I talked a little about my views on the CDC and its limits here. I believe that its weekly limits and definition of binge-drinking, especially for women, are ludicrous. If I have 4 drinks over the course of 6 hours, according to this table AND being skimpy on my weight, I would not even have a BAC over the legal limit to drive. Therefore I find it ludicrous to consider that "binge drinking." If you never get legally inebriated can that be a "binge"? It is not uncommon for me to have 8 drinks in a day, perhaps once every week or two. (For what it's worth I generally drink doubles; I'm not slamming eight shots back.) I have a favorite bar and it is also not uncommon for me to spend six hours there once every week or two (on a weekend; start at brunch, end in the afternoon/evening). I run into a lot of friends at this bar, which is what keeps me from leaving - not the fact that I'm there to get drunk. I don't trust the government to ascribe what is most healthy for you correctly. I trust them to have views that are influenced by puritans and by lobbyists.
I'll go through phases, right now I'm in a beer phase. I was just on a whiskey kick and prior to that it was gin. Prior to gin I was drinking wine a lot. I think it's time to start the cycle again and go back to wine :) I typically have a couple of drinks most evenings. On Mondays when we have our Hubski team call I'm most likely to have more than a few drinks... those calls can be a lot of fun.I don't trust the government to ascribe what is most healthy for you correctly. I trust them to have views that are influenced by puritans and by lobbyists.
I hear you. I probably have 6 drinks in one sitting once every two weeks or so. It used to be far more frequent, but now that I'm a father those days are behind me. I had two beers last night, they were great.
Yeah but you have to read what academics write and what the government or your family doctor says very differently. An academic study is going to look at the hard numbers and tell it like it is. Those studies are usually meant to be read by other academics. What your doctor tells you--or in this case, the CDC--is influenced by human nature. Your doctor knows the study about how having three drinks isn't unhealthy. But if she tells her patients that it's OK to have three drinks per day, many of them are going to think, "Well six drinks must be really good then!" So they go the puritan route. It's not out of malice or judgement; it's purely hedging against knuckleheads. One of my good buddies who's an ER physician told me once that in his profession when you ask patients how often have sex (men especially), you divide the number by three, and when you ask how much they drink, you multiply!I don't trust the government to ascribe what is most healthy for you correctly. I trust them to have views that are influenced by puritans and by lobbyists.