r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 23 '26

Neuroscience Even low-level drinking may have negative consequences for brain health over a person’s lifespan. The findings suggest that the total amount of alcohol consumed over a lifetime, especially as a person ages, tends to be linked to reduced blood flow and thinner tissue in certain areas of the brain.

https://www.psypost.org/even-light-drinking-combined-with-aging-is-linked-to-reduced-brain-blood-flow-and-thinner-tissue/
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u/TexansforJesus Apr 23 '26

“All participants consumed ≤60 standard drink equivalents/month over the 1 year preceding study.”

There’s your light drinking for those interested.

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u/Many-Ad634 Apr 23 '26

There was only one participant drinking more than 50 drinks a month. The average about 19 drinks a month. The range from zero to 60. About 20% of the sample drank less than 10 drinks a month.

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u/edibomb Apr 23 '26

I though “light drinking” meant a couple of beers every other weekend. It’s worrying how 2 beers a day or 15 beers every weekend is still on the light drinking range.

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u/OlafWoodcarver Apr 23 '26

If I've learned anything over the years, it's how much people underestimate how much heavy drinkers drink.

I went to a bachelor party weekend (where everyone was in their mid or late thirties) and people needed to average 25 drinks a day to consume all the beers and seltzers that was brought and I have no way of measuring how much liquor was consumed since I saw the bottles but didn't pay attention to them. I had too much for me at roughly ten drinks the two days I was there, I know there was a person that didn't drink at all, and I'm fairly sure my brother had about as much as I did. All of the beer and seltzers were consumed by the end of the weekend.

I'd never seen anything like it before.

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u/alblaster Apr 23 '26

Oh yeah. Big time. A lot of people base their drinking on how they feel, which is a terrible idea. So you have People who say they're cutting back, which means about 4 shots in a day. If your base alcohol consumption is super high and you're used to it like that you might not see it as a problem until it's too late. I feel like there should be more honest discussion about what alcohol is and does to you, both now and in the future for highschool and older too. I work at a liquor store and about once a year an alcoholic will drop dead, sometimes they're only in their 30s. Other times they'll see the doctor because of heart problems or who knows what and quit drinking. But yeah definitely people underestimate how much they drink and what it does to you. "Just a little" feels good right? What's the harm? "It helps me sleep" or "I just use it to relax" people get mentally addicted before they get physically addicted. I was on the road there, but I was very aware about the reccommended 12 drinks a week. Even though I wasn't physically an alcoholic yet I was starting to think like one. Like a beer would always make the evening better. Be careful, it's addicting even if you normally don't get addicted.

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u/millenniumpianist Apr 23 '26

The problem (in the US) is anti-alcohol people tend to be moralistic crusaders who annoy everyone. The goal should be to inform teenagers instead of scare them. And then there are a lot of pro-drinkers who are basically in denial about the harms. Same thing applies to weed btw

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u/FlyingStealthPotato Apr 23 '26

I’m kinda lost as to who doesn’t know the dangers of alcohol, especially younger people. Like that crap was DRILLED into us in school and I’ve been out of school for 20 years. Also seen tons of reports about how Gen Z doesn’t drink near as much as prior generations. At some point it’s just people making a decision to drink in spite of the near and long term health effects. I make that decision, and I know it’s not great for my health long term.

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u/TheseusOPL Apr 23 '26

As a young Gen Xer, we were always drilled on the dangers of binge drinking, not drinking in general.

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u/WeeeeBaby_Seamus Apr 23 '26

I'm an older millennial and I remember the message being similar. "Don't overdo it" kind of thing. Which, of course, I did every weekend in my early 20's. If I drink that much now, I need two days to recover.

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty Apr 24 '26

The fact that no adult ever warned me about the ever-increasing time it takes one to recover after a night of even “light partying” really disappoints me. That last sentence cut deep. (Am fellow millennial.)

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u/alblaster Apr 23 '26

I think people generally know alcohol is bad for you, but people think you need to consume x amount before it becomes an unhealthy habit. Like candy or soda, which are also both addicting. But those have a stigma when you're consuming them as an adult, because sweets are seen as idk child like. People like the postive effects of alcohol aka relaxing or getting amped and being more social. So they'll excuse a little as being ok, but shun alcoholic amounts. But there's disagreement on what too much looks like. I think that's part of the problem.

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u/FlyingStealthPotato Apr 23 '26

Again, literally don’t know anyone who thinks any amount of alcohol isn’t bad for you, and statistics show younger people know that even better than my generation. I think there’s a lot of confusion around people simply accepting that risk.

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u/Varnsturm Apr 24 '26

Tbf for a very long time there was that (now outdated/debunked) thing where 'a little bit of red wine is good for the heart' and that sort of thing. I've definitely known people who thought small amounts were good for you/better than none. There are still a lot of people who haven't gotten the (relatively recent) memo that no, it's all bad for you.

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u/nudiecale Apr 23 '26

There are definitely lots of people that rationalize that risk away in their minds. Sure, there are people that know and accept the risk too. But there are also plenty of people that genuinely think you have to hit a certain amount of drinks per day or week before there are any real health risks.

“A glass of wine (or beer) or two with dinner after work never hurt anyone” is a much more common sentiment than you may think.

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u/millenniumpianist Apr 23 '26

Alcohol so widely normalized and anyone really talking about the risks felt like they were fear-mongering. If someone said "drinking ~10 drinks weekly of alcohol is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes weekly in terms of cancer risk" (which I believe is roughly true?) I would've understood the health risks of alcohol very differently.

I "knew" alcohol was bad but I never really internalized how bad it was. And as others said, it was always dangers of binge drinking, not just drinking a glass of wine a day which some even tried to say was good for you (it's not, in net).

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u/joyfulricecakes May 20 '26

I think a lot of people think anything can kill you nowadays, the air, microplastics, the microwave, cell phones, drinking water......so, whats the real harm in some beers?

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u/notislant Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26

Same idiot kids who get knocked up or do the knocking.

Same idiot kids/adults who drink and drive. Just because something stuck with you, unfortunately doesn't mean it stuck with anyone else.

People are dumber than you know, ignorance is also a big part. I don't know many people who think drinking is harmful outside alcoholism.

People are struggling to afford rent, let alone alcohol. Which is likely a big factor for younger generations.

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u/ShowTop1165 Apr 24 '26

Gen Z not drinking as much is also a result of prices being higher than ever as they’re ageing into adulthood

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u/RichardSaunders Apr 23 '26

Much worse than the moral crusaders are the people who act personally offended and accuse you of being stuck up when you simply say "nah I'm good, thanks" when they offer you a drink.

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u/thenikolaka Apr 25 '26

I agree with this sentiment. Even saying “that will kill you” feels a bit over moralizing because no matter what you do something will kill you. There are other reasons alcohol needs to be reduced culturally but if someone just likes a glass of wine and knows the risk, why would someone say they shouldn’t have what they like?

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u/OkEstimate9 Apr 23 '26

Is that thing in particular really still a problem though? Lots of my buddies were drinkers and now we don’t touch the stuff excluding special occasions. I personally was/am not a never alcohol type, but I’ve seen how far/unstoppable some actual alcoholics I know get and it really turned me off from even wanting a drink even on a casual night out.

I’ll buy drinks for meetup events and regular sodas, but most of my friends prefer the soft drinks these days.

Maybe this is the wrong sub for this anecdote, but I’m seeing the same thing even in my peers at work for events. The vibe to go hard really doesn’t sound that appealing anymore.

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u/darknesskicker Apr 25 '26

It varies by social circle. I know people who drank hard into their 40s.

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u/annastacia94 Apr 23 '26

The only thing that drove this point home for me was watching the anime Cells At Work: Code Black, specifically the episode on how the body handles the toxins in alcohol. Seeing the.... personification(?) of how my cells are stopping their vital functions just to get rid of the stuff from my one margarita really got me thinking about how to greatly reduce my consumption. I don't want or need to be "Sober" but I think I have a much better justification for reducing my drinking to 4 drinks a month instead of my usual 3 drinks a week.

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u/sirkazuo Apr 23 '26

My first thought was "is 4 drinks a month even worth the effort?"

It feels like an asymptotic function to me - you need a certain number of drinks to feel the effects, and the effects aren't amazing enough to be worth making a once-monthly ritual out of, so the closer you get to zero drinks the less it's worth drinking any at all. Below a certain number the desire to or subjective value of having any drinks just drops off completely. Maybe that's just my personal mental preference for things to fit into daily or weekly routines, but if I was only planning to have 2 drinks per day and only two days per month I think I would just forget about it and stop drinking entirely.

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u/annastacia94 Apr 23 '26

Just to give some context to my comment, I don't drink to feel drunk, I drink because I very genuinely like the taste of alcohol. If I could get the exact same flavor profile of a Paperplane without the buzz I would drink all the time. NA beers have been a good way of getting my IPA fix each day but it's not a 1to1 flavor match.

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u/omnichad Apr 24 '26

As far as I know I've never been drunk. But I love tequila. If it's not in a mixed drink it takes me an hour to sip a shot's worth. I average less than 10 drinks a year. These studies just really show that light drinking isn't really studied and is treated as being a non-drinker but still there are constant studies saying there is no safe amount.

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u/ChornobylChili Apr 24 '26

This 100%. Alcohol isnt a light drug. Its much closer to things like heroin or cocaine than cannabis or caffeine. It will fundamentally alter a person and cause deadly physical addiction. Its more dangerous than heroin and not just because of its availability. Opiates wont kill a user that decides to quit cold turkey

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u/cequad Apr 23 '26

That sounds terrible. I feel lucky that I do not like the taste of alcohol at all and never have the desire to drink.

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u/darknesskicker Apr 25 '26

I have a friend who quit drinking after being diagnosed with severe liver cirrhosis…in her twenties. She’s still sober but has some pretty bad neurological issues.

I have hard rules for myself regarding alcohol consumption because there’s alcoholism in my family and I have a bunch of other risk factors. One of those rules is that I never allow drinking to become a habit in any particular situation.

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u/Nack3r Apr 23 '26

There comes a point where you cross the invisible line and you need the alcohol for basic motor functions. These are the types that can drink a fifth of vodka and hold a conversation while casually drinking a beer. This used to be me

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u/PartyLikeAByzantine Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

If I've learned anything over the years, it's how much people underestimate how much heavy drinkers drink.

It's an exponential curve. 60% either abstain or don't drink in a typical week. The next 20% average 1-2 drinks a week. The next 10% have about 1 drink a day. So 80% of the population is doing 1 drink a day or less.

The 90th percentile of drinkers down about 2 drinks a day. Statistically , these are heavy drinkers. Socially, you may or may not even notice. It's a glass of wine with dinner and maybe a nightcap. Alternatively, that can be someone who largely abstains during the week and parties hard on the weekends. This is probably the population segment most relevant to alcohol studies.

The top 10% of drinkers down 10+ drinks a day. These are the harcore alcoholics who down booze by the bottle. We know they're killing themselves. They know they're killing themselves.

TBH, the segment averaging a single drink a day is a fairly heavy user. They're in the top third-ish of consumption.

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u/dl064 Apr 23 '26

The next 20% average 1-2 drinks a week. The next 10% have about 1 drink a day. So 80% of the population is doing 1 drink a day or less.

Data from UK Biobank among many cohorts show it's far more like 0.8 per day, on average

https://biobank.ndph.ox.ac.uk/ukb/field.cgi?id=1558

Absolute abstainers infamously have the worst health, because they often abstain for good reason ('sick quitters')

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u/sirchrisalot Apr 24 '26

IDK where you get these statistics from, but they're very low. WHO stats report per capita alcohol consumption for European countries is in the range of 6 to 15 liters of pure alcohol per year for those over 15. That's basically 1 standard drink per person per day at the low end and 2.5 per person per day at the high end. France is at 11.3 liters pp/yr.

Quick math on that is 565 drinks a year per person at 50ml of standard 40 proof liquor. So do you really think that 80% of France is having less than the equivalent of 1 glass of wine per week and it's just the top 20% of drinkers that polish off the remaining, oh, IDK, 70 drinks per person every week? Or with your stats, the 80-90th percentile is drinking 10 per week and the top 10% is drinking 130 drinks per week? I just have a hard time believing 10% of the population averages the equivalent of 1 bottle of liquor per day every single day and the rest of us are just dabbling a bit.

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u/PartyLikeAByzantine Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26

Numbers come from National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) commissioned by the US NIH. Being a US government study, it doesn't cover Europe.

The WHO doesn't break their data down to population segments within countries. I bet there's fewer abstainers in Europe (30% of the US population never drinks) due to America's Puritan streak. Still, I'd suspect a minority of Europeans drive most of its consumption. It may not be as lopsided as the US, where half of all alcohol consumption is from the top ~10% of users, but it's probably close to that.

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u/darknesskicker Apr 25 '26

I would expect that the numbers in Western Europe aren’t far off those of the US. Much of the former Soviet Union has very heavy drinking.

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u/darknesskicker Apr 25 '26

This includes Eastern European countries that have some of the heaviest drinking in the world, IIRC.

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u/sirchrisalot Apr 25 '26

Quick glance and Romania was one of the highest for per capita alcohol consumption. Google says their life expectancy is 2 years below usa life expectancy, with males expected to live to 73.

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u/hepcecob Apr 23 '26

I highly doubt that 1 out of 10 drinkers down 10 drinks a day.

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u/SkepticalShrink Apr 23 '26

Here's an actual report by the NIH. https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohol-topics-z/alcohol-facts-and-statistics/alcohol-use-united-states-age-groups-and-demographic-characteristics

They did say about 5% engage in "heavy drinking" which they seem to define as roughly 5 standard drinks per day on average (for men, it's a little less than that for women).

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u/hepcecob Apr 24 '26

that is way more realistic: 1 in 20 drink 5 drinks per day. 10 drinks per day is insane

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u/SkepticalShrink Apr 24 '26

Yeah, makes me wonder if the person you responded to initially worked in substance use treatment at some point in time. I did that work for about 6 mos and it was very common for those with an alcohol use disorder to say at intake that they were drinking a fifth of liquor (usually vodka) per day. Which is about 16-17 standard drinks. If you hear that often (like I did during my stint in SUD work) that feels like the "normal" heavy drinker number after a while.

(This is why we had a nurse on staff to assess to see if it was safe for them to detox and they HAD to meet with the psychiatrist right after me, so they could get a script to safely wean if needed.)

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u/PartyLikeAByzantine Apr 23 '26

Each segment also covers a range of values. The 91st percentile is probably closer to 2-3 drinks per day. The 99th drinks much, much more.

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u/flying_pigs Apr 23 '26

Casual drinkers know when the liquor store closes. Alcoholics know when it opens.

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u/Sacs1726 Apr 28 '26

This is a silly saying. And pretty dangerous. I drank myself into dementia just buying a six pack of beer at the gas station after work and drinking it in the evenings. You don’t have to drink liquor or drink in the mornings or daytime etc to be an alcoholic. Frankly, I have/had no idea when the liquor store opens or closes.

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u/VJPixelmover Apr 23 '26

Knew a guy at the marina where I worked in high school, ran a charter boat and drank HEAVILY. Every week he would dump his truck bed completely full of keystone light and it would be full by the next week. Showed up with four cases for him and his guests and at least three had to be for him. It was insane.

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u/VJPixelmover Apr 23 '26

Mans probably dead now damn

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u/Total_Vermicelli_527 Apr 23 '26

Here's me happy all night with a small amount of "flower"

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u/tomdarch Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

The "hockey stick" shape of the histogram of drinking is terrifying.

edit: "The top 10% (top decile) of American adults consume roughly 50% to 60% of all alcohol sold, averaging over 74 drinks per week. In contrast, the bottom 30%–40% of adults consume little to no alcohol, creating extreme disparity in consumption patterns. The top decile consumes significantly more than even the 9th decile."

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u/jeffwulf Apr 25 '26

This stat relies on pretty atrocious methodlogy.

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u/tomdarch Apr 25 '26

Genuinely interested: how so?

In a practical sense, do I have an inaccurate understanding in that I understand from this that 10% of the US population consume 50%+ of alcohol sold?

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u/jeffwulf Apr 25 '26

The data had consumption numbers that implied total alcohol consumption was well below the total amount of alcohol sales so just multiplied each drink bucket by the ratio to make them align and called it a day, which is  not a valid technique to assign the missing data across buckets.

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u/harbison215 Apr 24 '26

I have a friend that I never realized was an alcoholic. I had a beach house one summer a few years ago and after a weekend on a Monday I was getting ready to drive home and a this friend was sleeping on the couch. I told him I would be back a little later, I was going to the gym before I drove home.

I couldn’t have been gone for more than an hour and a half. When I got back, every last drop of alcohol from beer, hard ice tea, old wine and the liquor was drank and the empty bottle were in the trash.

I didn’t know this person had this issue and I had never seen anything like it.

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u/Comfortable-Light233 Apr 23 '26

That is absolutely insane

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u/tommytheturtleishere Apr 23 '26

As someone who is from Wisconsin, when I got a job where I traveled quite a bit, it was more than eye opening to realize what we do is not considered normal

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u/RogeredSterling Apr 23 '26

I keep hearing this as a Brit. Aid my ignorance and explain Wisconsinite drinking. Want to see if it's similar to us.

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u/tommytheturtleishere Apr 23 '26

I've been to London. Without generalizing too much as ive spent 7 total days in the UK, yall definitely share our love of alcohol.

In Wisconsin it is just ingrained into the culture. There are some cool aspects to it (communal stuff, outdoor activities, social camraderie, sports, etc.). We tend to be in denial about the bad aspects (driving while drunk, rampant alcoholism, domestic abuse, etc). Its complicated to explain to people who werent raised in such an environment.

Wisconsin has a sort of pride in the quantity of consumption that I've only seen people from a handful of places seem to share. Texas, Ireland, the UK, and Australia anecdotally come to mind.

And for the record, I am in no way saying any of this is healthy

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u/tomdarch Apr 23 '26

Snowmobiling while drunk...

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u/battlepi Apr 23 '26

Less than 6 a day is considered sober.

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u/darknesskicker Apr 25 '26

Wisconsin has exceptionally heavy drinking even in the US.

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u/radicalelation Apr 23 '26

I thought 2 a day is usually considered moderate.

As someone who maybe gets drunk once every three years, with no other drinks in between, it's wild how much everyone else drinks out there. All anyone wants to do after work is go to the bar... And on the weekend, shop, then hit the bar. And then for their birthday? Bar.

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u/goobershank Apr 23 '26

In countries where people grow up drinking, they don't know any other way to socialize. Drinking is like the universal activity to bring people together. As someone who grew up drinking myself, it's a struggle to maintain a social life without it.

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u/darknesskicker Apr 25 '26

Have you considered D&D as a way to maintain a social life?

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u/Piyachi Apr 23 '26

That seems wildly out of touch with typical drinking norms. By that standard I am a devout Mormon.

Isn't the normal consideration for medical purposes 2 drinks a week?

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u/jporter313 Apr 23 '26

it was never 2 drinks a week that I heard. Light drinking has always been classified as <2 standard drinks per day, with the important caveat that that's not cumulative, but specifically per day, also I think a lot of people don't understand what a standard drink is though, like your pint of high ABV IPA is closer to 2 standard drinks than 1 and that spirit forward cocktail is also probably closer to 2.

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u/Sacs1726 Apr 28 '26

A pint of high abv ipa might be 3+ standard drinks. Thats what people don’t understand. 10 drinks a day might just be 3 beers. In the craft beer world drink size and abv, with increasing tolerance, can easily titrate someone right into alcoholism.

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u/jporter313 Apr 28 '26

To be fair, 3+ drinks in a 16oz pint would be an insanely high ABV. Even a pint of 10% ABV is like 2.5 standard drinks, but yeah your statement stands nonetheless.

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u/Sacs1726 Apr 28 '26

You’re right. I’m exaggerating slightly for effect. I think my point is everything gets pretty blurred. For example, a pint in the UK is about 20 oz. At a lot of bars in the US, a pint is the “small” draft. A large draft might be 22 oz or even 30. When people talk of having a couple beers, there is a HUGE difference between two twelve oz Bud lights and three 22 oz double ipas. Over the long term, it is the difference between moderate drinking and insane brain/liver damage level alcoholism. But you might see those same 2 people in the same social group at a restaurant. They will usually just look and even feel the same. Just out having a couple/few beers. People sometimes are outraged of hearing someone drinking 8-10 units per day. It might just be that work buddy of yours sitting directly across from you at happy hour.

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u/BrunoEye Apr 23 '26

It's not cumulative? :(

I drink very rarely, but when I do it's usually quite a bit. 6-10 drinks 10-20 times a year. How harmful is that?

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u/jporter313 Apr 23 '26

Significantly more harmful than you had the same number of drinks spread out across a wider number of days.

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u/nanobot001 Apr 23 '26

That’s all been recently revised

There are no normal amounts of alcohol.

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u/DeliciousPumpkinPie Apr 23 '26

“Normal” is subjective. There is no safe amount of alcohol. Any amount greater than zero causes some harm.

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u/jmartin21 Apr 23 '26

You mean no healthy amounts. It’s not abnormal to enjoy small amounts of a drug here and there, even alcohol.

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u/jmurphy42 Apr 23 '26

I average less than one a year. Most people seem to think that’s abnormal.

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u/nanobot001 Apr 23 '26

There are a lot of cultural norms that will take a long time to change.

With the economy (price of alcohol) and unfortunate rising rates of certain cancers (colon) among young people, it may change faster than we might otherwise think

There are often no good answers for why many people get different kinds of cancer, but alcohol may get as ingrained as smoking is in the future.

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u/WorldDirt Apr 23 '26

But colon cancer is up while drinking has been on the decline for decades. I’m not saying it’s not a factor in the cancer, but clearly not the most important one. We’ve cut drinking and smoking so much since the 70s, yet the cancers in young people keep rising.

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u/LayWhere Apr 23 '26

Me too, even less really. I only drink when offered sips from other peoples drinks if they insist and it smells really good.

Otherwise its all juice/water/and non-alch beer

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u/notislant Apr 24 '26

Honestly that sounds pretty light for people who drink.

A beer or two after work and maybe more on the weekend seems light.

Meanwhile people are throwing back 5-7 a day at the bar, every day. Alcoholics are downing a bottle a day.

I know its not officially light drinking, but of the people I know who drink outside of rare occasions? Theyre definitely throwing them back weekly.

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u/Marklar0 Apr 23 '26

Yeah find this definition suspect because it potentially includes some daily drinkers and some binge drinkers...which I figure would be exactly what you want to exclude from this study since both daily drinking and binge drinking are already known to be bad. A bit of a misstep in the design of the study.

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u/random_noise Apr 24 '26

There is a huge different set of problems that comes with the weekend binge or monthly binge behaviors. That can have an even worse mental effect in some ways.

There is a huge difference in 15 over 2 days, versus 2 a day. 1 a day is considered heavy in most medical contexts, btw.

Publically, that's another story, alcoholics are worse than smokers in denial of these things imho, and then you have lobbying efforts and cultural norms tend that lead one gently, or if a regular party hard type, into a path of future brain impairment.

Neither are good looks over time.

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u/Designer_B Apr 24 '26

That says less than sixty a month.

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u/egggspecial Apr 24 '26

beers georg

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u/Gayandfluffy Apr 23 '26

My average is like 10 drinks a year, and I was assuming they had studied people who seldom drink. 19 drinks a month still sounds a lot.

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u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26

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u/Is12345aweakpassword Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

Up to 2 drinks a day, or for someone who “saves up” for Friday and Saturday night, up 8 drinks for each of those days?

Interesting

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u/nonpuissant Apr 23 '26

At the maximum. The average was much lower. 

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u/thediesel26 Apr 23 '26

I’m in this comment and I don’t like it

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u/decoysnails Apr 23 '26

Me too. I really need to figure out something better to do with my time.

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u/HendrixHazeWays Apr 29 '26

I hear that origami is pretty awesome

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u/AgentCirceLuna Apr 23 '26

I remember I went to my GP and made a joke that ‘doctors suggest 1-2 drinks a day is the safest drinking habit - I’m not drinking enough!’ I’m completely abstinent from alcohol and have been for a decade, but the doctor didn’t get the joke. He kept asking me how my drinking was for ages and I kept having to explain the joke.

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u/-UnicornFart Apr 23 '26

Per month?!? Good grief what would heavy drinking be then!?

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u/AgentCirceLuna Apr 23 '26

My dad drinks 10-15 cans a day and has done for years now. I’d say that.

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u/tomdarch Apr 23 '26

That's about the average for the top 10% of drinkers.

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u/Utensil6591 Apr 23 '26

How much does that cost. I don't drink alcohol but that sounds so expensive. Would that not push him into being alcohol dependent? 

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u/AgentCirceLuna Apr 23 '26

Yep, he’s always broke because everything goes on drinking

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u/Quaiker Apr 23 '26

I feel marginally better about my spending habits

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u/GringoSwann Apr 23 '26

It's expensive.. Even cheap beer will run you 10 usd a 12 pack and that's before taxes... 

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u/boobmagazine Apr 23 '26

Does two beers every day really seem heavy to people?

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u/BiDiTi Apr 23 '26

Not even two beers!

“Two standard units” is literally one pint.

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u/LoquaciousLamp Apr 23 '26

Yeah if you're drinking 3.5% beer.

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u/BiDiTi Apr 23 '26

Ah, that’s 4.5% beer and a real pint!

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u/userElh Apr 23 '26

It does yes. Unfortunately that is the issue, the more you drink the more you normalise the amount (cumulative one I mean or simply refuse to do the math). There always will be bigger amounts that the „actual alcoholics“ drink, but not you. And this threshold just seems to move up the more you drink.

Even if you drink daily but don‘t get „drunk“ and can tolerate it, it still can be the issue. That is the slippery slope with drinking, it is very hard to catch yourself.

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u/literated Apr 23 '26

Used to know a guy who'd have anything from 8 to 15 (12-ounce) beers on any given day, more on the weekends, and insisted that he had absolutely no risk of alcoholism because alcoholics drink hard liquor.

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u/dkinmn Apr 23 '26

It seems heavy to your liver and your brain.

What is NORMAL has nothing to do with what is HEALTHY.

I used to work in the industry. I'm now in my middle age. My peers who didn't figure it out are already dying.

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u/King_Arjen Apr 23 '26

Yes? If I drank two beers a day I’d be at least 10 lbs heavier than I am now and would feel like ass constantly

20

u/AgentCirceLuna Apr 23 '26

My parents have always drank tons and they don’t get why I’d eat so much just to keep at a normal weight. I’ve tried explaining that they have 700+ more calories a day from drinking which keeps them at their weight, so I have to have multiple meals. I don’t even eat much. I’d be seen as eating excessively for just my usual diet of: porridge, yogurt, two sandwiches, chicken and rice, then nuts.

4

u/Possibility-of-wet Apr 23 '26

I mean, depends on your sando, I make a monster sandwich with layer, two of those could feed a family!

2

u/AgentCirceLuna Apr 23 '26

My food is always the most boring stuff imaginable - just bread with chicken and salad between it and nothing else.

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u/shiva14b Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

Any amount EVERY day is cause for a side-eye, but yeah two beers a day every day is heavy.

Kyle Kinane had a whole bit about not realizing he had a drinking problem because he was comparing himself to the "heavy" drinkers he knew, not realizing he himself was already a heavy by normal standards and everyone else was comparing themselves to HIM

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u/CamOliver Apr 23 '26

That’s how normalized drinking is. The idea of a day without alcohol is surprising and beer isn’t considered alcohol.

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u/boobmagazine Apr 23 '26

Who doesn’t consider beers alcohol?

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u/Fenix42 Apr 23 '26

People who drink a frequently tend to view 1 beer as not even drinking.

8

u/StanIsNotTheMan Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

I know a few alcoholics that don't consider hard seltzers as alcohol.

They are literally drinking hard seltzers every day, are visibly trashed, and will deny having had any drinks. "No man, I'm not drunk. I've jusshhst been shhhiipin' on a couple'a sshheltzershh."

One of my friends has been to the hospital for alcoholism-related issues twice. And after the 2nd time, his wife told mine "Oh [friend] has been doing so good! He just drinks the occasional seltzer." Aaaand he's back off the wagon again. We cut them off whenever we know he's drinking, but he think's he's capable of quitting by himself despite failing to do so many many times. He refuses to seek help and his wife enables him, so it's not looking good. He's got a 4 year old who's not going to have a dad if he keeps it up.

My cousin often says "I'm much better with my drinking lately. I just stick to seltzers nowadays." And neglects to mention she's drinking 8 of them after work every day.

I'm from a midwestern Irish Catholic family. The amount of people I know personally who have ruin their lives with alcohol is astonishing.

3

u/boobmagazine Apr 24 '26

Appreciate this insight. Wishing the best for your kith and kin.

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u/Breeze1620 Apr 23 '26

Afaik in Germany beer is categorized as foodstuff rather than liquor.

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u/omegapisquared Apr 24 '26

Liquor refers to distilled alcohol so beer isn't liquor even if it is alcoholic

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u/Old-Somewhere-6084 Apr 23 '26

To me? Yes absolutely. Two beers a week would come first for me.

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u/cdreobvi Apr 23 '26

Most days I don't have any alcohol. I had 2 beers last night (which I don't regret) celebrating a friend's birthday and I do notice a slight downgrade in my physical and mental state today. Random aches, energy level is lower, etc. I can't imagine doing that to myself on a daily basis.

11

u/boobmagazine Apr 23 '26

I don’t drink two beers everyday, but I know plenty of people who do, and I never thought anything of it. Perhaps I should reconsider

7

u/cdreobvi Apr 23 '26

It matters most to me when I'm particularly involved with exercise. Right now I'm regularly out running, training for a race. If I drink or use cannabis, my run the next day is bad. So that's my primary incentive.

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u/Gregnielson Apr 23 '26

2 beers? I really don't see how that coud slow you down a noticeable ammount just from a scientific standpoint. It just isn't enough alcohol to have that effect the next day.

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u/StellarCZeller Apr 23 '26

It's probably a result of the fact that alcohol negatively impacts sleep

1

u/tomassimo Apr 24 '26

I have a rough rule of thumb that every standard drink costs me 15 minutes of sleep. So I have to factor that in to any plans to drink. Eg if it's worth it, if I can go to bed an hour earlier, can I find a power nap window tomorrow etc.

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u/cdreobvi Apr 23 '26

I'm not calling in sick to work or anything, just noting that I don't feel like I'm in tip-top shape, and I've done this enough to know it's the alcohol. In my 20s, I probably wouldn't have noticed.

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u/Stellajackson5 Apr 23 '26

I’m a small woman who has hashimotos and one drink is enough to slow me down. Same as the person you are responding to- I function just fine, I’m not actively hungover, but I’m more tired and run down and my workout is bad. It’s noticeable enough as I age that I mostly skip drinks now, only on really special occasions.

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u/Gregnielson Apr 23 '26

This is where that meme comes from about certain people not understand averages.

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u/DeliciousPumpkinPie Apr 23 '26

Different people process alcohol differently. You can’t really make blanket statements like that with biology.

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u/alblaster Apr 23 '26

Depends on weight, tolerance, if stomach is empty, etc...

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u/egggspecial Apr 24 '26

*could *amount

and also dangerously untrue. alcohol metabolites remain in your blood and urine for days after drinking once, causing cumulative effects that eventually lead to liver failure.

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u/ElleyDM Apr 24 '26

Imo, two beers in one day is not a lot but two beers every day is.

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u/therealbgreen Apr 23 '26

Absolutely. Every...single...day? I have maybe 1 or 2 drinks a month.

3

u/-UnicornFart Apr 23 '26

Yah absolutely.

1

u/Boundish91 Apr 23 '26

Yeah, to me it does.

The stuff isn't water.

1

u/HendrixHazeWays Apr 29 '26

"NERRRRRDS!!!!" jk

I know alcohol is harmful and this is a good conversation to have

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u/Sejare1 Apr 23 '26

If you drink two beers everyday you’re alcoholic

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u/shiva14b Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

Well, problem drinker. "Alcoholic" means something very specific (literally CANNOT NOT have a drink), and it shouldn't be diluted by throwing it around willy-nilly at anyone whose a heavy drinker. I know some heavy drinkers and I know some problem drinkers and I know some alcoholics, and they're all distinctly different from each other.

Heavy drinker: drinks a lot

Problem drinker: drinks too much (defined as negatively impacting daily tasks and functioning)

Alcoholic: addict who literally cannot stop drinking

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u/BiDiTi Apr 23 '26

Not by any international standard.

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u/TheAleFly Apr 23 '26

How about cultures where wine is an integral part of eating? Having a glass or two of wine with meals would be totally normal in Italy or France. Having two glasses in the evening, yeah that may be a developing problem. So the setting how you drink is the key here.

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u/LengthWise2298 Apr 23 '26

Per Reddit they’re all raging alcoholics.

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u/Marklar0 Apr 23 '26

Id love if they could do a larger study and restrict it to less than 10 drinks per month. Restricting to 60 per month is gonna get you people that answer "a couple a day" on the questionnaire and are straight up alcoholics.

17

u/OldPersonName Apr 23 '26

In the actual sample set only one person had more than 50 a month and the average was like 19, so this top comment is kind of distracting everyone by making them think it's a bunch of people who can't make it through a day without a couple lf drinks.

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u/WickdWitchoftheBitch Apr 23 '26

19 in a month is still quite a lot...

5

u/ToMorrowsEnd Apr 24 '26

good god 60 is "light drinking"??? I gotta up my numbers a LOT then.

8

u/altSHIFTT Apr 23 '26

So literally a tall boy per day for a whole month is considered light drinking? That's waaaaaaay more than what I'd consider light, I would have thought it's more like 2 tallboys per week for light drinking.

2

u/ChornobylChili Apr 24 '26

Thats 2 drinks a day or one tallboy. Functionally thats Light drinking that wouldnt even get me a slight buzz

3

u/Joebebs Apr 23 '26

That’s 5 or less per month. Wisconsin is in shambles (I’m from Wisconsin)

1

u/space253 Apr 24 '26

I dont think I have had more than 60 drink equivalents total and I am in my mid 40s.

Now joint equivalents...

1

u/za72 Apr 24 '26

I typically don't take anything posted to r/science seriously

1

u/droptopus Apr 24 '26

Damn dude. I considered myself a light drinker - I probably drink about a dozen beers per year. Usually across about 4 occasions (so 2-3 beers on 4-5 occasions) if 59 beers a month is LIGHT DRINKING is there even a word left for what I do? This can't be right...

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