First, it is an honor to be here. Now a task for you.
I was recently reminded of question on the standard medical questionnaire my doctor had me fill out last time I went in. It asked how many alcoholic drinks I consume per week. I put down something in the high-teens (which I knew was seriously low-balling it), and got chided by my doctor for bingeing like a sorority girl. If I recall correctly, the highest box one could check on this specific form was 21+ drinks per week.
You have probably seen this question too, phrased the same way. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (“NIAAA”) presents its safety scale on this drinks-per-week metric. For men, 5-6 drinks per day (35 drinks per week) is heavy or problematic. For women, the hurdle is 3-4 drinks per day (a mere 21 drinks per week).
It’s worth noting here that the NIAAA considers a “drink” to be 0.6oz of pure alcohol. You will find this amount in one 12oz can of 5% alcohol beer, or in one 5oz glass of 12% alcohol wine, or one 1.5oz shot of 80 proof liquor (i.e., most any vodka, rum, bourbon, gin, etc.). This definition can lead to a very different answer than just counting the number of glasses you put to your lips. Depending on the size of the glass, there are three to five shots of gin in my martini, thus three to five “drinks.” Same goes for Xtian’s Manhattan and Killer B’s scotch on the rocks. The wine math, too, can get tricky. A generous 8oz pour of your favorite Sonoma Zinfandel (appx. 15% alcohol) is two full drinks, not one. Likewise, a pint of 5.51% Bass is 1.5 drinks.
On a typical evening, my wife and I put the baby down at 7:30pm and then enjoy a cocktail. I might have a small martini, a scotch, or a bourbon and Diet Coke (each between 2 and 4 “drinks”). We then split a bottle or wine with dinner (half a bottle of wine is about 12.7oz, equivalent to three full “drinks” if the wine is 14% alcohol). There’s your problematic 5-6 “drinks” per day, even though I only drank three glasses. My weekly count goes up even further when you account for wine at lunch on Fridays, occasional outings with friends, trips to nearby vineyards, drinking on airplanes, and having a few beers on a hot Saturday afternoon. I’m probably realistically at 40 a week.
I was recently reminded of question on the standard medical questionnaire my doctor had me fill out last time I went in. It asked how many alcoholic drinks I consume per week. I put down something in the high-teens (which I knew was seriously low-balling it), and got chided by my doctor for bingeing like a sorority girl. If I recall correctly, the highest box one could check on this specific form was 21+ drinks per week.
You have probably seen this question too, phrased the same way. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (“NIAAA”) presents its safety scale on this drinks-per-week metric. For men, 5-6 drinks per day (35 drinks per week) is heavy or problematic. For women, the hurdle is 3-4 drinks per day (a mere 21 drinks per week).
It’s worth noting here that the NIAAA considers a “drink” to be 0.6oz of pure alcohol. You will find this amount in one 12oz can of 5% alcohol beer, or in one 5oz glass of 12% alcohol wine, or one 1.5oz shot of 80 proof liquor (i.e., most any vodka, rum, bourbon, gin, etc.). This definition can lead to a very different answer than just counting the number of glasses you put to your lips. Depending on the size of the glass, there are three to five shots of gin in my martini, thus three to five “drinks.” Same goes for Xtian’s Manhattan and Killer B’s scotch on the rocks. The wine math, too, can get tricky. A generous 8oz pour of your favorite Sonoma Zinfandel (appx. 15% alcohol) is two full drinks, not one. Likewise, a pint of 5.51% Bass is 1.5 drinks.
On a typical evening, my wife and I put the baby down at 7:30pm and then enjoy a cocktail. I might have a small martini, a scotch, or a bourbon and Diet Coke (each between 2 and 4 “drinks”). We then split a bottle or wine with dinner (half a bottle of wine is about 12.7oz, equivalent to three full “drinks” if the wine is 14% alcohol). There’s your problematic 5-6 “drinks” per day, even though I only drank three glasses. My weekly count goes up even further when you account for wine at lunch on Fridays, occasional outings with friends, trips to nearby vineyards, drinking on airplanes, and having a few beers on a hot Saturday afternoon. I’m probably realistically at 40 a week.
It’s my suspicion that the NIAAA survey is grossly underreported, leading to highly skewed hurdles. While I don’t doubt that I’m on the high side for my peer group (mostly because I always drink with dinner), I’m guessing that more than a few regular Hosers would come in above 20 drinks (a few of you came close to that in one night last time I was in town). I plan to actually count my drinks over the next seven days, using the NIAAA math. I encourage you all to do the same and report back to the post next weekend. What do you say La Troisieme? Xtian? Killer B?
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