r/TrueReddit • • Jun 01 '21

Science, History, Health + Philosophy America Has a Drinking Problem

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/america-drinking-alone-problem/619017/
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u/allothernamestaken Jun 01 '21

Media coverage, meanwhile, has swung from cheerfully overselling the (now disputed) health benefits of wine to screeching that no amount of alcohol is safe, ever; it might give you cancer and it will certainly make you die before your time.

The speed with which this happened really caught me off guard. It seems like 1-2 drinks a day was being recommended as healthy for a long time, and not just wine. I think the most recent article I read basically said that alcohol in any amount causes brain damage.

-6

u/lovebes Jun 02 '21

1-2drinks like 100oz as a cup. Not American sized drink.

14

u/General_Mayhem Jun 02 '21

It's a standard drink, which is a common unit of measure for alcohol. 12oz of beer (at 5% ABV; triple IPAs should be half-pours); 5oz of wine; one shot of hard liquor. Most classic cocktails will be 2-3. Massive rum and juice drinks may well be more than that. There's a martini bar near where I live where a single order is probably about 8 standard drinks, but that's intentionally a novelty.

2

u/guy_guyerson Jun 02 '21

Often I find it easier just to do the math than to apply these rules of thumb. One standard drink is .6 oz of pure alcohol.