drinking and health

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by Smaug97, Dec 24, 2015.

  1. Smaug97

    Smaug97 Valued Member

    So I've got a couple of questions regarding- well the title really.
    So this is sparked off by an experience i had recently that ended in a 6 hour stay in hospital (not a regular occurrence for me and i don't intend on repeating it).
    Anyway-questions
    How much is too much? I know any alcohol is technically bad but was wondering if there's a tipping point after which you start seriously seriously damaging yourself.
    How long does it take your body to recover? (Presuming just 1 night out with say 6- 12 units consumed) how long would your liver need to process that?
    And finally are there any 'damage control' things one can do to try and sober themselves up a bit if they've had too much (aside from stopping drinking and having water i know those already)
    I'd like to add i usually know what I'm doing when going out
     
  2. CrowZer0

    CrowZer0 Assume formlessness.

    How much is too much? Depends on a lot of factors, your genetics, size, tolerance and general exposure to alcohol. If you start wobbling and slurring your words. It's too much.

    If you drink quite regular depending on your size and sex keep it under 6 units. If it's a one off I wouldn't recommend more than that. It also depends on how quickly you are drinking. For example I wouldn't recommend 6 units in 2 hours, but 6 over 6 hours? More manageable.

    Recovery again depends on different factors, tolerance, genetics, general health.

    Damage control, try and eat something before and after the drinking session to soak up the alcohol in the stomach, preferably something fatty. I remember during uni eating a fatty meal followed by a big glass of milk "to line the coating of the stomach" was done. How much truth there is to this I don't know. Try and drink water in between drinks, DO NOT MIX DRINKS. By that I mean don't be having shots, beer, then whiskey.

    Eat something fatty, if you need to puke, just let it out, flush your system with lots of water, caffeine may help.

    Pace yourself, eat something fatty, know the signs when you start going over the top.
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2015
  3. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    UK NHS recommends no more than 3-4 units per day, but these numbers were made up in the 80's and are generally considered to be much higher than they should be.

    Alcohol is really quite bad for you.
     
  4. CrowZer0

    CrowZer0 Assume formlessness.

    When I say caffeine may help I mean after the drinking, not mixing, (vodka red bull is particularly bad for the system).
     
  5. CrowZer0

    CrowZer0 Assume formlessness.

    Keep in mind averages and recommended amounts are based on the median weight of the time. So if you weigh less than average your tolerance would generally be less, if you weigh a lot more, it will be more. Tolerance can also easily be built, and for some reason I don't know why tolerance goes down as you get older (in my experience anyway). Could be because I just don't drink as regularly as I used to.
     
  6. Smaug97

    Smaug97 Valued Member

    Thanks- I'm fairly big (6 1/ 6 2) and i usually go through around 6- 10 units at house parties (when I'm out I don't really drink much) so I've been thinking about dialing it down- although I'm usually ok it's probably still for the best- less cider means less chance you'll drunkenly decide to mix drinks and end up on a drip.
     
  7. CrowZer0

    CrowZer0 Assume formlessness.

    6'1 @ 80kg is very different to 6'1 at 120kg.
     
  8. Travess

    Travess The Welsh MAPper Supporter

    Important to note that these figures are viewed from a medical perspective, with the unit guidelines intended to be below a minimum threshold, so as not to be seen to be endorsing a recommendation to get 'Drunk'. 3-4 units for instance, would be met with just 2 x 330ml bottles of a 5% lager, and certainly couldn't cause the type reaction as described by the OP (not that anyone was suggesting it would)

    This ^

    As Crow has pointed out, there are far to many variants to offer an all encompassing answer. Regardless of constitution, fatigue, sufficient/insufficient diet prior to starting drinking, plus any of the many other factors that can effect an individual, If you cannot walk, and cannot talk, then you've already reached YOUR limit.

    Regards

    Travess
     
  9. Smaug97

    Smaug97 Valued Member

    Holyheadjch- yeah i know, didn't really care up until now because i don't drink regularly but now I'm going out more i figured I'd best start thinking more about what I'm drinking- as family members and myself had observed if I'd had done what i did say at uni in a club somewhere I'd probably be a lot worse off
     
  10. Smaug97

    Smaug97 Valued Member

    And (although this goes up and down) I'm around 85 kg so actually probably on the light side for my height (weird cos i never considered myself to be skinny)
    I'm guessing that's not in my favour
     
  11. HairoNoSora

    HairoNoSora Valued Member

    Even just one drink is damaging to your body, it's bad for the brain, kidneys, liver and other organs. Don't forget that alchohol is an actual poison!

    But to be fair, one or two drinks now and then isn't too bad. Just like eating pizza some time won't make you sick. But if you care about being in the best health you can ever be, you realy should never drink, not even once.
     
  12. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Drinking is awesome, if you look at all the countries in the world where drinking isn't allowed, there all run by dictators, so drinking = freedom, heavy drinking = more freedom, its just maths!
     
  13. AndrewTheAndroid

    AndrewTheAndroid A hero for fun.

    Every society has alcohol and religion. So you should drink religiously.
     
  14. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    I always drink religiously, by the end I can't think logically, and I'll shout down anyone who can.......
     
  15. flaming

    flaming Valued Member

    Drinking 10-15 units a night doesn't seem to have affected my strength much but It is correlated with various forms of cancer, very strongly.
     
  16. Frodocious

    Frodocious She who MUST be obeyed! Moderator Supporter

    I doubt your liver is thanking you for this either!
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2016
  17. Giovanni

    Giovanni Well-Known Member Supporter

    6-10 drinks is quite a bit, disregarding the range there.

    so one thing that really helped me. i like to drink, but don't really drink that much anymore. i would say right now, i'm in the 2-3 drinks per month range.

    before i went to grad school in 98, i was also a binge drinker. it's a loose definition world-wide, but i would define it (for me) as more than 4 drinks more than twice per week.

    couple things helped me: realizing that i didn't need to drink so much to have fun and hang out with my friends; choosing alcohol i could nurse. beer is not good to nurse, but wine and whisky work quite well. so you can still have a drink in your hand, hang out with your friends, and drink at a more controlled and slow pace, helping to prevent the binge-ing
     
  18. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    Most drinks are less than one unit. Units of alcohol are how we measure alcoholic intake in the UK:

    "One alcohol unit is measured as 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol. This equals one 25ml single measure of whisky (ABV 40%), or a third of a pint of beer (ABV 5-6%) or half a standard (175ml) glass of red wine (ABV 12%)."
     
  19. Giovanni

    Giovanni Well-Known Member Supporter

    <i apparently have no reading comprehension today. sorry, misspoke here>

    i'm using the american standard. which is 12 oz beer equals 5 oz wine equals 1.5 oz liquor. when i read "6 drink" i think "6 beers|wines|whisky".

    1 ounce = 30 ml, roughly.
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2016
  20. Giovanni

    Giovanni Well-Known Member Supporter

    also, i'm now perturbed again we're (america) not on the metric system. damn you god of conversion.
     

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