Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

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Drink? holds the key to all the questions you want (and need) to know the answers to, covering mental health, sleep, hormones, fertility and addiction. Nutt helps the reader self-assess the level you may be at, and gives tips and advice for how to limit your drinking, and how to talk to others about their drinking. He also discusses talking to your children about drinking. Tell them: This was very British. And felt extremely careful. Like the writer had in mind his audience of football hooligans. Maybe that was true.

Drink? : The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

He will illuminate our minds on what 'responsible drinking' truly means and equip us with the knowledge we need to make rational, informed decisions about our consumption now and in the future. Nutt identifies alcohol as one of the most, if not the most harmful drug (legal or illegal) in common use. We all are aware of some the dangers of alcohol, from short-term ones such as alcohol poisoning to the longer term ones like liver cirrhosis. But we learn here about all the other impacts alcohol has too, from alcohol’s effects on our brain’s neurotransmitters, our hormones, mental health, cancer risks, sleep quality and quantity, other physical health effects, economics, politics, and more. Drinking has become your hobby or the only way you socialize. This often happens with retirees or expats."Two days in a row of drinking is extremely bad for you as your body doesn't have time to recover and you don't sleep well, it's a downward spiral. Avoid this if at all possible, and go light the second day if you decide to drink.

Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Health - Harvard Book

The British perspective came through a few times. For instance, in the section, "Major Ways Alcohol Affects Your Length of Life," I had to look up Professor Nutt's reference to Damien Hirst's sharks and cows with regards to Nutt's mention of formaldehyde. However, I was pleased that Professor Nutt was inclusive and did include science references to Asia and Africa along with Europe, the UK, and the USA. It seems really hard to have a good social life and not drink. It is such an accepted part of life. People don't really understand the effect it has on our bodies and our lives. Of course people do understand at the extreme of becoming an alcoholic, but short of that, what's the big deal? Everyone should educate themselves on why it could be a big deal, so we can all make better informed decisions around drinking, and this book is an excellent introduction to this.More expensive booze is probably not better for your body. It often contains congeners which are in effect different types of alcohol and they can (probably) worsen the hangover. All in all, we shouldn't drink. Or at least try drink as little as we can. And shouldn't wash the food down with glasses of alcohol. Ultimately, I was satisfied, but it was a bit bland. Maybe it wasn’t the target market. I’ve never been a frequent drinker. In my younger days, maybe something like 4 drinks per week would’ve been common. These days, 1 drink per week is a lot. The author frequently talks about 14+ units per week, so this all felt a little out of touch I've been reading about the dangers of alcohol multiple times, so this didn't really offer anything new. Parts of this was laughable. Long chapters about different ways to talk about alcohol use, just very clumsy kitchen psychology and mundane.

Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health - Goodreads

I also questioned some of his assertions like, "...there are wards full of these kids," while talking about "acute alcoholic hepatitis" in young binge drinkers. Then he goes on to say, "However bingeing is not the reason behind most cases of alcoholic hepatitis...." He also provided no citation regarding the number of kids or the number of wards. There were also some judgmental statements peppered throughout the book. In one instance, Nutt says that he doesn't think people seeing their doctors for hypertension are being asked about their alcohol use, "...perhaps because many doctors drink too much themselves?" If that's not just a judgment, then where's the citation? Mixing factual and anecdotal evidence, Nutt discusses the UK response to alcohol, and the struggles he faced whilst attempting to advise the government on alcohol policy. From denying its classification as a drug to allowing alcohol companies to make up 50% of alcohol advisory boards, politicians’ response to drinking is surprising, especially given the burdens it places on our national services.David Nutt discusses alcohol in the same kind of context that a drug harm reduction NGO would inform about any substance, by framing it as: drinkers should mindfully find the minimum required dosage, for the pleasurable effects they seek. Very interesting to hear about how health risks increase exponentially with overconsumption and an in depth explanation of what actually happens to the brain and its decision making capability.

Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

I didn't realize that in the old days, beer and wine had much less alcohol in them than they do today (3-4% vs 5-8% today for beer). In middle ages I think it was even less, which is why people could drink it so often. I am particularly amused by the effects alcohol has on our sex hormones. Drinking appears to be something that in our society is part of the “lad culture”. Yet alcohol has been shown to reduce levels of testosterone whilst increasing levels of oestrogen. So much so that if you drink enough, a man can become feminised, developing male breasts, losing muscle mass and facial hair, and seeing reductions in sperm count. Alcohol makes a man less of a man, not more. The irony!Kinda wish this focused more on psychosocial vs physical aspects. Also wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style but did learn some things which is always good. This book certainly exceeded my expectations. The overall pedigree and experience of Dr. Nutt put him in an excellent position to author this book, and he did a laudable job balancing it with a sufficiently rigorous scientific/health-related dive, the effects at the personal versus the societal level, economic considerations, as well as the many benefits of alcohol that people tend to overlook. The author also concludes with a seemingly sensible plan for those who take the facts seriously, both personally and at the institutional/policy level. The book is not a meant to scare people into worry about their habits, but rather provide a sober (hah) analysis of the risks at hand. The book also contains insight into the work that goes into shaping government policy around alcohol. The difficulty for politicians to balance their electability vs public health, and the powerful influence of the alcohol industry lobby on the UK parliament’s decision making around these policies (they are really the true pusherman). Present an unvarnished, spin free account of the scientific evidence regarding the health ramifications and social impact of alcohol consumption.