels each time it’s consumed, which means occasional drinkers can also be negatively impacted. Alcohol consumption causes an increase in insulin secretion, which leads to low blood sugar (otherwise known as hypoglycaemia). This causes light headedness and fatigue, and is also responsible for a host of longer-term alcohol-related health problems.

[mogandave]

When a person drinks alcohol, the body reacts to it as a toxin, and channels all energy into expelling it. This means that other processes are interrupted – including the production of glucose and the hormones needed to regulate it. This is most noticeable is in heavy drinkers, as over time drinking too much alcohol decreases the effectiveness of insulin, which leads to high blood sugar levels.

Alcohol also affects blood sugar levels each time it’s consumed, which means occasional drinkers can also be negatively impacted. Alcohol consumption causes an increase in insulin secretion, which leads to low blood sugar (otherwise known as hypoglycaemia). This causes light headedness and fatigue, and is also responsible for a host of longer-term alcohol-related health problems.

That could well be, but alcohol is not mainly sugar. Please do not post “facts” that aren’t true, if nothing else it makes everything else you post suspect.

[rott]

Beer contains very little sugar, though high in calories.

 

Gin, vodka and rum likewise have little sugar, red wine not too bad either.

 

Not bad at all compared to cola drinks.

 

I currently go out for a few drinks 3 or 4 times a week and average roughly 25 to 35 units weekly.

[rott]

On 6/4/2018 at 1:21 PM, BritManToo said:

I drink about 1 liter/day @ 7%

Wine, beer, wine coolers, it doesn't really matter.

7 litres at 7% is 49 units a week, I am surprised no-one here has thrown a wobbler.

More than me, but I know people who do 3 large Changs a day every day which makes nearly 70, and a good few doing more than that.

[Shamrock 1234]

Here's something from the Daily Mail to put wine in perspective.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4552880/Do-know-sugar-wine.html

It is wrong to suppose wine does not contain sugar. It does. Beer does not have a lot of sugar but it is high in carbohydrates that convert to sugar. I pint of beer will contain about 2.5gms of sugar and a lot of calories. Drinking in the quantities outlines above strikes me as a quick way to metabolic syndrome and eventual diabetes. Spirits like Gin or Vodka have very little sugar as it has converted to alcohol in the distillation process.

Cola drinks are much worse a 12 0z can of coke contains about 39 gms of sugar which equates to 9 teaspoons. This discussion is about alcohol, but if you drink spirits and use mixers then the sugar content goes sky high.

[rott]

What about whisky? Many years ago a diabetic I worked with who had it very bad, was told he could have two small whiskies (can't remember if daily or weekly) he never bothered but still died of cirrhosis in his early sixties.

[Shamrock 1234]

Whisky is a spirit,too. Not much different to vodka or gin.

 

[cooked]

On 6/17/2019 at 8:26 PM, rott said:

What about whisky? Many years ago a diabetic I worked with who had it very bad, was told he could have two small whiskies (can't remember if daily or weekly) he never bothered but still died of cirrhosis in his early sixties.

I won't be telling you that ANY alcohol is bad for you, been through that. However one aspect of drinking is the carbohydrate content (including the sugar). Beer has the most, wine less, spirits without soda none.

An oversimplified view of what happens when you consume alcohol is that your liver views it as toxic and stops everything else it is doing in order to get rid of it. Not good.

[Shamrock 1234]

When the liver is tied up in this way it cannot do its job of ridding the body  of toxins. Toxins build up and you get fat and ill. Interesting book by Stephanie Heale. "You Are Not Fat You're Toxic". Take a look!

[Apiwan2]

I don't  know what a normal drinker is but I know I dont even like it anymore it's just became a habit. 

 

When I'm here I wake up do all the things in the house washing, mopping etc 

Ironing early evening after cooking then about 20: 00 hrs off to 7 to buy beer , 

Its normally about 4 to 10 cans depending on mood.

 

Mostly 6 cans , but for the last 6 months I really dont enjoy it anymore.

 

I dont know what it's like to have no alcohol for 7 days never mind a month.

 

That I why i decided to name a cut off day, which is tomorrow, why ? Because I go back to work check in 23:00 hrs and fly at 02;00 so even a last dinner there will be no drinks.

 

I really want to know what it's like to be alcohol free for at least 30 days .

 

I spend about 500 baht a day on drink with crisps etc , that's 15K a month <deleted>

 

Its6not the monetary value that will swing it for me but the health aspect I believe is much stronger.

 

BTW posting this as my last night drinking.

 

 

Will let all know how I get on good or bad.

[Royco]

Good luck Apiwan2.

 

Many people who drink much, have problems sleeping when they stop. Maybe a good idea to get something to get you through the first week at the doctor. But perhaps you are already used to not drinking every night and you will be fine.

[Neeranam]

A normal drinker can stop drinking by will power. An alcoholic needs a spiritual awakening. 

[Neeranam]

On 11/8/2019 at 10:40 PM, Apiwan2 said:

I don't  know what a normal drinker is but I know I dont even like it anymore it's just became a habit. 

 

When I'm here I wake up do all the things in the house washing, mopping etc 

Ironing early evening after cooking then about 20: 00 hrs off to 7 to buy beer , 

Its normally about 4 to 10 cans depending on mood.

 

Mostly 6 cans , but for the last 6 months I really dont enjoy it anymore.

 

I dont know what it's like to have no alcohol for 7 days never mind a month.

 

That I why i decided to name a cut off day, which is tomorrow, why ? Because I go back to work check in 23:00 hrs and fly at 02;00 so even a last dinner there will be no drinks.

 

I really want to know what it's like to be alcohol free for at least 30 days .

 

I spend about 500 baht a day on drink with crisps etc , that's 15K a month <deleted>

 

Its6not the monetary value that will swing it for me but the health aspect I believe is much stronger.

 

BTW posting this as my last night drinking.

 

 

Will let all know how I get on good or bad.

How did it go?

[UbonThani]

On 9/24/2016 at 10:19 PM, wtaumme said:

Normal drinking cannot be explained as in many of the nations drinking is not good, so then for them the definition for normal drinking is what? So drink healthy and live healthy as nothing is worst then harming yourself by your own. 

Less than 5 drinks a week will do you more good than harm.

[Neeranam]

On 2/10/2020 at 11:37 AM, UbonThani said:

Less than 5 drinks a week will do you more good than harm.

Not if you are alcoholic.

[nausea]

If you have to ask this question then you are not a normal drinker. For some people it's a bottle of wine a day, for others it's like a pint or two down the pub, drinking in the morning is the danger signal if you ask me. That, and not being able to go off it for protracted periods. I often just give up for a year or so. Smoking is much more insidious. 

[poskat]

normal drinkers can stop drinking after a drink or two...

normal drinkers can stay stopped from drinking as long as they want to.. actually, normal drinkers never think about stopping drinking, because there is no reason to...

stopping drinking is easy, staying stopped is the hard part for a non-"normal" drinker

[impulse]

If drinking is causing problems in your life, you have a drinking problem.  Full stop.

 

Getting caught up in other semantics and morality kills millions of people a year when they don't seek help because they can't possibly be an alcoholic because___________________.   Fill in your own blank.

 

[luckyluke]

45 minutes ago, impulse said:

If drinking is causing problems in your life, you have a drinking problem.  Full stop

Many are drinking because they have problems in their life. 

If one has problems caused by drinking, one should decide what is most and less important, the drinking or the problems, and act accordingly. 

Sometimes it is too late for some to be able to decide. 

At 71+, and after ca. 55 years  of drinking, I am still able to decide when I want to get drunk. 

 

 

[dejenny80]

It can be difficult to know if you are drinking too much or not. We faced a similar dilemma recently. 

 

Was really settling to go and speak to someone about it. medconsult clinic offered my husband treatment and it was really cheap, worth it, saved many arguments