Time magazine just published a hype piece about how heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers. Don’t believe the hype.
They are trying to sell magazines and create hype while also telling people what they want to hear: that drinking is good for them, even if they go beyond “moderate drinking” and fall into the “heavy” category! Based on the study, their conclusion is that moderate drinkers live the longest, followed by heavy drinkers, followed by non drinkers.
This is rationalizing at its finest. ”Whatever you do, don’t abstain entirely! Try to be a moderate drinker, but error on the side of heavy drinking rather than not drinking any alcohol at all, for Pete’s sake!”
The article does mention briefly that one risk might be that “you could become addicted to alcohol, which can take a long time to get over.” Oh really, you think?
The author goes on to theorize that drinking helps with social interaction, and that leads to increase lifespan. Crazy.
But while the numbers in the study may not lie, don’t buy into the hype for one second. There are many hidden costs to alcoholism, and anyone who is trying to justify their drinking with an article like this is on a slippery slope and headed in the general direction of possible addiction. Here is why you should not use alcoholism as a long term health strategy:
1) Many alcoholics abuse more than just alcohol - In my own experience, heavy drinking was always accompanied by heavy cigarette smoking. I wonder if that will help increase my lifespan, too? Now that I am in recovery, I managed to quit smoking cigarettes, and am now approaching the 5 year mark, saving me about 10 grand in the process. Not to mention the fact that people who are drunk are more likely to abuse other (illegal) drugs as well…..
2) When I drank, I did not exercise – I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I was horribly out of shape when I was drinking. In recovery, I take better care of myself all around, and that includes physical exercise. Maybe some of these non drinkers are just lazy? I am not really sure what the deal is on this, but I know for me, I am grateful to be active and fit in recovery.
3) Supplement without negative side effects – if it is actually the Resveratrol in wine that is boosting lifespan, then get it from grapes in a much healthier form without the negative side effects. Using this supposed “anti-aging” compound as an excuse to get sloppy drunk is not a good long term health strategy, especially when you can just eat grapes instead, and know that it is healthy for you!
4) Quality over quantity – what is the quality of your life if you are getting drunk every single day? Just ask the nearest wino or bum if they could enlighten you on this. There are also a lot of alcoholics who are locked up in jails or prison because of the trouble they caused while drinking. Recovery is about quality of life, not quantity.
5) The world wide rate of alcoholism is probably under 10 percent, and 15 percent would be a high estimate. But almost 100 percent of the readers here are alcoholics, so none of this hype applies to us anyway. We can ignore the supposed “health benefits” of drinking, because we know that for us, to drink is to die. Jails, institutions, and death. etc.
If you need an excuse to go out and drink then an article like this is probably as good an excuse as any. But if you remember when it really got bad for you then hopefully you will be more realistic, and know that–for us–heavy drinking is not a good way to live healthy. For us, to drink is to die.
Don’t believe the hype!
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