Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

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My continuing trend of reading health, brain/body, or psych types book lead me to this one, which outlines the relationship of alcohol to an individual. It’s by far the most harmful food product in the grocery store. And that’s really saying something. Most data are as reliable as the counter argument you hear on TV. Too much reliance on correlations and how alcohol contributes to all the diseases. Very little causation type sources stated. 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 You can die from alcohol poisoning, it is the leading cause of death in young people according to the WHO.

Drink? : The New Science of Alcohol and Health - Google Books

Actually rated a quarter-star higher elsewhere, but my review is so short that I don't need to link to that. Occasional breaks from alcohol of 2-4 are very, very good for you as they establish the habit of not drinking, and tend to lower your drinking after you do drink again. It can take a few weeks to remove all effects of alcohol from your system and let your liver fully recover. Provide a nonjudgmental willingness to assist the reader in minimizing harm if they decide to drink once informed. Early in the second half of the book, Professor Nutt relays some social the history of alcohol. One interesting part discussed how "...ancient Persians would only finally make a decision after the issue at hand had been discussed both sober and drunk," since being drunk brought out one's creativity. And though I knew alcohol was ancient, I didn't know that "It's only been in the last millennium that it has been banned by some religious groups, for example in Islam." [The irony isn't lost on this reader that modern "Persia" now Islamic.] I didn't realize that in the old days, beer and wine had much less alcohol in them than they do today (3-4% vs 5-8% today for beer). In middle ages I think it was even less, which is why people could drink it so often.Alcohol bad. Drink none is perfect. Drink less is good. Drink more is probably bad. Drink a lot is definitely really bad. That’s basically the book. But sometimes he still spouts a factoid that he doesn't substantiate with a citation. I'd like to see the documentation of these assertions, Professor Nutt! 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. I think that some further information on counterfactual opportunity cost, based on time/money spent related to alcohol, could have been a helpful addition to this book, albeit difficult to acquire overly didactic data on such factors. Insightful & informative. A non booze-industry-bashing view on alcohol and its place amongst all drug categories. Written by the UK governments former chief adviser/drug tzar. The one that got fired!

Drink? : The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health

Read the introduction; it contains some of the 'truths' about alcohol. "Marketing has altered our perception," "...its's absurd that coming of age should still be about alcohol," and "Would you take a new drug if you were told it would increase your risk of cancer, dementia, heart disease, or that it would shorten your life?" 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 body 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. Drawing on research conducted over the recent decades, Prof. Nutt is a leading ICL scientist in this area and presents us (in admittedly a dry account) with all the known science of alcohol to date. I believe something like this should be required reading for all who intend to drink alcohol. Now Drink? isn't only a book bashing the safety of alcohol. What I most enjoyed about the book was learning the interactions of the ethanol molecule on the brain. Did you know there is over 400 variations of the ethanol molecule that can lead to the difference in highs between drinks like wine, beer, and spirits? In my opinion this may be the reason there is so many wild stories around tequila in particular.

This was very British. And felt extremely careful. Like the writer had in mind his audience of football hooligans. Maybe that was true. This book certainly exceeded my expectations. The overall pedigree and experience of Dr. Nutt put him in an excellent position to author this book, and he did a laudable job balancing it with a sufficiently rigorous scientific/health-related dive, the effects at the personal versus the societal level, economic considerations, as well as the many benefits of alcohol that people tend to overlook. The author also concludes with a seemingly sensible plan for those who take the facts seriously, both personally and at the institutional/policy level. The book is not a meant to scare people into worry about their habits, but rather provide a sober (hah) analysis of the risks at hand. 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. He will illuminate our minds on what 'responsible drinking' truly means and equip us with the knowledge we need to make rational, informed decisions about our consumption now and in the future. 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.

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

After listening to Edward Slingerland’s audiobook, Drunk, and reviewing that a couple weeks ago, I was curious to learn more about the latest research on alcohol and health. David Nutt is on a mission to explain the most significant alcohol-related research findings from the last 50 years. What I enjoyed most about his pragmatic approach is that he explains the impact of ANY amount of alcohol consumption. This is about making informed decisions, not moral judgements. He clarifies the differences that various levels of alcohol consumption have on our mental health, sleep, hormones, fertility, and propensity toward addiction. David Nutt is an English neuropsychopharmacologist who’s research has primarily focused on the (mostly harmful) effects of drugs (including alcohol and nicotine) on the brain.Drinking has become your hobby or the only way you socialize. This often happens with retirees or expats." Although one shouldn't expect 100% definitive guidelines, I'm bothered by some contradictions. At one point he says, ""...don't drink at all - because there are no health benefits" and "...no level of drinking is actually beneficial to health." However, one whole chapter (8) is about "The Social Benefits of Alcohol." Granted, health and social benefits are different, but he expounds in so many places how alcohol provides social benefits, which others can argue can positively affect health benefits. He concludes that "...But if you want the sociability benefits alcohol brings, it's a different story. In that case, you need to decide what risks you want to accept...." Teeter-totters go in both directions; he implies that the benefits of alcohol abstinence and social drinking have an inverse relationship, so one has to choose, to "balance out the pleasure you gain." Further into the book he says, "...that the amount of alcohol optimal to provide the protection ["partial protective effect on cardiovascular health - The Lancet"] appears to be very low - about one unit a day." So there are some health benefits; he just wants us to know "...that the benefit to the heart does not outweigh all the other risks of alcohol...." And remember the reference to alcoholic dementia above? Later in the book, he says, "...low levels of alcohol consumption - that is between one and ten drinks a week - reduced the risk of dementia. In fact, it appears that being teetotal may raise your risk of dementia...." He also includes "...a 2017 review [that] concluded that light to moderate drinking does reduce the risk of diabetes," and that report IS cited.