MPs urge '2 alcohol free days per week'

[Booldawg]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16443240

They're making it sound like an epidemic. I mean, what percentage of the population have some amount of alcohol 7 nights of the week?
"How Often Do You Drink?" Poll Here

[Sqad]

Well, it is nice to see that many ABers at last realise that there is an increasing alcohol problem in this country.
However, I just have the feeling that two alcohol free days will enable the liver to " recover" has just been "plucked" out of the air,unless someone can provide a scientific link from a reliable source.

[jackthehat]

I vote for Fridays and Saturdays..........it'd certainly make Blackpool a nicer place to live in!

[rowanwitch]

Our hepatology consultants used to tell us the four or five days we worked would enable us to recover... I suspect it is closer to the truth... but any reduction is better than none I suspect

[EvianBaby]

Not to mention the amount of calories in wine and beer. Not surprising we're a nation of porkers with failing livers.

[EDDIE51]

They should start by closing the House of Commons bars for 2 days a week to show an example .

[McMouse]

I plan to have two alcohol free days......tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. This policy will be reviewed on a daily basis.

[jno]

ludwig, as far as I can see the requirement for a two-day break is only to combat "heavy" drinking

"It also says that after heavy drinking people should leave 48 hours for the body to recover."

I presume they're thinking of binge drinking, or at any rate something that's over the recommended limits. (Though as Sqad says, there's always the possibility they've just plucked a figure out of thin air.) I reckon my glass+ of wine a day is about two units, way short of the limits, though I have been known to top it up with a G&T.

[EDDIE51]

They actually admit that the 'Daily Limits' were just plucked out of thin air. No basis whatsoever.

[jno]

indeed, Eddie

http://www.dailymail....ss.html#ixzz1iwBQu3jq

(Sorry, the Mail is the only report I could find but it was widely reported.)

It's possible that MPs are not the people to advise me on alcohol intake.

[Quizmonster]

Sqad, the exact same point is true of the "21 units per week" arrived at - and still held as medical gospel - in the late '80s. At least two of the panel of experts on that group have since come out and said publicly that the figure, 21, was simply plucked out of thin air and was based on no research whatsoever.

[Quizmonster]

Eddie, your answer was not there when I started to type mine, so I did not just copy your wording!

[ummmm]

Considering some of the people I grew up around...who are still alive and kicking....I think it's an individual basis.

My Dad died of liver cancer, caused by alcohol. He wasn't an alcoholic. I know people who've drank much more than him, who are older than him, and are still at it.

Each person deals with alcohol differently.

[EDDIE51]

Read this lines 9 & 10 the committee actually did admit the limits were 'plucked out of thin air' their exact words
http://lifestyle.aol....t-really-a-good-idea/

[ummmm]

But I must also agree....at least 2 days of no alcohol is a good thing.

[ludwig]

// ludwig, as far as I can see the requirement for a two-day break is only to combat "heavy" drinking //

I think that's exactly the point they're trying to get over, that it's not just about bingeing. A steady intake of relatively small amounts of alcohol on a daily basis is also problematic, even if people are keeping within a weekly limit it doesn't mean you should spread it evenly over the week without building in some gaps.

I'm just paraphrasing what I heard on Radio 4 this morning.

[EDDIE51]

Ummmm the amount of alcohol that will make one person an alcoholic may leave another person virtually unaffected. Alcoholism is to a very large degree an inherited problem, some people have the genetic make up that predisposes them to alcoholism other do not and never become alcoholics no matter how much they drink. Health problems due to alcohol are a seperate issue, a heavy drinker may get cirrhosis of the liver but never be an alcoholic for example.
The 2 things are very commonly thought of as one issue , even by many on AB but they are not.
Another example, a huge number of people are obese due to drinking too much but very few of them are alcoholics. True alcoholics tend to be under weight due to poor diet ,little food too much booze.

[jno]

and I was just cutting and pasting from the bbc.co.uk report.

If my liver collapses I shall blame the BBC for lack of clarity.

[237SJ]

Trouble is, as has been said before, there are too many mixed messages coming from the Government/medical profession. One minute they say 14 units a week is OK for females, then someone contradicts that and says it`s less (or more). A few years ago the media was suggesting that red wine is good for you because it contains anti-oxidents so people thought that quaffing a couple of glasses every night was fine. It`s no wonder people are confused.

[ummmm]

I know that Eddie :-)