How much do you drink, honestly?

[Robertj21a]

PDP76 said:

Ex armed forces here, massive drink culture.
In the forces you’d drink pretty much every night and all weekend when you could.
Gradually, after leaving the forces , I got that down to weekends only. Still too much. Knocked down to either Friday of a Saturday night. With still a quite high tolerance level, I’ve decided that’s too much still ( could easily put away 10 pints and a bit more of strong beer/lager)
Now I’ve knocked it on the head completely.
Tired of the hangover and feeling like st for a couple of days.
I’m not even having the odd one or two, that’s because it won’t be, they will turn into probably 10. So what’s best for me at the moment is none.

Excellent stuff, well done you !

[vsonix]

marksx said:

Welshbeef said:

Strange when we popped back to the old Uni bars we frequented it was deadly quiet. Appears kids these days drink far less or have less £ to do so.

I think both are true here. I started boozing in the early 2000's, Friday and Saturday nights in town were packed, the streets were full, the club's were full, the pubs were overflowing with late teens early twenties folk. The council closed the roads on a Friday and Saturday night to reduce the risk of people getting run over.

Now, even a busy night seems dead. The age of drinkers seems to have gone up, the drinking holes 'more refined', and more eating places.

I don't think it's that they drink less, it's just that since the turn of the millennium that people's disposable income has come under increasing amounts of pressure and that the cost of having a few drinks in public has continued to increase, to the point where it's now more of a luxury than routine. I live in a fairly studenty area and if you go into my local off license any night of the week after 6pm the queue is usually fifteen deep with under-25s buying armfuls of cases, cans and bottles which they will then consume at friends houses. You can stand out in my back garden on any Monday night in term time and hear at least three busy social gatherings in full swing.
People don't go to the pub because not only do you have to stand outside if you want a smoke or even a vape with your drink, but going to a pub is literally four times more expensive ie £4-6 a pint vs £1-2 per 500ml beer from the shop. Pubs just aren't meant for hanging out in any more - it's becoming increasingly rare to find 'locals' with jukeboxes, pool tables, dart boards and the same faces propping up the bar all night long, several nights a week, and the only pubs that are always busy are Wetherspoons. Nightclubs also seem to be struggling to see good numbers - they've never been cheap but it seems nowadays people prefer to stay out of the clubs all year then spend two hundred quid on a festival ticket and blow another few undreds on drink, drugs and overpriced food while they're there.

[Kermit power]

Whenever I read a thread like this, I realise just how lucky I am to not like much in the way of alcohol that can be consumed at home!

I'll typically have 1.5 pints of ale at a Monday evening pub "meeting", which I do really enjoy, but for many weeks of the year, that will be the entirety of my alcohol consumption, and if those Monday evenings stopped, I wouldn't replace it with anything else.

I'll then have maybe half a dozen nights a year where I'll go out with mates and get through anything from 5 pints (if it's an evening thing) to a dozen or so if it's a longer session. If I'm going to have a session, then it will be a proper session, but I never feel any real need to drink in the slightest.

The day I find myself finishing work needing a drink will be the day I hand my notice in and give the job up, even if it means selling the house and downsizing to cope with less income coming in. I'll often walk my youngest to school in the morning, and on bin days, I still never cease to be amazed at the vast amount of bottles and cans that the majority of houses seem to have out for collection. I'd be terrified at the thought of needing to drink to get through the week, even if it was only a couple a night.

[okgo]

I simply do not see how it would be possible for someone that doesn't drink to have 12 pints. You'd be totally floored after half that.

[King Herald]

okgo said:

I simply do not see how it would be possible for someone that doesn't drink to have 12 pints. You'd be totally floored after half that.

Especially for some one who doesn’t want to drink, doesn’t need to drink, and who hates the idea of having a drink.......

[D1bram]

Interesting how this thread has gone.

I don't think I quite expected my own drinking patterns to be relatively normalised within this forum.

Also, I'm noting that it seems most either opt to abstain completely or drink way in excess of current government guidelines. And I think it make me realise that the guide is simply a neither here nor there amount - you either aren't bothered for a drink at all, or you are in which case the guideline amount comes and goes very easily.

Personally, although I pay lip service to reducing my intake, in reality I am unlikely to anytime soon.

I would acknowledge though that while I have a relatively fortunate and good life I am not particularly in a happy place. I suspect the drinking is somewhat of a crutch to this.

[Kermit power]

okgo said:

I simply do not see how it would be possible for someone that doesn't drink to have 12 pints. You'd be totally floored after half that.

I never said I don't eat! Eighteen stone can absorb a fairly large amount of booze.

A dozen in a day is a rarity, and would only be an all day outing starting at lunchtime and heading on through to closing time and beyond. Yes, I'll be ratted for much of the day, but a pint an hour isn't a vast amount to process.

I'm also an ale drinker, not a lager drinker. I'll therefore very rarely pick anything over 4.5% ABV, especially if I know I'm going to have a few, and a long session will usually be done on something like Youngs Bitter at 3.8% ABV. Twelve pints of that has the same alcohol as nine pints of Stella, for example, and that's before you get on to people often then expanding to "oh yes, plus a couple of shots of whatever", which I'll never do as I can't stand spirits.

King Herald said:

Especially for some one who doesn’t want to drink, doesn’t need to drink, and who hates the idea of having a drink.......

Go back and read my post again. I never said I hate the idea of having a drink. I said I hated the thought of getting to the end of the working day and feeling the need to drink.

Do I need to drink? Absolutely not, and except for Monday evenings, the thought of it just doesn't enter my mind.

Do I like a full on carnage session? Yes, occasionally! It's only very occasionally though.

If I ever get to the point of needing a drink, that's when I'll give up for good.

[sc0tt]

Everyday - few beers in the evening at home.

I don't do get "drunk" very often though.

[br d]

guindilias said:

Well over 100 units a week, and have been doing so for about 20 years. I had a LFT about 3 months ago and no problems at all with it - I seem to have a Shane MacGowan liver.

I have no medical experience so happy to be corrected but I don't think an LFT will give you the full story. I think it just shows that the portion of your liver that is healthy is working fine, you can still have damage, even quite heavy damage. I think you need a scan or ultrasound to really tell what's going on in there.

[Robertj21a]

D1bram said:

Interesting how this thread has gone.

I don't think I quite expected my own drinking patterns to be relatively normalised within this forum.

Also, I'm noting that it seems most either opt to abstain completely or drink way in excess of current government guidelines. And I think it make me realise that the guide is simply a neither here nor there amount - you either aren't bothered for a drink at all, or you are in which case the guideline amount comes and goes very easily.

Personally, although I pay lip service to reducing my intake, in reality I am unlikely to anytime soon.

I would acknowledge though that while I have a relatively fortunate and good life I am not particularly in a happy place. I suspect the drinking is somewhat of a crutch to this.

Thanks for posting that. I've found this thread quite interesting and I've been very pleased to see that we've all kept it sensible and non-judgemental. The more of us that can have a better knowledge of the facts, and the possible reasons behind them, the more we can help others if and when they need a listening ear, or helping hand.

Anyone else got some input to help illustrate the issues ?

[anonymous-user]

Girlfriend’s cousin died at 36 this year, was found dead after lying there for two or three days, drink related.

I have noticed a big drop in the number of people in the pub who are younger than I am, when I was 16-20 there were always a good few groups of older lads, but now at 27-30 you hardly see anyone younger than 22.

I drink if I am away with work 1-3 pints per night, on the weekend maybe 6 pints in total, if I am at home and out with old school friends then I’ve no idea, but too much.

I’ve cut down a lot and my girlfriend doesn’t really drink.

Crazy some of the units being quoted here, maybe it’s a generational thing?

[vsonix]

guindilias said:

I assume it is genetic

Enzymes 'ALDH' and 'ADH'. Apparently presence or lack of these enzymes is why alcohol and alcoholism affect certain people and ethnic groups more than others - presumably explaining why, for example, Northern Europeans can swig away merrily, but Aboriginal Australians are predisposed to bad alcohol-related problems.
This article goes into it in detail -it's quite long but here's the first few paragraphs.

The primary enzymes involved in alcohol metabolism are alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Both enzymes occur in several forms that are encoded by different genes; moreover, there are variants (i.e., alleles) of some of these genes that encode enzymes with different characteristics and which have different ethnic distributions. Which ADH or ALDH alleles a person carries influence his or her level of alcohol consumption and risk of alcoholism. Researchers to date primarily have studied coding variants in the ADH1B, ADH1C, and ALDH2 genes that are associated with altered kinetic properties of the resulting enzymes. For example, certain ADH1B and ADH1C alleles encode particularly active ADH enzymes, resulting in more rapid conversion of alcohol (i.e., ethanol) to acetaldehyde; these alleles have a protective effect on the risk of alcoholism. A variant of the ALDH2 gene encodes an essentially inactive ALDH enzyme, resulting in acetaldehyde accumulation and a protective effect. It is becoming clear that noncoding variants in both ADH and ALDH genes also may influence alcohol metabolism and, consequently, alcoholism risk; the specific nature and effects of these variants still need further study.

The effects of ingested beverage alcohol (i.e., ethanol) on different organs, including the brain, depend on the ethanol concentration achieved and the duration of exposure. Both of these variables, in turn, are affected by the absorption of ethanol into the blood stream and tissues as well as by ethanol metabolism (Hurley et al. 2002). The main site of ethanol metabolism is the liver, although some metabolism also occurs in other tissues and can cause local damage there. The main pathway of ethanol metabolism involves its conversion (i.e., oxidation) to acetaldehyde, a reaction that is mediated (i.e., catalyzed) by enzymes known as alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs). In a second reaction catalyzed by aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzymes, acetaldehyde is oxidized to acetate. Other enzymes, such as cytochrome P450 (e.g., CYP2E1), metabolize a small fraction of the ingested ethanol.

There are multiple ADH and ALDH enzymes that are encoded by different genes (Tables 1 and ?and3).3). Some of these genes occur in several variants (i.e., alleles1), and the enzymes encoded by these alleles can differ in the rate at which they metabolize ethanol (Table 2) or acetaldehyde or in the levels at which they are produced. These variants have been shown to influence a person’s drinking levels and, consequently, the risk of developing alcohol abuse or dependence (Hurley et al. 2002). Studies have shown that people carrying certain ADH and ALDH alleles are at significantly reduced risk of becoming alcohol dependent. In fact, these associations are the strongest and most widely reproduced associations of any gene with the risk of alcoholism. As will be discussed later in this article, the alleles encoding the different ADH and ALDH variants are unevenly distributed among ethnic groups.

source: here
[edited for formatting & clarity]

Edited by vsonix on Wednesday 29th November 18:54

[PDP76]

okgo said:

I simply do not see how it would be possible for someone that doesn't drink to have 12 pints. You'd be totally floored after half that.

Because over a period of time you do start building a tolerance level up. 6 is nothing for me. Yes I’ll feel it, but I won’t be as drunk as someone else with a lower tolerance level to mine. I have a friend that can’t keep up at all he ends up behind the rounds and plastered.

But as I posted above, I’m out. Not easy, because I’m keen on going out and having a fking good drink.

[Welshbeef]

smileymikey said:

Welshbeef said:

ben5575 said:

Welshbeef said:

So this week I expect
Monday zero
Tuesday zero
Wednesday zero
Thursday zero
Sunday zero
Friday 4 beers 600ml
Sat half bottle of prosecco 4 bottles of Cidar billers 600ml.

We'll hold you to that Let us know how you get on.

Well two days clear ?? so far.

Brilliant well done !

Day 3 all clear

[Seventy]

Great! Early days are the hardest. I’m sure day 4 and 5 will follow suit.

When I stopped after my AF episode I didn’t miss it too much as I divorced myself from the culture I had embedded myself in. I am very much a man of habits, for good or bad, and there is nothing I like more than a nice 45 minute walk with the dog at the end of the day and then a nice glass of Chateauneuf or similar in the pub on the way home.
Followed by one more at home!

[GT03ROB]

Welshbeef said:

Strange when we popped back to the old Uni bars we frequented it was deadly quiet. Appears kids these days drink far less or have less £ to do so.

I went up to see my son in Durham back in the summer....didn't seem that habit had reached there!

[Welshbeef]

So day 4 - usually Question time is fun with a drink. But don’t always do it.

Tonight I will have none.

Sat will be a challenge as it’s Wales v SA. However this isn’t about stopping drinking it’s about having the right balance.

[ben5575]

Welshbeef said:

So day 4 - usually Question time is fun with a drink. But don’t always do it.

Tonight I will have none.

Sat will be a challenge as it’s Wales v SA. However this isn’t about stopping drinking it’s about having the right balance.

All good and well done. Realising that you're thinking about when your next drink is, at 8am on a Thursday morning is progress as well.

Edited for spelling

Edited by ben5575 on Thursday 30th November 08:21

[Kermit power]

Welshbeef said:

Sat will be a challenge as it’s Wales v SA. However this isn’t about stopping drinking it’s about having the right balance.

At least being Welsh, if it all goes pear-shaped you can console yourself with the number of injured players and avoid the booze. I could imagine many Saffa fans at the moment feel the need to start drinking on Thursday morning just to be ready for a Saturday test!

As said above, I rarely drink heavily at all, but rugby matches always used to descend into utter mess. I then got a Quins season ticket for myself and my 9yr old a couple of years ago, and lo and behold, I discovered that I actually rather like being able to remember the rugby after the match has finished!

As a result, even including lunch beforehand, I only had 5 pints at the Samoa game which, not being an ultra-fit twiglet like Okgo, doesn't really register any impact when spread out over 5 hours. In fact, because I only drink beer, my limiter tends to be frequency of toilet breaks more than alcohol content!

[RC1807]

I almost certianly drink too much, usually. I probably have 3 or 4 "full fat" European Stella Artois (5.2%) at 440ml ea. per day, and on Fridays, more than that.

This week however,
Saturday - before and during a long haul flight, 2 pints, 1 bloody mary, 4 glasses of red wine
Sunday - zero
Monday - zero
Tuesday - zero
Wednesday - zero
Today - zero, as I have a flight and a drive tonight
Tomorrow - hmmm, I have a funeral to go to, so probably will have some

I know if I lay off booze for 2 weeks I can drop 6kg - easily.
Just goes to show!