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Healthier: Drinking 3 beers 5 days a week or 6 beers twice a week.

I am starting to think of my overall health long and short term. I am in my mid 30s and have been drinking alcohol on average twice a week since I was a since College. Most of the people I know drink more than 4 drinks on Friday and Saturday and usually have a beer or two after work during the week.

I realize not drinking any alcohol is probably the healthiest thing or drinking maybe 1 drink a day.

What is healthier to do. Drink twice a week say Friday and Saturday night 4-5 drinks per night (8-10 beers total per week which is what I do) or 2-3 beers per night 5 days a week (10-15 beers per week)?

I do realize that binge drinking is worse than drinking same amount but spreading the drinks out over the week but I am in the lower side of binge drinking according to the cdc.


Also I always feel that I drink too much and I am effecting my health. I do occasionally have more than 6 drinks a night but not often.

According to the CDC
What is binge drinking?
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism binge drinking is defined as a pattern of alcohol consumption that brings the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level to 0.08% or more. This pattern of drinking usually corresponds to 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on a single occasion for women, generally within about 2 hours.[SUP]3[/SUP]

What does moderate drinking mean?
There is no one definition of moderate drinking, but generally the term is used to describe a lower-risk pattern of drinking. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,[SUP]1[/SUP] drinking in moderation is defined as having no more than 1 drink per day for women and no more than 2 drinks per day for men. This definition is referring to the amount consumed on any single day and is not intended as an average over several days.
 
Maybe it's just me, but IMO, 10-15 drinks per week is unhealthy no matter how its consumed. I like my scotch, but with the exception of the two or three times a year I get bombed, I don't have 10 drinks a month, let alone a week. The days of getting drunk every weekend ended when i graduated college. If you're asking the question, you may want to consider whether you have a dependence on alcohol.
 
Two drinks a day is considered the upper limit of normal for men. Ten drinks a week is fine, provided you're not downing them all in one sitting. They also say you should have at least two or three consecutive days of no alcohol consumption in order to allow your system to fully deal with it.
 
My Grandfather drank a six pack of beer every night and he lived into his 90's healthy and happy. I don't push it, but I drink on beer every night when I get home from work, after my workout. On the weekends, sometimes I do two, but that's it.
 
It's all cumulative over the long run irregardless of how you spread them out. Drinking less frequently but having more at a time vs drinking less at a time more frequently will only have an effect on the short term with things like hangover and drunkenness. The real health effects, however, are in the long-term and the changes you are suggesting will be non-significant IMO.
 
Also I always feel that I drink too much and I am effecting my health. I do occasionally have more than 6 drinks a night but not often.

You already know the answer for yourself- Why not do an experiment and give it up for 90 days?
 
I think, as jdto suggested, making sure that you have about a 3 day window in any given week to flush all the alcohol out of your system is a good idea. Say, maybe Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. After that, drink up as you please. 10 beers a week is probably not pushing any limits health wise - unless you are worried about calories.

Lately, I mostly drink is hard alcohol and can finish off a 26 in a week (actually, just checking my bank account, it is closer to 2 weeks and more). I think the limit is somewhere in that range. Any more and you may need to look into it. But, then again, I am part of a generation that becomes concerned quicker to the one that came before.

Take a week or two off the drink, I end up doing without noticing a few times a year. After that you are better positioned to think about it.
 
Maybe it's just me, but IMO, 10-15 drinks per week is unhealthy no matter how its consumed. I like my scotch, but . . .I don't have 10 drinks a month, let alone a week. The days of getting drunk every weekend ended when i graduated college. If you're asking the question, you may want to consider whether you have a dependence on alcohol.

You already know the answer for yourself- Why not do an experiment and give it up for 90 days?

I agree with these gentlemen.
 
My 2 cents...

> Also I always feel that I drink too much and I am effecting my health.

This comment, plus the fact that you are already thinking about two possible methods of controlling/limiting your intake, suggests that you have identified a problem that you wish to fix. That doesn't mean that you're an alcoholic or a menace -- it just means that you have an (unhealthy) habit which you're interested in changing.

Trying to change a habit can be difficult, so it helps to figure out exactly why you want to change one. That helps your resolve to stick in your mind. So I'd suggest taking a day or two to ask yourself - Is this a problem? and Why?
 
Moderate drinkers live longer with fewer health problems than either heavy drinkers OR abstainers. True fact.

'Moderate' is 1-2 drinks daily. My doctor tells me there's a proven health benefit up to two drinks daily, and a progressively increasing health deficit above that.

Whether it's wine, beer, or whiskey doesn't matter, although each has their own specific benefits.
 
Moderate drinkers live longer with fewer health problems than either heavy drinkers OR abstainers. True fact.

'Moderate' is 1-2 drinks daily. My doctor tells me there's a proven health benefit up to two drinks daily, and a progressively increasing health deficit above that.

Whether it's wine, beer, or whiskey doesn't matter, although each has their own specific benefits.
... and your source is??? There may be cases of moderate drinkers living longer than abstainers & heavy drinkers but I highly doubt there's a study saying that this practice is a proven fact.
 
I highly doubt that two glasses of hard liquor a day is good for you, however 5oz of a red wine a day can help your heart. But why not limit consumption to special occasions and in moderation and do a cardiovascular excercise. I am only 23 and im not a heavy drinker at all. I occassionally have a glass of red wine or a dark beer with a meal but other than that i dont see the point of sitting around and drinking. " drink to health" i say its just an excuse for people who have a dependency to justify the need to fulfill it.Im not saying that you should never get intoxicated, while health wise you really shouldnt but once or twice a year is fine. Feeling that you have to consume is never a good sign. If you want to do something for health, then try working out for 30 minutes a day.
 
A friend of mine found a report done in WIRED Magazine that found that 2-3 glasses of beer/red wine is incredibly healthy for digestion, stress level, and overall health. It is no secret that red wine has a lot of health benefits, but this study found it went much deeper than that. 2-3 glasses of alcohol lowers the drinker's stress level, and any more than that is viewed by the body as an attack.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/why-alcohol-is-good-for-you/
 
... and your source is??? There may be cases of moderate drinkers living longer than abstainers & heavy drinkers but I highly doubt there's a study saying that this practice is a proven fact.

Widespread and widely published---yes, ACTUAL studies---for the last two decades at least. I'm not going to do your googling FOR you.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
It seems like every time I pick up Men's Health, I read something about too much alcohol being bad for you ... sometimes it's that any is bad and more is worse, sometimes a glass of wine a day is actually good for you (but three glasses is bad) ... I'd certainly feel fairly confident having a drink or two per day, but I'd be cautious about more than that.

My Grandfather drank a six pack of beer every night and he lived into his 90's healthy and happy. ...

Aaahh ... the "George Burns Defence" ... :wink2:
 
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