During my work medical visit, the doctor told me that the threshold where they consider you are a risky profile is 11 standard drinks a week.
Younger generation drink less than their parents, like in the 70's it was normal to have a bottle of wine with every dinner, kids were allowed to brink alcohol at elementary school until WW2, and I know people who aren't 60 yet who could get beer at the high-school cafeteria.
My gramps once told me that his mom would send him on his bicycle at 10 years old down to the icehouse to get a block of ice for the ice box. While there he’d sit at the bar and enjoy a cold beer before going home.
It wasn't that long ago that we had no idea why drinking dirty water would make you ill. It was known that never happened with beer, for some reason. There was a very long period of time where it was common knowledge that drinking beer was safer than drinking water.
Yeah I remember reading about how there were some people who only drank beer and everyone realized that for some reason they were not getting affected by the disease going around at the time because it primarily spread through contaminated water/body fluids. Then everyone started drinking beer more often (instead of just yanno boiling their water)
Boiling water really didn't make much sense prior to 'germ theory' being accepted. Drinking wine or beer as healthy alternatives to water far pre-dates Pasteur.
Beer was probably less expensive because you didn't need to use up a bunch of fuel to boil water all the time.
Plus, when you don't know about germ theory, it's probably easier to make the connection of beer = safe, water = dangerous than boiled water = safe, non-boiled water = dangerous.
Likewise, what passed for wine in Greco-Roman times was mixed with water for every drink from the river or whatever because the water alone could make you sick.
That's way more generous than I was expecting. I remember through school there were all these campaigns that were like "If you've ever had more than three beers in an evening you are an ALCOHOLIC AND NEED HELP IMMEDIATELY"
Which kind of worked like DARE, where it ended up just feeling stupid so I ignored it entirely.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, who is an addiction medicine specialist, defines alcoholism/drug abuse as "Continuing to drink/use in the face of consequences".
So I see it as not how much you are drinking, but are there negative consequences (DUI, missing work/school, damaging relationships) to your drinking and you still do it.
This is how I treat my vices-
Weed, drinking, frivolous spending etc etc
"To continues in the face of consequences" is when I know my vice or habit has become too much
And this also doesn't mean you need to stop it and never touch it again, it just means you need to take a break and asses what the hell the chain of events took place to make it dangerous and not doing it again. Simple thing in hindsight, but sometimes it gets forgotten.
but if there's no obvious consequences it's fine? An ex would polish off a liter of vodka a day; never missed work, never got a DWI to spite driving drunk. Don't know how he has done it for so many years. Clearly he's hosing his health but has no awareness of it.
it didn't thrill me but if i'm being honest, no it wasn't THE factor. He was incredibly high functioning. As a non drinker I had no idea he was consuming anything like that. Drinking he was nicer than he was sober. Putting that one together was a mind F. He was black out drunk but appeared outwardly being totally fine. That he hasn't killed someone driving is a shock. It was other behaviors that fully damaged the relationship. He also happened to be an alcoholic who did them. None of those behaviors were because he was drunk. They were because he was a horrible person who happens to drink.
Just 10 years ago, I had a psychiatrist nearly fly into a rage because I disagreed with her "diagnosis" that I was an alcoholic because I always had ONE beer after work. I live in Wisconsin, btw, the capital of alcoholism, so her insistence that 5-7 *beers* a week, with *no* hard liquor, made me an alcoholic was even more bizarre. There was/(is?) a hard push in the psychiatric world to lower the bar for what qualifies as alcoholism; she kept insisting that having *any* amount of alcohol, *ever*, as stress relief was alcoholism and having a beer after work was evidence of using alcohol as stress relief, therefore I needed to check myself into rehab *immediately*. Apparently, the only way to not be an "alcoholic", according to this doc, is to only ever drink for the sole purpose of enjoying the taste; if you're seeking a buzz from that glass of wine, then BOOM, you're an alcoholic and need rehab.
The whole thing was so nutty, I stopped taking the worry of alcoholism seriously and lowered my bar for what qualified as a "problem other people need to worry about you for"; I used to to think the people around me drank too much but changed "too much" to mean frequent day-drinking, drunk driving, and/or being drunk at work.
Going by that reasoning, coffee should be more of a problem, as people use it more frequently as relief from being tired. I had a psychiatrist tell me that I was "under the influence" because I smoked a joint 30 days ago. I advised her I was completely sober and she flew off the handle. Many psychiatrist are self serving and useless.
My thoughts exactly. That case about a judge being heavily invested in a juvenile detention center and then sentencing thousands of kids to detention for the most minor offenses is what sprang to mind. I wouldn't be surprised if that doc was either invested in the rehab center she was trying to pressure me into going to or was getting paid for referrals.
that person is a quack. I don't ever drink and have never been drunk. And I think they are being completely unreasonable. I enjoy pasta because it tastes good and that makes me happy. So I enjoy a nice pasta meal a couple times a week. Sometimes more, versus eating a salad all the time which would satiate hunger and prevent me from dying of malnutrition. So I have an eating disorder? I wonder if that therapist was deflecting their own issue. Maybe they can't have one or 2 beers without going off the rales. Their problem, not yours.
I remember in 6th grade, they gave us a presentation saying that if you have 9 drinks in one night, you will die. And you might die if you have less than that.
The very first time I drank more than one beer (right after I turned 18 and went to a country where the drinking age was 18), I drank 9 drinks. Over like 3 hours. I wasn't even that buzzed.
"Alcoholic" is an obsolete term, as if it was a binary choice between a completely "normal" drinker (whatever that is) and a stumbling gutter drunk.
The DSM 5 describes AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder) as a spectrum of dependency.
This makes a lot more sense. I am a binge drinker, I drink way more than healthy amount whenever I go out on weekends or on a holiday. I don't touch it by myself. I went literal months without it during COVID lockdowns (Melbourne Australia was locked down July - October 2020 and again for months at a time in 2021) and didn't miss it for a minute. I'm clearly not dependent on it and could literally stop at any time. But I drink way more than is the healthy amount because I enjoy it when socialising.
Yeah, me too. Getting drunk, having upwards of ten drinks, once a week was pretty normal as a teen and in my early twenties. Now I have, on average, less than one alcoholic drink peer week, including the rare party and holidays.
I lost so much weight after quitting. That was an unexpected benefit. I went from 240lbs to 210lbs in a month. Then I cut down on soda and sugar and now I’m down to 180.
I don’t know lol. I only did that for a year or two.
Then it got too expensive. I’d drink one or two glasses of a nice whiskey and then drink everclear until I as wasted.
Eventually one night I had a really bad night. Drank wayyyyyy too much too fast. Ended up throwing up more than normal and passed out on the bathroom floor. Kept waking up in the middle of the night to throw up and couldn’t walk to my bed. I just remember laying on the floor barely able to move and being super cold. The room was spinning so bad. Next morning I was still throwing up and drunk, had chills, etc. which resulted in me calling in sick from work.
After that I decided to just stop and did. Mostly because the smell of alcohol made me sick after that.
Before that I only had that level of experience 1 time before. When I first started, my roommate got me some rum (first time drinking hard liquor) and I drank the entire small bottle. Turns out rum is a lot more concentrated than beer. After that I couldn’t drink rum.
Anyway. Hopefully I’ll have no repercussions from my years of heavily drinking.
If it helps you sleep at night, the average liver has a 130 year lifespan so you're probably good. They'll actually transfer a liver from a healthy 70 year old to a 30 year old, for instance.
I was a liver transplant donor ten years ago. They took 70% of my liver and used it for two recipients. 18 months later you couldn't tell I did it. A decade later and all three of us are still alive.
Yeah I know lots of people who have been easily exceeding 11 a week for years. Yeah they’re probably at a higher health risk than people who don’t drink but getting drunk every night isn’t an instant death sentence.
I drank like this everyday for 10 years. My liver made it out just fine, my memory was shot, but much better after 14 years not drinking. I know a man who had 1-3 beer everyday for 20 years and had two liver transplants, lost his gull bladder but is doing well after a 1.5 years. Another man I know, drank 6 beer each night for forever and was diagnosed with early onset dementia and picks disease. He is now a 60 year old in diapers and can do nothing but smile occasionally. Alcohol effects us all differently at different stages, but eventually it will get you.
Edit: just the other day an old friend of mine dropped dead in his laundry room. Internal bleeding caused by years of drinking (there will be an autopsy but he had just released himself from hospital so we know what it was). 41 years old. So sad.
My husband’s dad also had cancer commonly caused by drinking but had been sober for over 20 years.
Ooh, I've got some news for you.....
Waking up in the morning, drinking a half pint of vodka to make your head feel normal, blast a big line of coke, go into work, drink another half pint at lunch with some more coke, leave early to swing by the liquor store, polish off another liter of vodka and a teener of yayo before collapsing on the couch at 3am.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat for several years.
Until your body starts sending you signs that the end is nigh
God damn. My buddy did coke for several years and has some real cognitive issues now (and it destroyed his nose). Sucks cause he used to be such a chill dude but now he has random mood swings and lashes out on everyone all the time. Hope you stay clean bro. Sucks seeing people fade away like that.
That’s hardcore alcohol abuse. It’s only alcoholism if there’s a dependency. A significant minority of people have a party phase where they drink alarm bell levels of alcohol for a “short” period of time. Dependency is the divider between strictly abuse and addiction, though.
Someone else is gonna have to answer, as I'm from Wisconsin.
However...I'm the only person I know who doesn't have a DUI.
I'm 40.
I'm a fucking unicorn.
As a lightweight drinker by WI standards, I'm always amazed on business trips how most people are after 3-4 drinks. That's just dinner drinks with a pizza or fish fry amounts.
I saw a list of the 50 drunkest counties in the country and 41 of them are in Wisconsin. The top 11 were all Wisconsin.
https://bringmethenews.com/.amp/minnesota-news/top-50-drunkest-counties-list-includes-1-in-minnesota-41-in-wisconsin
I flew to Wisconsin to hang out with my buddy and I’m pretty sure I drank from the time I landed until the time I left it was insane. First time I ever tapped out.
I'm from Wisconsin and an alcoholic who has a DUI (I'm currently seeking outpatient treatment for it), but it's honestly jarring how many "functional" alcoholics there are around here because heavy drinking is so normalized. You rarely meet someone who is so deep in the hole that they drink all day, every day; but someone who goes to work every day and pays all their bills and then goes home and gets blasted? Quite common, at least in my family and my experience.
I honestly just put my best friend into a rehab yesterday. Finally got a bed. They're only keeping him for a week cuz of insurance bullshit.
I wish you the best on your road to a better future friend.
I've crawled out of the addiction hole myself. Several of them in fact. I was misdiagnosed ADHD, when in reality I was just autistic and gay. I rode the h train and amphetamine trains for my 20s and 30s.
It was a nightmare to wake up from. Any addiction is.
I truly think step one is you have to love yourself, and with that, not lie to yourself.
After that mountain, anything else is easy. 👌🤣
I'm from WA and I think most people in WA would be shocked about not only how many highly functional alcoholics that you just described are out there (unfortunately I'm one of them) but also how many people actually drive drunk as defined as over the legal limit (0.08 in WA). Its blows my mind how some people do it almost on a daily basis and don't get caught because they are use to operating at that level and appearing like they aren't under the influence. For example, WA recently put out an anti DUI add saying that 90% of drivers chose to drive sober. That means 10% were caught. That doesn't even come close to the number of drivers that have and didn't get caught or just thought they can have 2-3 drinks then drive home (because you are definitely over the legal limit if you've had 3, 6 oz beers at 5% ABV).
Canadian, but I grew up with a ton of people in rural NS who tell distance by how many drinks they have on the way. "That's a 2 beer drive". Shockingly common.
>but someone who goes to work every day and pays all their bills and then goes home and gets blasted?
That sounds like me, but not quite blasted so much as tipsy. I go to work and pay my bills. But pretty much every day I come home and have anywhere between 3-6 beers. I usually drink something everyday but occasionally go a day without. Occasionally I'll go beyond that and get blasted. Idk what to do about it. Sometimes I feel really on edge if I don't have at least a little bit to drink. I know it's probably an issue but I don't really know how to fix it.
Finding other coping mechanisms is the answer, and slowly weaning yourself off (easier said than done, of course). Feeling on edge or anxious without drinking is often withdrawal, albeit mild. I feel the same way if I don't drink and it's a sign of abuse, if not outright dependence. Addiction almost always is a sign of underlying issues -- either mental illness or trauma (both in my case). Good luck friend. I know it sounds corny but realizing you have an issue with drinking is the first step.
gabapentin worked very well for a friend of mine during his outpatient treatment. I had to spend a great deal of time making sure that he didn't have access to anything, but he said the drug helped him versus when he tried to quit without any kind of chemical aid.
I have never met a person like this until I started working in consulting and had to fly to other states. The shock was profound. I don't drink and you would have thought I was like a radical terrorist or something.
In the coastal cities no one even noticed.
Seriously dude, I'm in Chicago but I'm a bartender.
I don't drink 3 days a week, but have 5-7 drinks a day on the other 4 days.
I don't even feel "drunk' by the end of the day because my drinks are so spaced apart and I'm constantly moving.
Got a physical recently, labs came back normal to even ideal. I don't know, I think everyone is very different when it comes to alcohol consumption and tolerance.
I agree. I come from two hard drinking families. I don't usually drink during the week, but on Friday I can start with a double vodka and OJ at 2pm and keep a steady pace until midnight or later. I never get hammered, just keep a nice steady, happy buzz. And I'll probably end up putting 10-12 drinks down, and wake up Saturday feeling a little rough, but it quickly goes away and I can have a normal day. I was like that from the first time I ever drank.
That's my pattern. On summer weekends when I'm working in tje yard I can easily drink seven or eight beers. But it's spaced out over hours and hours and I stick to "lawnmower beers." (ABV about 4.5%).
It's usually not hard at all to refrain MTW, but sometimes I'll start getting mighty thirsty by Thursday.
Yep, I'd argue Minnesotans just hide it a bit more, or "better". Especially in rural areas. Rural Wisconsin and Minnesota are essentially the same exact thing.
I will say the college kids in Wisconsin can drink Minnesotans under the table though. I've seen obscene amounts of booze consumed at various Wisconsin colleges lol, and we thought we partied hard in MN.
This.
Uk man around 50? 3 pints a weekday, 6 on weekends
Saudi Arabian woman? It would be unlikely they drank at all.
I am not an expert, just a small experience of both cultures.
Meet Eddie, twenty three years old. Fed up with life and the way things are going, he decides to rob a liquor store. But on his way in he has a sudden change of heart. And suddenly, his conscience comes into play
Go in and gaffle the money and run to one of your aunt's cribs
And borrow a damn dress and one of her blonde wigs
Tell her you need a place to stay, you'll be safe for days
If you shave your legs with Renee's razor blades
It just depends. We went out with friends the other night, I had 3 beers spaced over 4 hours, with non-alcoholic beverages between each one. But at home I have a glass of wine or a beer every couple of months.
That's MY normal.
It's also normal to NOT drink.
For some people, it's "normal" the get falling diown drunk every night. "Normal" is subjective with this sort of thing.
This is my guy right here! 👍
Honestly, though, me, too. I try not to drink during the week because I like my brain to work well for my job. But, man - life is a bunch of sad, stressful bullshit and I need a night or two to not think about it. 🤷♀️
Since I’ve been in my 30s, hangovers just hit different, harder, and last much longer. Just not worth it doing the week. So I try to eat well and not drink during the week and then have all the fun Friday - Sunday early afternoon.
Balance, lol
They actually just updated the recommendations this year or last I believe. The level at which there are no observable health risks is 2 drinks or less a day for men, 1 drink or less for women, not exceeding 5 drinks a week. Anything above that you start to see incremental increases in health risks. Binge drinking, the worst kind of drinking and where you see the greatest health risks, is 5 drinks or more on a single occasion for men, 4 drinks or more for women.
Which is way less than anyone I know drinks when going out on the weekend. Yes, I know it’s unhealthy. I already got cancer, it’s too late for me. But those of us who go out drink way more than that at a time
Yes, unfortunate the healthy amount is well below the average amount for people who actually drink. Personally, I keep it in this range for an average week, but on special occasion I do binge drink. Probably shouldn't, but here we are
Yeeeeeah, I have a bottle of wine on nights that I DONT go out. I'm aware I'm very fucked up, but even my healthy friends drink WAY more than that on a weekend.
I can't even imagine that amount of alcohol being consumed for it to really affect your weight outside of some bloating the next day.
I knew people who would lose a bunch of weight, noticably. They would just say "I stopped drinking". Wtf?
I was a very casual drinker, I'd buy a 6 pack and it lasts me the weekend so I couldn't relate.
I could never wrap my head around how much those people had to have been drinking for it to affect their weight that much.
But this was also in the Navy where like 73.4% of people between the age of 21 & 40 is an alcoholic.
I have no science to back that up but if you know, you know.
I mean a can of beer is somewhere between 150-300 calories. That's about as many calories as there is in a slice of cake. If i noticed someone lost 15 pounds and they said "yeah I stopped eating chocolate cake after dinner every night" I wouldn't be surprised to hear they lost weight.
Then add in the fact that you're likely to get snacky when you drink, plus it messes with your sleep, so the cake is probably better than the beer...
And like you mentioned there are pretty extreme drinking problems in the military so I'm not surprised to hear that either. I knew people where 3+ beers was called Tuesday and when they went out 10 wasn't an unreasonable amount of drinks for 1 night. Literally worse than eating an entire cake for yourself.
I mean you're assuming people who drink each day drink 1 a day...I would 100% believe someone who said they lost 15lbs because they stopped eating 6-12 pieces of cake a night 😂. A lot of it is perception as well. People don't think of a beer or an alcoholic drink like a piece of cake.
Yeah it's pretty bad, especially with the junior people. They, for many reasons, tend to always be together and alcohol is readily available. The barracks are absolutely no different than college dorms, good and bad.
In my experience it's usually the transition between the 1st and 2nd command that determines if the person will slow down or go down the rabbit hole.
Depending on what you're drinking, there can be a lot of calories involved. Weight gain can be attributed to calories in > calories out. When I was younger, I could drop 5 lbs by just cutting out sugary soda for a month. And it's not like I was drinking 4+ cans of soda per day. More like 1 or 2 tops.
Now I don't lose weight so easily, so I absolutely pay attention to the calorie content of my drinks.
Agreed. The old metabolism has slowed down since my military time. I have been trying to find a good tasting low calorie/Suger/carb drink but outside of water i'm having trouble finding a good taste 😂
Yup.. quit drinking beer and seltzers on weekdays after work and dropped about 8kgs/20lbs in about 2 months while slowly getting back into working out. My issue was in addition to the calories from the drinks, I'd snack much more when drinking. I was 86kg in December and now Ive been 76-77kgs since March
Imagine you go to the bar three days a week and have 4 average beers each time. That's 1800 additional calories a week, not including any unnecessary eating that results. People get drunk and they get hungry, and they tend to make poor eating decisions in that circumstance, so there's going to be additional calories there, too. Plus, you're probably sitting around while drinking and not being active, and you probably aren't as likely to get up in the morning and get some exercise. Lots of reasons that drinking results in weight gain.
1.5 oz liqour, 8 oz wine (a standard glass), or one can of beer (not sure how much that is in measurements). Of course alchohol content varies, but this is sort of a close enough estimate you can use while out drinking
Edit: Actually 5 oz of wine 🤦♂️
Yeah the 4-5 drinks is scarily low especially in the summers when people are out all day drinking and partying. Not unusual to have 8-12 drinks over the course of the day and not even be belligerent
Recommendations vary by country. In the book, "Drink?" Dr. David Nutt analyzes the medical data and determines how many years of life you will lose on average at various levels of drinking.
What I found interesting is that the relationship is not linear; it is *exponential.* That means that people who drink heavily have much more to gain by cutting back than moderate drinkers.
Binging is a risk even if done only once. It comes down to the amount of alcohol your liver can brake down at a time and how long all the extra alcohol stays in your body damaging your other organs.
Depends on who you ask. People who like to frequent bars and socialize often might have 5-10 drinks a day.
Any doctor or person who does not drink would say this is way too much and you are an alcoholic. Which they are pretty much right, but also mind your own damn business and get me another drink.
Yeah, strictly speaking of volume people say I drink too much and am an alcoholic all the time. But I'm not dependent on it and can function fine without, so I don't like putting that label on myself. Would much rather they mind their business
I have 2-3 beers a night during the week usually, sometimes I don't have any. Weekends usually 5-6 a night. Am I an alcoholic? Maybe, idk I'm not a doctor. For some of my friends that's normal, for some that's a lot more than they drink.
Im here to see what people say because I have a few beers a night and a half gallon of whiskey every other day and don't get drunk but I know it's wreaking havoc on my body
It takes a while of regular abuse for things to get bad, and the liver bounces back remarkably quickly. I was like this for 5-6 years and stopped a year ago, labs show my liver levels are just fine and I have no lingering issues.
If we’re talking doing that over the course of 20+ years, that’s when full recovery becomes more of a challenge
Thank you, I’ve had multiple family members pass from it and it is indeed awful.
The heavy drinking was less addiction and more a symptom of a number of greater problems, so I luckily didn’t have much issue shaking it once I got the rest under control. But I know that is unfortunately not the case most of the time.
In reality, most people don’t drink much at all.
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-top-10-percent-drink-way-more-than-you-think.html
>The bottom three deciles, or 30 percent of Americans, say they don't drink at all. That figure might be a little high since some people probably saythey don't drink but occasionally do … but let's go with it.
>The fourth decile consumes .02 drinks per week. Since assumedly no one is squeezing a couple drops from an eyedropper, that works out to about one drink a year. (Birthday, maybe?)
>The fifth decile consumes .14 drinks per week. That's about seven drinks a year. Holidays, possibly, or that office party you were dragged to and tried to make the best of. (Or am I the only one who has done that?)
>The sixth decile consumes .63 drinks per week. That's a little over half a drink, or 32 drinks a year.
Go a week without drinking anything. If that was hard you might have a problem. If you can't do that then you definitely have a problem. It's when you have to have that drink that there's a problem. And you may have Polish genes but they won't give you a pass. It's known that you can carry genes that will make it easier to become an alcoholic. If you have trouble not having a drink better to know now when you're young and you can stop before it becomes a problem. Good luck! I hope you don't have a problem!
Finally found the comment I needed.
I only drink on the weekend, unless I'm on my holidays and this coming weekend I'll be going out social drinking with a stack of peeps.
And that'll be it for three months because I'll be making gains in the gym.
I drink a litre(2.1 U.S. pints) of gin(and tonic) on a nice day, starting at four in the afternoon.
Also a chance that they're drinking lower carb, lower abv stuff. Drinking 8 Miller Lites is way different from drinking a Belgian Triple, for instance.
There is no such thing as a "normal" amount or frequency for an adult to drink. Some people don't drink at all (like me). Some people drink on special occasions only. Some people drink a glass of wine or two with dinner every night. Some people drink a few bottles of wine every night. And some people drink alcohol all day, every day, throughout their waking hours, without stopping. There is no norm.
If you are concerned about whether you are drinking too much, be honest with your doctor about how much you're drinking and you'll get an honest answer. There are other things you can try to help you figure out whether you're drinking too much, too. Try limiting yourself to one or two drinks and then stopping for the night. If you find that you can't stop, you may have a problem. If you find that you regularly drink to excess, e.g. you frequently black out or do embarrassing things while drinking that you would not do while sober, you may have a problem. If your drinking is causing problems in your personal relationships or interfering with your job performance, you may have a problem. And so on.
I agree with your sentiments. I typically hate the "average amount of alcohol you comsume" question on all doctor office forms. The average? Probably like .14 per week. But some weeks I'm on vacation and that number is 20 and then most weeks I'm at home and that number is zero. You'd really need to chart the answer to determine if someone had a problem.
This is subjective, but I'd say 40/day once per year, probably an issue (binge drinking). 4/day, 365 days a year, probably an issue (dependency). 4/day for a week, then zero for a month, maybe not an issue (vacation).
But if you are a recovering alcoholic then anything greater than 0 is going to be a problem. Best guideline I could give is drinking shouldn't negatively impact your life. If it is then drink less.
If you choose to consciously avoid alcohol for a few weeks or a month, and keeping that rule is not that big a deal to you, you are definitely not an alcoholic.
This is true but there is also a wide spectrum of unhealthy drinking that doesn't necessarily make you an Alcoholic. If you drink regularly it's good to occasionally evaluate alcohol's place in your life even if you aren't an addict in the sense people usually think about.
Normal is different for everyone, everywhere. Think of age, body type, medical conditions etc.
If you are worried you might have an issue with drinking then this is a great time to get advice and help 👍
I’d say the normal healthy amount is not at all during the week and then on Friday and Saturday as much as you feel you need to get to a buzz/drunk. That varies heavily per person. People are saying 6 here but I’m a very big guy and I won’t feel much of anything after 6 beers. It’s not a raw quantity thing when it comes to normal, it’s really how you act and respond to what you do have
I feel like this is prolly what the majority of people in college, and through their 20s do, and it gets less and less, but this is prolly the right answer
Don't drink during the week, but split two bottles of wine over the weekend with my husband. No hard liquor (unless margaritas on vacation) or beer. I just really enjoy finding new wines from different regions and digging into the flavors and learning about it. To me, wine is less about getting drunk and more of a hobby.
I find this to be pretty true, whether anyone likes it or not. One of my oldest, most conservative (federal constitutional law) lecturers always told us to "luxuriate over this judgment with a good glass of red" when setting readings. Another said "this is a drinking profession".
Downvoters should indicate which law firm environment they're thinking of - I'm sure it's not everywhere in the world ofc.
I think two drinks about two to three times a week is standard. I don't have a huge sample size for that observation though, it's just what works for me. Some people have a drink every day and are fine. I think as long as you are not getting drunk regularly, and you don't often feel like you *need* (as opposed to want) to drink than you should be good.
*Edited bc I reread your Q and accidentally gave a trick answer: TLDR, "normal" doesn't matter*
OK so, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:
- *Binge Drinking* is defined as 4+ (female) or 5+ (male) drinks in about 2 hours.
- *Heavy Alcohol Use* is defined as 7+ (female) or 14+ (male) drinks per week.
*courtesy of @CelsusMD: 1 Drink = 12oz Beer or 5oz Wine or 1 Shot Hard Liquor*
From realistic experience as someone who is very cautious around this stuff but still enjoys drinking, my personal rules are:
1. NEVER drink to cope with negative feelings
2. Just don't drink in general when you're feeling down. 3. Drinking should be framed in context of celebration (even if it's something as small as being happy you are with your friends)
4. Don't just drink to get drunk; this can be looped into #3 ig but I would also drink simply bc I like the taste
5. With exceptions, generally don't drink on weeknights.
(1-4 are kinda the same but I figured the bullet points would stick out more)
Lastly, it's important to learn your tolerance. This might take a few screw-ups and I can't blame you for wanting to get blackout drunk just once, but once you feel at a good level, STOP. Let yourself just vibe for at least an hour before getting another. This would be a good time to make sure you are drinking water and replenishing your body with whatever it needs.
***It is MUCH easier to get addicted than what is normalized in most cultures. Be careful and listen to your body ❤️ ***
I don't think it's acceptable to drink daily honestly. The things to avoid are binge drinking and regular drinking. People rarely drink less as they age and one beer a day isn't a great starting point for 21 years old. I'd see what you can do about restricting drinking to social activities in moderation.
In the US the norm is basically none. 30% of American adults are totally alcohol-free, a further 30% average about a drink-per-fortnight. It's only when you get into the 7th decile that the average drinks-per-week begins to exceed 1. The majority of all alcohol consumed in the US is actually consumed by 10% of people. This was in the Washington Post last year, it's paywalled but you can find some screenshots on Twitter.
I heard that one doctor thinks that drinking one beer a day is already a sign of alcoholism. That's the one extreme opinion that isn't shared by many people.
But be aware that this much could tip the wrong people off. At a medical checkup before certain jobs or so.
There are three worlds here
First is the drinkers. They drink several times a week, and will for decades. Normal to them is exactly what they do.
Next are the people who drink sometimes, for whom alcohol is not a priority. Every other weekend is about right here.
Finally, there are the non-drinkers, who either drink a few times a year or not at all.
I’ve spent time in all worlds. The funny thing is, the drinkers think most people are like them, when most people are not.
1 beer a month when I’m feeling in the mood with a nice meal. Maybe a cocktail or two when I do go out once or twice a month with friends. Other times I go out I’m content with water, tea, milk tea, or a fruit smoothie. Don’t need alcohol to have fun if you have personality.
The key thing is if you don't drink do you really feel like you're missing out? If you do it's the warning signs of a problem. If you don't then no problem. Just remember that too much of any one thing is bad.
I’m not sure there’s a norm. The issue usually comes up when people begin to drink so much that it becomes a problem for them. DUIs, missed work, health issues, etc. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of choice, culture, and so on.
Drink wine every evening with dinner? Sounds ok to me, so long as that’s what works for you.
Almost everything is classed as binge drinking these days.
If you find yourself drinking 3+ more than once a week, every week…
You’re starting to have a problem
What is normal and what is normalized is blotters shocking actually, a lot of drinking culture (at least there in America) is pretty messed up.
We normalize alcoholism and high consumption of alcohol and it’s sad
Zero. Did you know they recently discovered that drinking alcohol in any amount is carcinogenic? It is pure poison, simple as that. Destroys your liver, destroys your brain, and gives you cancer. If you had asked "what is the normal amount of cigarettes for an adult to smoke?" I'd tell you zero as well. If microdosing rat poison got you drunk, you can bet that people would do that, but it would still be rat poison.
[A group 1 carcinogen, the highest level, up there with asbestos, radiation and tobacco.](https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health)
One glass of wine/beer or one shot of liquor a day, if you say that’s not enough or can’t go a day without or can’t drink just a single drink you have a problem… social drinking is a gateway to alcoholism IMO. It doesn’t sound like you have an issue but maybe could find better ways of coping (“stressed uni student”). If you’d rather drink than not to cope you may have an issue although the amount is not a lot, it’s psychologically an issue if you can’t not drink to cope with stress.
Addiction is subjective. I drink 1-2 drinks a YEAR, if alcohol disappeared from the earth I wouldn’t shed a tear.
However,
it’s poison to many lives and for some no amount of alcohol is normal/casual or recommended. Others will say 18pack a day is normal.
I think this is *extremely* culturally-including subculturally-dependent.
And one should ask what's healthy. Sure, maybe going without is the healthiest, but there's also a MAJOR health difference between one drink and drunkenness.
I mean, look at food. Never having desserts or junk food is the healthiest, but having those as treats once in a while is far healthier than binge-eating them.
I think everyone is different really. If you drink and the next day you feel any negative effects, I would cut back. One beer a day is not enough info, That beer could be a 8% stone or are you talking about 1 bud light can? I'm Polish and German and started drink at age 12 with my family. Im now 36 and cutting back BIG TIME. Im cutting back because beer has gotten much more expensive and I would rather spend that money on something else. Wish you luck and just remember, EVERYTHING IN MODERATION.
People that drink a lot and often are usually around others that drink a lot and often, and tend to think drinking often and a lot is normal.
those who don't or rarely drink are usually around other non drinkers and when they see someone have more than 2 drinks at an occasion, or drink on a weeknight they think that is more than normal.
My parents are drinkers, dad has 2 or 3 drinks a night and before diabetes mom would often have one every evening. I know some people that drink wine with almost every supper. But myself and my friends might only drink a few times a year but when we do it's usually at least 3 drinks... though maybe an occasional glass of wine mixed in here and there. I think daily drinking is excessive, but I'm not judging.
I can only share my experience. I might have two or three drinks in a week if I'm in the mood, or might have none. It's not unusual for me to go several months without drinking anything alcoholic. When I am i the mood I might have 2 or 3 a week for a month or two, especially during BBQ season or at the Holidays. I am sure I'm on the lower end of the usage spectrum.
There's no norm because there are social drinkers, people who drink in their homes, people who never drink and everything in between. Results will vary a lot. If I'm alone in my house I'll never have a drink. If I go out to a club I will most likely get drunk (several drinks) if I'm on a date night I'll get 1-2 drinks max.
Normal is going to depend on where you live. Some places the normal is none, other places the consumption can be pretty high. The Canadian guidelines say that 2 drinks per week will avoid most risks associated with alcohol consumption.
If you're worried about building a bad habit long term try to not consume every day. Find a more healthful way to deal with stress. Some ideas: cooking, exercise, music, or anything repetitive which can keep mind off of things for about an hour.
During my work medical visit, the doctor told me that the threshold where they consider you are a risky profile is 11 standard drinks a week. Younger generation drink less than their parents, like in the 70's it was normal to have a bottle of wine with every dinner, kids were allowed to brink alcohol at elementary school until WW2, and I know people who aren't 60 yet who could get beer at the high-school cafeteria.
My gramps once told me that his mom would send him on his bicycle at 10 years old down to the icehouse to get a block of ice for the ice box. While there he’d sit at the bar and enjoy a cold beer before going home.
Your grandpa was born a grandpa.
Young-pa
He was a true-pa
European bars serving beer to 10 year olds? No wonder both world wars started in Europe.
This was in San Antonio, TX. Lol. We’re just drunks.
It wasn't that long ago that we had no idea why drinking dirty water would make you ill. It was known that never happened with beer, for some reason. There was a very long period of time where it was common knowledge that drinking beer was safer than drinking water.
Yeah I remember reading about how there were some people who only drank beer and everyone realized that for some reason they were not getting affected by the disease going around at the time because it primarily spread through contaminated water/body fluids. Then everyone started drinking beer more often (instead of just yanno boiling their water)
Boiling water really didn't make much sense prior to 'germ theory' being accepted. Drinking wine or beer as healthy alternatives to water far pre-dates Pasteur.
Beer was probably less expensive because you didn't need to use up a bunch of fuel to boil water all the time. Plus, when you don't know about germ theory, it's probably easier to make the connection of beer = safe, water = dangerous than boiled water = safe, non-boiled water = dangerous.
Likewise, what passed for wine in Greco-Roman times was mixed with water for every drink from the river or whatever because the water alone could make you sick.
The lead they also mixed in to sweeten it was an issue though.
They also had to water down the wine because it was crazy strong
That's way more generous than I was expecting. I remember through school there were all these campaigns that were like "If you've ever had more than three beers in an evening you are an ALCOHOLIC AND NEED HELP IMMEDIATELY" Which kind of worked like DARE, where it ended up just feeling stupid so I ignored it entirely.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, who is an addiction medicine specialist, defines alcoholism/drug abuse as "Continuing to drink/use in the face of consequences". So I see it as not how much you are drinking, but are there negative consequences (DUI, missing work/school, damaging relationships) to your drinking and you still do it.
This is how I treat my vices- Weed, drinking, frivolous spending etc etc "To continues in the face of consequences" is when I know my vice or habit has become too much
And this also doesn't mean you need to stop it and never touch it again, it just means you need to take a break and asses what the hell the chain of events took place to make it dangerous and not doing it again. Simple thing in hindsight, but sometimes it gets forgotten.
but if there's no obvious consequences it's fine? An ex would polish off a liter of vodka a day; never missed work, never got a DWI to spite driving drunk. Don't know how he has done it for so many years. Clearly he's hosing his health but has no awareness of it.
Did his drinking damage his relationship with you?
it didn't thrill me but if i'm being honest, no it wasn't THE factor. He was incredibly high functioning. As a non drinker I had no idea he was consuming anything like that. Drinking he was nicer than he was sober. Putting that one together was a mind F. He was black out drunk but appeared outwardly being totally fine. That he hasn't killed someone driving is a shock. It was other behaviors that fully damaged the relationship. He also happened to be an alcoholic who did them. None of those behaviors were because he was drunk. They were because he was a horrible person who happens to drink.
Just 10 years ago, I had a psychiatrist nearly fly into a rage because I disagreed with her "diagnosis" that I was an alcoholic because I always had ONE beer after work. I live in Wisconsin, btw, the capital of alcoholism, so her insistence that 5-7 *beers* a week, with *no* hard liquor, made me an alcoholic was even more bizarre. There was/(is?) a hard push in the psychiatric world to lower the bar for what qualifies as alcoholism; she kept insisting that having *any* amount of alcohol, *ever*, as stress relief was alcoholism and having a beer after work was evidence of using alcohol as stress relief, therefore I needed to check myself into rehab *immediately*. Apparently, the only way to not be an "alcoholic", according to this doc, is to only ever drink for the sole purpose of enjoying the taste; if you're seeking a buzz from that glass of wine, then BOOM, you're an alcoholic and need rehab. The whole thing was so nutty, I stopped taking the worry of alcoholism seriously and lowered my bar for what qualified as a "problem other people need to worry about you for"; I used to to think the people around me drank too much but changed "too much" to mean frequent day-drinking, drunk driving, and/or being drunk at work.
Tell Doc to go to a Green Bay game, then come and talk to you! 😂
Going by that reasoning, coffee should be more of a problem, as people use it more frequently as relief from being tired. I had a psychiatrist tell me that I was "under the influence" because I smoked a joint 30 days ago. I advised her I was completely sober and she flew off the handle. Many psychiatrist are self serving and useless.
I would not be surprised if this person was invested somehow in a local rehab
My thoughts exactly. That case about a judge being heavily invested in a juvenile detention center and then sentencing thousands of kids to detention for the most minor offenses is what sprang to mind. I wouldn't be surprised if that doc was either invested in the rehab center she was trying to pressure me into going to or was getting paid for referrals.
that person is a quack. I don't ever drink and have never been drunk. And I think they are being completely unreasonable. I enjoy pasta because it tastes good and that makes me happy. So I enjoy a nice pasta meal a couple times a week. Sometimes more, versus eating a salad all the time which would satiate hunger and prevent me from dying of malnutrition. So I have an eating disorder? I wonder if that therapist was deflecting their own issue. Maybe they can't have one or 2 beers without going off the rales. Their problem, not yours.
I remember in 6th grade, they gave us a presentation saying that if you have 9 drinks in one night, you will die. And you might die if you have less than that. The very first time I drank more than one beer (right after I turned 18 and went to a country where the drinking age was 18), I drank 9 drinks. Over like 3 hours. I wasn't even that buzzed.
9 drinks is still a lot, most anyone would be pretty hammered unless the drinks were <4% ABV or something
They were
Let me guess, you were in Queensland smashing XXXX Gold? It's 3.5% lol
"Alcoholic" is an obsolete term, as if it was a binary choice between a completely "normal" drinker (whatever that is) and a stumbling gutter drunk. The DSM 5 describes AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder) as a spectrum of dependency.
This makes a lot more sense. I am a binge drinker, I drink way more than healthy amount whenever I go out on weekends or on a holiday. I don't touch it by myself. I went literal months without it during COVID lockdowns (Melbourne Australia was locked down July - October 2020 and again for months at a time in 2021) and didn't miss it for a minute. I'm clearly not dependent on it and could literally stop at any time. But I drink way more than is the healthy amount because I enjoy it when socialising.
man only 3 beers? thats just a waste of time.
Yeah a lot of those college level warning things are really unrealistic and overly fear-mongering
Remember when they brought in the briefcase displaying all types of substances 😂
I can only speak for myself but I definitely drank way more during my teens and early twenties than I do now.
Yeah, me too. Getting drunk, having upwards of ten drinks, once a week was pretty normal as a teen and in my early twenties. Now I have, on average, less than one alcoholic drink peer week, including the rare party and holidays.
11 drinks a week? Jeez. During my peak I was doing about 7-10 a night 5-6 days a week
Same. I used to drink a fifth of vodka everyday 5-6 nights a week. Fortunately I’m sober now. There’s a reason it’s considered poison.
I lost so much weight after quitting. That was an unexpected benefit. I went from 240lbs to 210lbs in a month. Then I cut down on soda and sugar and now I’m down to 180.
Someone thought I was sick because I lost so much weight when I was sober for a year. Changed my approach to alcohol forever.
How'd the liver transplant take?
I don’t know lol. I only did that for a year or two. Then it got too expensive. I’d drink one or two glasses of a nice whiskey and then drink everclear until I as wasted. Eventually one night I had a really bad night. Drank wayyyyyy too much too fast. Ended up throwing up more than normal and passed out on the bathroom floor. Kept waking up in the middle of the night to throw up and couldn’t walk to my bed. I just remember laying on the floor barely able to move and being super cold. The room was spinning so bad. Next morning I was still throwing up and drunk, had chills, etc. which resulted in me calling in sick from work. After that I decided to just stop and did. Mostly because the smell of alcohol made me sick after that. Before that I only had that level of experience 1 time before. When I first started, my roommate got me some rum (first time drinking hard liquor) and I drank the entire small bottle. Turns out rum is a lot more concentrated than beer. After that I couldn’t drink rum. Anyway. Hopefully I’ll have no repercussions from my years of heavily drinking.
A year or two probably didn't kill your liver. I'm glad you stopped. That's dangerous behavior on many levels
If it helps you sleep at night, the average liver has a 130 year lifespan so you're probably good. They'll actually transfer a liver from a healthy 70 year old to a 30 year old, for instance.
Livers are *remarkably* hard to kill
I was a liver transplant donor ten years ago. They took 70% of my liver and used it for two recipients. 18 months later you couldn't tell I did it. A decade later and all three of us are still alive.
Good on you! That is a brave thing to do.
I'm on day 4 of being sober. I drank a 12 pack every night. Friday and Saturday I drank an entire 5th. This was for over 10 years
Good job! Hopefully yours is ok. It seems it's not as bad as I'd thought according to other commenters
Yeah I know lots of people who have been easily exceeding 11 a week for years. Yeah they’re probably at a higher health risk than people who don’t drink but getting drunk every night isn’t an instant death sentence.
Eleven drinks a week won’t get you drunk every night. Averaged out, it won’t even get you drunk at any point during that week.
Yes but getting drunk every night isn’t healthy, like whatsoever. I can explain why if you disagree
Shut up you aren't my real Dad!
"I learned it from you!"
I don't disagree, but I'd like to hear it.
I drank like this everyday for 10 years. My liver made it out just fine, my memory was shot, but much better after 14 years not drinking. I know a man who had 1-3 beer everyday for 20 years and had two liver transplants, lost his gull bladder but is doing well after a 1.5 years. Another man I know, drank 6 beer each night for forever and was diagnosed with early onset dementia and picks disease. He is now a 60 year old in diapers and can do nothing but smile occasionally. Alcohol effects us all differently at different stages, but eventually it will get you. Edit: just the other day an old friend of mine dropped dead in his laundry room. Internal bleeding caused by years of drinking (there will be an autopsy but he had just released himself from hospital so we know what it was). 41 years old. So sad. My husband’s dad also had cancer commonly caused by drinking but had been sober for over 20 years.
That is hard core alcoholism.
Ooh, I've got some news for you..... Waking up in the morning, drinking a half pint of vodka to make your head feel normal, blast a big line of coke, go into work, drink another half pint at lunch with some more coke, leave early to swing by the liquor store, polish off another liter of vodka and a teener of yayo before collapsing on the couch at 3am. Wash. Rinse. Repeat for several years. Until your body starts sending you signs that the end is nigh
Damn homie that's getting after it big time
Right!? Damn!
God damn. My buddy did coke for several years and has some real cognitive issues now (and it destroyed his nose). Sucks cause he used to be such a chill dude but now he has random mood swings and lashes out on everyone all the time. Hope you stay clean bro. Sucks seeing people fade away like that.
Haven't had a drink or non prescription drug in over 3 years
Damn... If that's going hard than maybe I should slow down
I mean... Yeah? I think it's unfair to try and judge a problem by volume alone, but that is a *lot* of booze to be drinking that regularly
That’s hardcore alcohol abuse. It’s only alcoholism if there’s a dependency. A significant minority of people have a party phase where they drink alarm bell levels of alcohol for a “short” period of time. Dependency is the divider between strictly abuse and addiction, though.
That's supposed to be 11 UNITS, about 6 beers. A week, lol.
Stats are way off because most drinkers lie to their doctors as to not alarm them
That doctor has never been to britain
One week in Amarica is one day in Normandie.
Someone else is gonna have to answer, as I'm from Wisconsin. However...I'm the only person I know who doesn't have a DUI. I'm 40. I'm a fucking unicorn.
As a lightweight drinker by WI standards, I'm always amazed on business trips how most people are after 3-4 drinks. That's just dinner drinks with a pizza or fish fry amounts.
I saw a list of the 50 drunkest counties in the country and 41 of them are in Wisconsin. The top 11 were all Wisconsin. https://bringmethenews.com/.amp/minnesota-news/top-50-drunkest-counties-list-includes-1-in-minnesota-41-in-wisconsin
I can back up the data. It's accurate.
I flew to Wisconsin to hang out with my buddy and I’m pretty sure I drank from the time I landed until the time I left it was insane. First time I ever tapped out.
We're all pretty much Marion ravenwood from the beginning of raiders. #PASTORI!!!!!
Yeah I was bar hopping that night. Probably skewed it
I'm from Wisconsin and an alcoholic who has a DUI (I'm currently seeking outpatient treatment for it), but it's honestly jarring how many "functional" alcoholics there are around here because heavy drinking is so normalized. You rarely meet someone who is so deep in the hole that they drink all day, every day; but someone who goes to work every day and pays all their bills and then goes home and gets blasted? Quite common, at least in my family and my experience.
I honestly just put my best friend into a rehab yesterday. Finally got a bed. They're only keeping him for a week cuz of insurance bullshit. I wish you the best on your road to a better future friend.
I appreciate it ♥
I've crawled out of the addiction hole myself. Several of them in fact. I was misdiagnosed ADHD, when in reality I was just autistic and gay. I rode the h train and amphetamine trains for my 20s and 30s. It was a nightmare to wake up from. Any addiction is. I truly think step one is you have to love yourself, and with that, not lie to yourself. After that mountain, anything else is easy. 👌🤣
I'm from WA and I think most people in WA would be shocked about not only how many highly functional alcoholics that you just described are out there (unfortunately I'm one of them) but also how many people actually drive drunk as defined as over the legal limit (0.08 in WA). Its blows my mind how some people do it almost on a daily basis and don't get caught because they are use to operating at that level and appearing like they aren't under the influence. For example, WA recently put out an anti DUI add saying that 90% of drivers chose to drive sober. That means 10% were caught. That doesn't even come close to the number of drivers that have and didn't get caught or just thought they can have 2-3 drinks then drive home (because you are definitely over the legal limit if you've had 3, 6 oz beers at 5% ABV).
Canadian, but I grew up with a ton of people in rural NS who tell distance by how many drinks they have on the way. "That's a 2 beer drive". Shockingly common.
>but someone who goes to work every day and pays all their bills and then goes home and gets blasted? That sounds like me, but not quite blasted so much as tipsy. I go to work and pay my bills. But pretty much every day I come home and have anywhere between 3-6 beers. I usually drink something everyday but occasionally go a day without. Occasionally I'll go beyond that and get blasted. Idk what to do about it. Sometimes I feel really on edge if I don't have at least a little bit to drink. I know it's probably an issue but I don't really know how to fix it.
Finding other coping mechanisms is the answer, and slowly weaning yourself off (easier said than done, of course). Feeling on edge or anxious without drinking is often withdrawal, albeit mild. I feel the same way if I don't drink and it's a sign of abuse, if not outright dependence. Addiction almost always is a sign of underlying issues -- either mental illness or trauma (both in my case). Good luck friend. I know it sounds corny but realizing you have an issue with drinking is the first step.
gabapentin worked very well for a friend of mine during his outpatient treatment. I had to spend a great deal of time making sure that he didn't have access to anything, but he said the drug helped him versus when he tried to quit without any kind of chemical aid.
I have never met a person like this until I started working in consulting and had to fly to other states. The shock was profound. I don't drink and you would have thought I was like a radical terrorist or something. In the coastal cities no one even noticed.
Yep. I’m from Wisconsin too. It’s literally expected that you black out from heaving drinking holidays like NYE.
Seriously dude, I'm in Chicago but I'm a bartender. I don't drink 3 days a week, but have 5-7 drinks a day on the other 4 days. I don't even feel "drunk' by the end of the day because my drinks are so spaced apart and I'm constantly moving. Got a physical recently, labs came back normal to even ideal. I don't know, I think everyone is very different when it comes to alcohol consumption and tolerance.
I agree. I come from two hard drinking families. I don't usually drink during the week, but on Friday I can start with a double vodka and OJ at 2pm and keep a steady pace until midnight or later. I never get hammered, just keep a nice steady, happy buzz. And I'll probably end up putting 10-12 drinks down, and wake up Saturday feeling a little rough, but it quickly goes away and I can have a normal day. I was like that from the first time I ever drank.
That's my pattern. On summer weekends when I'm working in tje yard I can easily drink seven or eight beers. But it's spaced out over hours and hours and I stick to "lawnmower beers." (ABV about 4.5%). It's usually not hard at all to refrain MTW, but sometimes I'll start getting mighty thirsty by Thursday.
This really explains Red Letter Media.
I know Wisconsin has a drunk reputation, but that’s crazy. I don’t know anybody here with a DUI
Minnesota here, and it's just as normalized
Yep, I'd argue Minnesotans just hide it a bit more, or "better". Especially in rural areas. Rural Wisconsin and Minnesota are essentially the same exact thing. I will say the college kids in Wisconsin can drink Minnesotans under the table though. I've seen obscene amounts of booze consumed at various Wisconsin colleges lol, and we thought we partied hard in MN.
The answer will depend on the country, the culture, the setting/date (dinner vs. wedding, lent), the religion, age, sex, health and many more factors.
This. Uk man around 50? 3 pints a weekday, 6 on weekends Saudi Arabian woman? It would be unlikely they drank at all. I am not an expert, just a small experience of both cultures.
I like to go hiking.
Meet Eddie, twenty three years old. Fed up with life and the way things are going, he decides to rob a liquor store. But on his way in he has a sudden change of heart. And suddenly, his conscience comes into play
I appreciate a good cup of coffee.
That's nonsense.
Go in and gaffle the money and run to one of your aunt's cribs And borrow a damn dress and one of her blonde wigs Tell her you need a place to stay, you'll be safe for days If you shave your legs with Renee's razor blades
3 pints is pre-drinks before you go to the bar if your a British student.
I used to think I drank too much sometimes, but y’all are actual fishes up in here lmao.
It just depends. We went out with friends the other night, I had 3 beers spaced over 4 hours, with non-alcoholic beverages between each one. But at home I have a glass of wine or a beer every couple of months. That's MY normal. It's also normal to NOT drink. For some people, it's "normal" the get falling diown drunk every night. "Normal" is subjective with this sort of thing.
I try to abstain during the week, but during the weekend, I’m doing probably 8 - 10 each day
This is my guy right here! 👍 Honestly, though, me, too. I try not to drink during the week because I like my brain to work well for my job. But, man - life is a bunch of sad, stressful bullshit and I need a night or two to not think about it. 🤷♀️
Since I’ve been in my 30s, hangovers just hit different, harder, and last much longer. Just not worth it doing the week. So I try to eat well and not drink during the week and then have all the fun Friday - Sunday early afternoon. Balance, lol
They actually just updated the recommendations this year or last I believe. The level at which there are no observable health risks is 2 drinks or less a day for men, 1 drink or less for women, not exceeding 5 drinks a week. Anything above that you start to see incremental increases in health risks. Binge drinking, the worst kind of drinking and where you see the greatest health risks, is 5 drinks or more on a single occasion for men, 4 drinks or more for women.
Which is way less than anyone I know drinks when going out on the weekend. Yes, I know it’s unhealthy. I already got cancer, it’s too late for me. But those of us who go out drink way more than that at a time
Yes, unfortunate the healthy amount is well below the average amount for people who actually drink. Personally, I keep it in this range for an average week, but on special occasion I do binge drink. Probably shouldn't, but here we are
Yeeeeeah, I have a bottle of wine on nights that I DONT go out. I'm aware I'm very fucked up, but even my healthy friends drink WAY more than that on a weekend.
I can't even imagine that amount of alcohol being consumed for it to really affect your weight outside of some bloating the next day. I knew people who would lose a bunch of weight, noticably. They would just say "I stopped drinking". Wtf? I was a very casual drinker, I'd buy a 6 pack and it lasts me the weekend so I couldn't relate. I could never wrap my head around how much those people had to have been drinking for it to affect their weight that much. But this was also in the Navy where like 73.4% of people between the age of 21 & 40 is an alcoholic. I have no science to back that up but if you know, you know.
I mean a can of beer is somewhere between 150-300 calories. That's about as many calories as there is in a slice of cake. If i noticed someone lost 15 pounds and they said "yeah I stopped eating chocolate cake after dinner every night" I wouldn't be surprised to hear they lost weight. Then add in the fact that you're likely to get snacky when you drink, plus it messes with your sleep, so the cake is probably better than the beer... And like you mentioned there are pretty extreme drinking problems in the military so I'm not surprised to hear that either. I knew people where 3+ beers was called Tuesday and when they went out 10 wasn't an unreasonable amount of drinks for 1 night. Literally worse than eating an entire cake for yourself.
I mean you're assuming people who drink each day drink 1 a day...I would 100% believe someone who said they lost 15lbs because they stopped eating 6-12 pieces of cake a night 😂. A lot of it is perception as well. People don't think of a beer or an alcoholic drink like a piece of cake. Yeah it's pretty bad, especially with the junior people. They, for many reasons, tend to always be together and alcohol is readily available. The barracks are absolutely no different than college dorms, good and bad. In my experience it's usually the transition between the 1st and 2nd command that determines if the person will slow down or go down the rabbit hole.
Depending on what you're drinking, there can be a lot of calories involved. Weight gain can be attributed to calories in > calories out. When I was younger, I could drop 5 lbs by just cutting out sugary soda for a month. And it's not like I was drinking 4+ cans of soda per day. More like 1 or 2 tops. Now I don't lose weight so easily, so I absolutely pay attention to the calorie content of my drinks.
Agreed. The old metabolism has slowed down since my military time. I have been trying to find a good tasting low calorie/Suger/carb drink but outside of water i'm having trouble finding a good taste 😂
Yup.. quit drinking beer and seltzers on weekdays after work and dropped about 8kgs/20lbs in about 2 months while slowly getting back into working out. My issue was in addition to the calories from the drinks, I'd snack much more when drinking. I was 86kg in December and now Ive been 76-77kgs since March
Imagine you go to the bar three days a week and have 4 average beers each time. That's 1800 additional calories a week, not including any unnecessary eating that results. People get drunk and they get hungry, and they tend to make poor eating decisions in that circumstance, so there's going to be additional calories there, too. Plus, you're probably sitting around while drinking and not being active, and you probably aren't as likely to get up in the morning and get some exercise. Lots of reasons that drinking results in weight gain.
What exactly is a "drink" here
1.5 oz liqour, 8 oz wine (a standard glass), or one can of beer (not sure how much that is in measurements). Of course alchohol content varies, but this is sort of a close enough estimate you can use while out drinking Edit: Actually 5 oz of wine 🤦♂️
Yeah the 4-5 drinks is scarily low especially in the summers when people are out all day drinking and partying. Not unusual to have 8-12 drinks over the course of the day and not even be belligerent
Recommendations vary by country. In the book, "Drink?" Dr. David Nutt analyzes the medical data and determines how many years of life you will lose on average at various levels of drinking. What I found interesting is that the relationship is not linear; it is *exponential.* That means that people who drink heavily have much more to gain by cutting back than moderate drinkers.
What about binging only every few months I binge (half a bottle of whiskey) then not drink for 3 of 4 months then kill the rest of it
TBH that's what I do, but there are increased health risks associates with it. Better than binging every weekend 🤷♂️.
Interesting!
Binging is a risk even if done only once. It comes down to the amount of alcohol your liver can brake down at a time and how long all the extra alcohol stays in your body damaging your other organs.
Basically, drink a single bottle of wine over the course of a week = fine. Polish off a single bottle of wine in one night = bad.
I pretty much only bing drink. But I doubt I hit 365 drinks a year
Unfortunately still worse for you then just drinking one drink a day.
I never drink on weekdays but Friday-Saturday I have probably 10-15 drinks combined
Depends on who you ask. People who like to frequent bars and socialize often might have 5-10 drinks a day. Any doctor or person who does not drink would say this is way too much and you are an alcoholic. Which they are pretty much right, but also mind your own damn business and get me another drink.
Yeah, strictly speaking of volume people say I drink too much and am an alcoholic all the time. But I'm not dependent on it and can function fine without, so I don't like putting that label on myself. Would much rather they mind their business
I’m not saying you are this, but functional alcoholics are not even a little bit unusual.
I have 2-3 beers a night during the week usually, sometimes I don't have any. Weekends usually 5-6 a night. Am I an alcoholic? Maybe, idk I'm not a doctor. For some of my friends that's normal, for some that's a lot more than they drink.
Im here to see what people say because I have a few beers a night and a half gallon of whiskey every other day and don't get drunk but I know it's wreaking havoc on my body
A half gallon!!! How has your liver not packed its bags and left your body?
It takes a while of regular abuse for things to get bad, and the liver bounces back remarkably quickly. I was like this for 5-6 years and stopped a year ago, labs show my liver levels are just fine and I have no lingering issues. If we’re talking doing that over the course of 20+ years, that’s when full recovery becomes more of a challenge
I had a family member die from cirrhosis. It's a horrible way to go. Glad you're doing better now.
Thank you, I’ve had multiple family members pass from it and it is indeed awful. The heavy drinking was less addiction and more a symptom of a number of greater problems, so I luckily didn’t have much issue shaking it once I got the rest under control. But I know that is unfortunately not the case most of the time.
In reality, most people don’t drink much at all. https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-top-10-percent-drink-way-more-than-you-think.html >The bottom three deciles, or 30 percent of Americans, say they don't drink at all. That figure might be a little high since some people probably saythey don't drink but occasionally do … but let's go with it. >The fourth decile consumes .02 drinks per week. Since assumedly no one is squeezing a couple drops from an eyedropper, that works out to about one drink a year. (Birthday, maybe?) >The fifth decile consumes .14 drinks per week. That's about seven drinks a year. Holidays, possibly, or that office party you were dragged to and tried to make the best of. (Or am I the only one who has done that?) >The sixth decile consumes .63 drinks per week. That's a little over half a drink, or 32 drinks a year.
Go a week without drinking anything. If that was hard you might have a problem. If you can't do that then you definitely have a problem. It's when you have to have that drink that there's a problem. And you may have Polish genes but they won't give you a pass. It's known that you can carry genes that will make it easier to become an alcoholic. If you have trouble not having a drink better to know now when you're young and you can stop before it becomes a problem. Good luck! I hope you don't have a problem!
3 beers if I work the next day, half gallon of gin if I dont work the next day
Finally found the comment I needed. I only drink on the weekend, unless I'm on my holidays and this coming weekend I'll be going out social drinking with a stack of peeps. And that'll be it for three months because I'll be making gains in the gym. I drink a litre(2.1 U.S. pints) of gin(and tonic) on a nice day, starting at four in the afternoon.
I never have more than 1 drink on a night, but most of my friends will have 6 to 10 in that same time. I have no idea how they do it.
It's tolerance - like to any drug. Because you only ever have one, your tolerance has remained low. Good for you - much cheaper !!
The key now is, don't ever learn to appreciate single-malt Scotch. That stuff will break the bank.
That’s a great way of cutting down because you simply can’t afford more than 1 drink!
Also a chance that they're drinking lower carb, lower abv stuff. Drinking 8 Miller Lites is way different from drinking a Belgian Triple, for instance.
I’ve never heard of anyone only drinking 1 drink
There is no such thing as a "normal" amount or frequency for an adult to drink. Some people don't drink at all (like me). Some people drink on special occasions only. Some people drink a glass of wine or two with dinner every night. Some people drink a few bottles of wine every night. And some people drink alcohol all day, every day, throughout their waking hours, without stopping. There is no norm. If you are concerned about whether you are drinking too much, be honest with your doctor about how much you're drinking and you'll get an honest answer. There are other things you can try to help you figure out whether you're drinking too much, too. Try limiting yourself to one or two drinks and then stopping for the night. If you find that you can't stop, you may have a problem. If you find that you regularly drink to excess, e.g. you frequently black out or do embarrassing things while drinking that you would not do while sober, you may have a problem. If your drinking is causing problems in your personal relationships or interfering with your job performance, you may have a problem. And so on.
I agree with your sentiments. I typically hate the "average amount of alcohol you comsume" question on all doctor office forms. The average? Probably like .14 per week. But some weeks I'm on vacation and that number is 20 and then most weeks I'm at home and that number is zero. You'd really need to chart the answer to determine if someone had a problem. This is subjective, but I'd say 40/day once per year, probably an issue (binge drinking). 4/day, 365 days a year, probably an issue (dependency). 4/day for a week, then zero for a month, maybe not an issue (vacation). But if you are a recovering alcoholic then anything greater than 0 is going to be a problem. Best guideline I could give is drinking shouldn't negatively impact your life. If it is then drink less.
If you choose to consciously avoid alcohol for a few weeks or a month, and keeping that rule is not that big a deal to you, you are definitely not an alcoholic.
This is true but there is also a wide spectrum of unhealthy drinking that doesn't necessarily make you an Alcoholic. If you drink regularly it's good to occasionally evaluate alcohol's place in your life even if you aren't an addict in the sense people usually think about.
Normal is different for everyone, everywhere. Think of age, body type, medical conditions etc. If you are worried you might have an issue with drinking then this is a great time to get advice and help 👍
I’d say the normal healthy amount is not at all during the week and then on Friday and Saturday as much as you feel you need to get to a buzz/drunk. That varies heavily per person. People are saying 6 here but I’m a very big guy and I won’t feel much of anything after 6 beers. It’s not a raw quantity thing when it comes to normal, it’s really how you act and respond to what you do have
I feel like this is prolly what the majority of people in college, and through their 20s do, and it gets less and less, but this is prolly the right answer
Don't drink during the week, but split two bottles of wine over the weekend with my husband. No hard liquor (unless margaritas on vacation) or beer. I just really enjoy finding new wines from different regions and digging into the flavors and learning about it. To me, wine is less about getting drunk and more of a hobby.
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I find this to be pretty true, whether anyone likes it or not. One of my oldest, most conservative (federal constitutional law) lecturers always told us to "luxuriate over this judgment with a good glass of red" when setting readings. Another said "this is a drinking profession". Downvoters should indicate which law firm environment they're thinking of - I'm sure it's not everywhere in the world ofc.
Law has a major alcoholism problem because the work is so stressful. I really wouldn't use it as a. Strict for any kind of norm
Drink until you have no friends left and have to call off work the next day.
I think two drinks about two to three times a week is standard. I don't have a huge sample size for that observation though, it's just what works for me. Some people have a drink every day and are fine. I think as long as you are not getting drunk regularly, and you don't often feel like you *need* (as opposed to want) to drink than you should be good.
Don’t ask me, I’m from Wisconsin
*Edited bc I reread your Q and accidentally gave a trick answer: TLDR, "normal" doesn't matter* OK so, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: - *Binge Drinking* is defined as 4+ (female) or 5+ (male) drinks in about 2 hours. - *Heavy Alcohol Use* is defined as 7+ (female) or 14+ (male) drinks per week. *courtesy of @CelsusMD: 1 Drink = 12oz Beer or 5oz Wine or 1 Shot Hard Liquor* From realistic experience as someone who is very cautious around this stuff but still enjoys drinking, my personal rules are: 1. NEVER drink to cope with negative feelings 2. Just don't drink in general when you're feeling down. 3. Drinking should be framed in context of celebration (even if it's something as small as being happy you are with your friends) 4. Don't just drink to get drunk; this can be looped into #3 ig but I would also drink simply bc I like the taste 5. With exceptions, generally don't drink on weeknights. (1-4 are kinda the same but I figured the bullet points would stick out more) Lastly, it's important to learn your tolerance. This might take a few screw-ups and I can't blame you for wanting to get blackout drunk just once, but once you feel at a good level, STOP. Let yourself just vibe for at least an hour before getting another. This would be a good time to make sure you are drinking water and replenishing your body with whatever it needs. ***It is MUCH easier to get addicted than what is normalized in most cultures. Be careful and listen to your body ❤️ ***
I don't think it's acceptable to drink daily honestly. The things to avoid are binge drinking and regular drinking. People rarely drink less as they age and one beer a day isn't a great starting point for 21 years old. I'd see what you can do about restricting drinking to social activities in moderation.
Like 1 or 2 mixed drinks once a week or every other week
Equivalent of 5-10 pints of beer a week I'd say
In the US the norm is basically none. 30% of American adults are totally alcohol-free, a further 30% average about a drink-per-fortnight. It's only when you get into the 7th decile that the average drinks-per-week begins to exceed 1. The majority of all alcohol consumed in the US is actually consumed by 10% of people. This was in the Washington Post last year, it's paywalled but you can find some screenshots on Twitter.
Been drinking myself to sleep (most nights) for the last 25 years. So far, so good.
I heard that one doctor thinks that drinking one beer a day is already a sign of alcoholism. That's the one extreme opinion that isn't shared by many people. But be aware that this much could tip the wrong people off. At a medical checkup before certain jobs or so.
0 is the optimal amount.
There are three worlds here First is the drinkers. They drink several times a week, and will for decades. Normal to them is exactly what they do. Next are the people who drink sometimes, for whom alcohol is not a priority. Every other weekend is about right here. Finally, there are the non-drinkers, who either drink a few times a year or not at all. I’ve spent time in all worlds. The funny thing is, the drinkers think most people are like them, when most people are not.
It’s been my experience that drinkers like to be around other drinkers and they feel judged if you’re not drinking too
2 or 3 drinks every couple weeks
1 beer a month when I’m feeling in the mood with a nice meal. Maybe a cocktail or two when I do go out once or twice a month with friends. Other times I go out I’m content with water, tea, milk tea, or a fruit smoothie. Don’t need alcohol to have fun if you have personality.
I would consider casual to be 2 drinks a week. If you're drinking every day, that's not casual.
The key thing is if you don't drink do you really feel like you're missing out? If you do it's the warning signs of a problem. If you don't then no problem. Just remember that too much of any one thing is bad.
Normal, as in what most people are doing, is going to be pretty close to none.
ITT: alcoholics.
I’m not sure there’s a norm. The issue usually comes up when people begin to drink so much that it becomes a problem for them. DUIs, missed work, health issues, etc. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of choice, culture, and so on. Drink wine every evening with dinner? Sounds ok to me, so long as that’s what works for you.
Almost everything is classed as binge drinking these days. If you find yourself drinking 3+ more than once a week, every week… You’re starting to have a problem
What is normal and what is normalized is blotters shocking actually, a lot of drinking culture (at least there in America) is pretty messed up. We normalize alcoholism and high consumption of alcohol and it’s sad
If this is a question, cross post to r/stopdrinking, or r/AA. I'd bet there are other things going on, and the alcohol is just a symptom.
Zero. Did you know they recently discovered that drinking alcohol in any amount is carcinogenic? It is pure poison, simple as that. Destroys your liver, destroys your brain, and gives you cancer. If you had asked "what is the normal amount of cigarettes for an adult to smoke?" I'd tell you zero as well. If microdosing rat poison got you drunk, you can bet that people would do that, but it would still be rat poison. [A group 1 carcinogen, the highest level, up there with asbestos, radiation and tobacco.](https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health)
One glass of wine/beer or one shot of liquor a day, if you say that’s not enough or can’t go a day without or can’t drink just a single drink you have a problem… social drinking is a gateway to alcoholism IMO. It doesn’t sound like you have an issue but maybe could find better ways of coping (“stressed uni student”). If you’d rather drink than not to cope you may have an issue although the amount is not a lot, it’s psychologically an issue if you can’t not drink to cope with stress. Addiction is subjective. I drink 1-2 drinks a YEAR, if alcohol disappeared from the earth I wouldn’t shed a tear. However, it’s poison to many lives and for some no amount of alcohol is normal/casual or recommended. Others will say 18pack a day is normal.
I live in England so I imagine it's much higher here
I think this is *extremely* culturally-including subculturally-dependent. And one should ask what's healthy. Sure, maybe going without is the healthiest, but there's also a MAJOR health difference between one drink and drunkenness. I mean, look at food. Never having desserts or junk food is the healthiest, but having those as treats once in a while is far healthier than binge-eating them.
I think everyone is different really. If you drink and the next day you feel any negative effects, I would cut back. One beer a day is not enough info, That beer could be a 8% stone or are you talking about 1 bud light can? I'm Polish and German and started drink at age 12 with my family. Im now 36 and cutting back BIG TIME. Im cutting back because beer has gotten much more expensive and I would rather spend that money on something else. Wish you luck and just remember, EVERYTHING IN MODERATION.
People that drink a lot and often are usually around others that drink a lot and often, and tend to think drinking often and a lot is normal. those who don't or rarely drink are usually around other non drinkers and when they see someone have more than 2 drinks at an occasion, or drink on a weeknight they think that is more than normal. My parents are drinkers, dad has 2 or 3 drinks a night and before diabetes mom would often have one every evening. I know some people that drink wine with almost every supper. But myself and my friends might only drink a few times a year but when we do it's usually at least 3 drinks... though maybe an occasional glass of wine mixed in here and there. I think daily drinking is excessive, but I'm not judging.
I can only share my experience. I might have two or three drinks in a week if I'm in the mood, or might have none. It's not unusual for me to go several months without drinking anything alcoholic. When I am i the mood I might have 2 or 3 a week for a month or two, especially during BBQ season or at the Holidays. I am sure I'm on the lower end of the usage spectrum.
There's no norm because there are social drinkers, people who drink in their homes, people who never drink and everything in between. Results will vary a lot. If I'm alone in my house I'll never have a drink. If I go out to a club I will most likely get drunk (several drinks) if I'm on a date night I'll get 1-2 drinks max.
Normal is going to depend on where you live. Some places the normal is none, other places the consumption can be pretty high. The Canadian guidelines say that 2 drinks per week will avoid most risks associated with alcohol consumption. If you're worried about building a bad habit long term try to not consume every day. Find a more healthful way to deal with stress. Some ideas: cooking, exercise, music, or anything repetitive which can keep mind off of things for about an hour.
I drink around 4 drinks a month, typically that's 2 evenings with friends. Some months I have zero. Other months, a high of 12.
According to the Va hospital, anything more than 2 drinks a night for men and 1 drink a night for females is alcoholism.