I find that site very reassuring, however, since it’s overwhelmingly alcohol-positive I am a bit wary to accept all of its facts as gospel. Is there another side that is not portrayed there? Are there studies that show moderate alcohol consumption to be universally harmful? Preferably not funded by MADD or similar, though…
I would love to believe that 1-3 beers a day is not only not harmful, but actually beneficial.
I voted 1 per week, but I don’t think it’s harmful to my health so much as harmful to my tastebuds. I probably average a beer a year. I just don’t like it and would prefer to consume my calories in a more enjoyable fashion.
The poll’s kind of messed up, really, in that it has beers per day.
All kidding about my love of beer, you can never get too many, ha ha, aside, “per day” is not how most people drink beer. Beer consumption is generally done in bursts; even people who do drink beer every day will usually only have one or two, but then have weekends where they drink a dozen. There are exceptions, of course, but that’s generally how beer gets consumed, at least in Canada/the USA.
So the answer, like most things, is that it’s too much if your budget, family, job, or waistline can’t handle it. I would say, though, that if you’re averaging more than 3 beers a day, you’re basically adding an extra meal every day; it would take a LOT of exercise to make that back. There’s a reason they call it a beer belly.
I guess the poll is biased since I drink a bottle of beer daily except for the days I workout. Would it make a difference regarding your health if you drink seven beers one day every week or if you drink one beer every day? Maybe one concentrated attack on your liver is worse than a few minor attacks spread apart?
I voted more than six per day. I certainly don’t average that much per day, but having six in a day, over the course of a day, once in a while, doesn’t seem like an issue to me.
A long time ago, Dr. Dean Edell reported on the local TV news that safe limits were one drink an hour, four drinks a day, and 16 drinks a week. That embodies the idea that 16 drinks in a week is different than 16 drinks in a day, once per week (or downing a bottle of vodka in the course of an hour, once per week).
That article had no cites, so I went ahead and did some more research. I found this article from 2007. A little old, but it’s very thoughtful and thorough.
I’ll make a summary of it’s findings for those who don’t want to read it:
Wine and beer lowers bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol.
Wine increases antioxidant capacity.
Homocysteine (might cause heart disease) goes up, but it’s canceled out by some of the beneficial effects of wine, which may include B6, antioxidants, increased HDL and increased antioxidant capacity.
No serious effect on blood pressure if you drink less than one bottle of wine per day. One 750ml bottle of 13% alcohol wine has 77g alcohol. A 12oz bottle of beer with 5% alcohol has 14g alcohol. Therefore, one bottle of wine equals 5.5 bottles of beer.
You’re at risk for pancreatic disease if more than 30% of your daily caloric increase comes from alcoholic beverages, or if you drink around a bottle of wine per day for over 25 years.
Wine (and grapes and fruit) has resveratrol, which is good for a lot of shit.
Conclusion: 50g alcohol a day won’t harm you and might reduce cholesterol. 50g is half a 750ml bottle of wine, or 3.5 12oz bottles of beer.