To be clear, I am neither a doctor nor a scientist. I will not downplay alcohol’s negative health consequences. Still, I believe there is room for a nuanced exploration of the costs and benefits of drinking.
This dilemma is arguably more apparent with alcohol than with tobacco. Although alcoholism is terrible and, in many places, widespread, the vast majority of people who drink are not considered to be addicts. So why do so many of us drink? Most of us do so for reasons other than managing the symptoms of addiction. Across the globe, alcohol is used to honor, celebrate, and connect. I believe these traditions are worth considering and preserving.
To be sure, attitudes towards alcohol vary also. In France, its value is largely gastronomic. Certain foods call for certain drinks, and children are sometimes given small amounts of wine at dinner. In Japan, it’s part of office culture. Employees go out for after-work parties (nomikai) to bond with their superiors. The Finns famously have a special word for getting drunk alone, at home, in your underwear: kalsarikännit.
Of course, while attitudes and regulations differ, the negative health effects do not. Rejecting longstanding assumptions that the occasional beer, cocktail, or glass of wine was harmless and perhaps even good for you, new research indicates that every drop of alcohol—no matter the quantity or frequency—raises your risk of getting cancer and cardiovascular disease, not to mention neurological complications.
As populations age, healthcare systems become overburdened, and governments fail to sufficiently expand or change those systems, preventing preventable diseases is more vital than ever. But herein also lie some of the issues that de-normalizing alcohol consumption brings to light, including its overlap with other, equally pernicious public health crises.
At the moment, some of the most frequently cited explanations for this concerning phenomenon include chronic stress, chemical pollution, sedentary lifestyles, and ultra-processed foods. In the case of the first, rising job insecurity, social media use, and many other aspects of modern life combine to make our bodies feel as though they are constantly under threat, gradually chipping away at our immune systems.
While alcohol is far from the only social lubricant, it is both a popular and (until recently) relatively unstigmatized one. It’s also particularly effective when meeting new people and making friends with strangers, something that is becoming increasingly difficult as societies become more individualistic and digitized.
Again, this is not to minimize alcohol’s association with diseases such as cancer. My best friend was recently diagnosed with metastasized bowel cancer around his 28th birthday and the wider implications of de-normalizing a substance as ubiquitous as alcohol consumption concern me personally.
While my hypochondriac tendencies might be an extreme case, I don’t think that my experience is unique. Between pandemic scares, various social media-driven health and dietary fads, the rising popularity of preventative full-body scans, and sheer existence of “biohacking,” it appears more and more people are becoming unhealthily preoccupied with staying healthy.
I’m not arguing that you shouldn’t be eating healthy or exercising regularly or scheduling check-ups with your general practitioner. All of these are good for you, but they probably serve you better if pursued for their own sake, rather than as a means of trying to avoid something that cannot be reliably avoided.
All I’m saying is that the more you worry about death, the less you’re able to enjoy and appreciate being alive. That doesn’t mean you should be drinking alcohol like there’s no tomorrow, only that having a little toast with a friend or family now and then might not be the end of the world.
Hence then, the article about why the world still can t agree about alcohol was published today ( ) and is available on Time ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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