New guidelines have been issued by the UK’s chief medical officers today and now mean that we are supposed to drink less than almost anywhere in the world. Which isn’t likely to happen any time soon given our long term association with alcohol.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for scaring the living daylights out of our children to stop them binge drinking and pickling their livers, but this is not the way to do it. We have now been told that both men and women (REALLY? Why take no account of different body weights and shapes?) can only drink 14 units of alcohol a week – which means one glass of wine a day or five pints of beer.
This is on account of the fact that there is no such thing as a safe level of drinking. Is there a safe level of anything? The key thing about this though is that if we do drink like that forevermore, this will give us a 1% chance of dying of alcohol related disease. 1%?? Is that all?? I am happy to go for higher odds than that on the basis that driving a car is probably about the same, so is crossing the road. What about eating too much sugar? Flying? Diving?? Smoking? I mean honestly, this announcement is frankly going to do more harm that good in terms of stopping people drinking and I don’t think it will target the areas in need or reduce some of the huge problems we have with alcohol.
Anyway, don’t think anyone has mentioned the size of the glass? So here’s my new glass for my daily drink. Also going to start drinking a teeny glass of red wine daily as well – in a few years because apparently this is good for women over 55. Must remember that.
HAPPY FRIDAY.
Julian formerly known as Dumdad
January 9, 2016Yes, it’s all bollocks. Yes, binge drinking, vomiting in street etc isn’t a good sight but most adults know when they’re drinking too much. After the atrocities in Paris on Friday 13th November – in an area where my kids drink, eat and play – I can’t take these “safe limits” seriously. France is the only country in the world that doesn’t set safe limits and yet you don’t see swarms of people pissed out of their minds in Paris. Enough said. Happy New Year. Hic!
Family Affairs
January 9, 2016You are so right. Enough said indeed and Hic back! The French have a very mature attitude to alcohol and drink in moderation with their children over meals. It doesn’t seem to be the same pre-lash culture at all. Don’t really understand why it’s so bad here. Lx