Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

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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. Whilst I take a break from alcohol I wanted to read something dispassionate and informative. Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health is exactly what I was looking for. Professor David J. Nutt provides the science combined with a very non-judgemental tone. It's information that everyone should be given early in life to allow rational and informed decision making. Alcohol is a subject that should receive more attention in our culture. As David Nutt states, if you want to drink less here in the UK it's as if you've decided to stop gambling yet have to live in a Las Vegas hotel.

Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

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. For me, reading Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health has been a wake up call. It's a book most drinkers should probably read. 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. As the most harmful drug in the UK, alcohol has a profound and wide-reaching impact on our health and on society at large. Drink? is the first book of its kind, written by a scientist and rooted in 40 years of medical research and hands-on experience treating patients. Professor David Nutt cuts through the noise to explain its long- and short-term effects, making complex science digestible and taking readers through the journey of alcohol inside the bodyStill: it had good stuff in it, here and there. And if you know nothing about the subject, maybe you can start with this. It’s by far the most harmful food product in the grocery store. And that’s really saying something.

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

However, the evidence is pretty damning, even though alcohol is associated with blue zone diets and minor improvements in cardiovascular health drinking any amount of alcohol has more negative effects than positive. 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. 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 Actually rated a quarter-star higher elsewhere, but my review is so short that I don't need to link to that.I realize this has turned into more of a critique than a book review. You may just want to read the first three and last three of the following paragraphs if you want the short version of my review. Many of us know the feeling of wanting a drink after a stressful day at work or enjoying a Friday evening pint at the pub. Drinking is a part of numerous celebrations, sporting events and bank holidays across the UK and the world. Yet, the 9 billion pounds spent by the UK’s National Health Services and police force on alcohol-related incidents per year are barely discussed. Drink? invites you to question not only the normalcy of these actions in our lives, but how, personally and through policy, we can reduce the harm caused by drinking.

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

First, for people who may not have crossed an "invisible line," not recommending Moderation Management or HAMS (or whatever there is in the UK) is not good. Chapters 1-5 are the "why" - chemistry and biology - and chapters 6-10 are the "how" - psychology and sociology. The best part of the book is headed, "How to Talk to Your Children about Booze." I can easily see this portion of the book being used with PTO/PTA groups. It was logical and could be easily implemented as a workshop program to support children and teens from succumbing to peer pressure, social norms, and advertising. While I did learn some things throughout the book, I'm not sure that much else is new or particularly persuasive that could convince an alcoholic to change their behavior; they'd just now be able to tell you why they are doing what they do.If alcohol went through food standards testing for toxicity now, you'd only be allowed to have less than a wine glass of alcohol per year." 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. But just how bad is alcohol? Well Nutt dives into the brain and bodily science to describe it's implications in over 200 diseases. Nutt evens names alcohol as the most damaging drug to society. 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 Health - Google Books

Binge drinking, or getting "wasted" is very bad for you, much better to limit how much you do this. Alcohol is a huge dopamine stimulant, which is in part why it feels so good, and why we might crave it when stressed. You can die from alcohol poisoning, it is the leading cause of death in young people according to the WHO.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?