After an enjoyable but rather full-on evening of drinking last Friday [which left me feeling dazed for all of the next day], I've considered lowering my drinking levels. I used to drink every night, and now I haven't had a drink for five nights in a row. I can't remember the last time I did that, it must be years ago. But I should consider changing things, especially seeing as I'm hitting 40 soon and I should think a bit more about my health going forward.

I am aiming to either quit drinking entirely or keep it within a self-prescribed limit. However, I do love beer and have long considered it a hobby, so I have to weigh up the potential physical benefits of quitting against the psychological benefits of doing so [I think I love it too much to quit it entirely]. The advised alcohol limit for men in the UK is 14 units a week which I personally consider ridiculously low because a] it was 21 units for decades before the new Conservative government came in [who are now also restricting access to porn, I see a link here] and b] alcohol limits fluctuate depending what country one is in [e.g. 32 for Denmark, 35 for Spain, 36 for Finland]. I feel there is a political agenda to the new UK limit and I was told by NHS workers that part of the reason why the limit is kept so low is to give the NHS alcohol-advice services to run. So I feel 21 units to be fair and it's what I plan to keep to.

So I am drinking a lot less. I certainly feel good but don't necessarily feel more energetic [I still arrive blearily-eyed to work and am next to useless before two cups of strong coffee]. I am interested to see what other's experiences are with drinking. Do you not drink at all, do you drink an amount you're happy with or do you think you drink a bit too much?

i used to drink liquors moderately my favorite was Southern Comfort, but last year i decided to lay off the booze, and now i only drink one beer a day in the evenings after 3:00 PM

i have gotten too drunk a few times in my life and always regretted it, so i would drink moderately and not allow myself to get too drunk, and just get buzzed, never done anything illegal like being drunk in public and most definitly not drive while drunk, i would always do it at home, and for the last 8 months or so i only have one beer a day

What is your beer of choice, out of interest? Anything in particular?

I mix it up but it can be anything from stout to English ale to Belgian blondes/dark/tripels. I tend to avoid Latin American beers because they're insipid bilge.

I drank the largest amount in my 20s, and had several evenings which I could not remember portions the next day, which is a little concerning.

I've drank in my life, however I haven't drank alcohol since probably the 1980s. At some point I stopped. I had a young family to take care of, all kinds of laws were being shored up to address drinking and driving, I was very much into working out, and also needed every penny, as well as needed to be present with my family. Thus, I saved money by not drinking, I didn't have any problems stopping me from getting up early to workout, or to get to work, and I didn't have conflicts where I was away from my family partying. Sorry, but as a young person, that's all drinking was about, and I decided it was no longer a priority.

My kids eventually reached drinking age and I didn't "lecture" them, I just told them my opinions. Meanwhile in going to dinner with each of them, the act of ordering alcoholic drinks was a novelty to them, and then they realized how much it costs.

Hey. People drink. I get that. I just don't.

Sorry, off topic: And I will admit to eating badly, it's a lifelong bad habit But for smoking, I *tried* it once and inhaled too much, or it went down bad, causing a coughing fit, eyes watering, for like an hour or so. Broke me of ever considering that habit. The other part is that I worked in stores as a kid where they sold cigarettes, given my age, they were FAR cheaper back then. Like a carton cost under $10. Every once in a while I have someone in front of me at a convenience store, and they happen to buy one or two packs of cigarettes, and I see their total pop up on the $20-$30 range. Eee-Yow!!!!

Hey, I'm not always/ever a paragon of health, but boy or boy, I can find far better things to spend my $ on than drinks and smokes.

just cheap beer from the grocery store, usually Busch, as long as its cold, i used to know some indians many years ago that made choc beer that was good, i would always buy a gallon jug from them on weekends it was the only beer that tasted good at room temperature to me

I was a very heavy drinker about 30 years ago: was putting back a 5th of Jim Beam every 2 or 3 days. That along with maybe a 12 pack of beer a day as well. Can't remember what happened but I just stopped doing this and tapered back to just beer. Over the years tat followed, I started to drink less and less and switched entirely to beer. In the past 5 years, I have switched almost entirely to wine and have 2 or 3 small pours of red wine every evening. I rarely drink hard liquor any more. My wife had a lot to do with this: she gave me an ultimatum and I had to take a hard look at my life with her and choose. I chose her and nearly 20 years later we are still together and I am a "moderate" drinker. As a side note: drinking has never affected my work life: I never drank in the daytime, before work, etc. I only drank at home and once I started, I never drove or left the house.

Glad I finally have the willpower to cut this back or I would probably be dead by now.

Interesting, I hadn't heard of this beer. It may be something available more easily in the US.

rmistler, your story is good and I completely relate to the point about saving money. I have looked a little into the health benefits of beer and it seems that various scientific studies show that, in moderate amounts, beer can have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, blood pressure and bones. I am careful to be looking at academic publications here rather than websites that tell people what they want to hear. Of course, there is still a lot that is not understood.

I've watched quite a few videos on people who have gone sober and teetotal and promoted the excellence of such a lifestyle but these, more often than not, are presented by people by people who used to have drinking problems [e.g. one presenter used to have 20-25 drinks a night] and therefore they are making a comparison between being drunk all the time and being sober all the time. I'm currently, going forward, thinking that the best practice for me is to just reduce things. I do love Belgian beer, and think I would regret giving things like that up too much.

Great story. Half a bottle of whisky and a 12 pack of beer is an immense amount. Scaling this down to 2-3 glasses of red a day is fantastic progress and healthy too, one would have thought. Hope you get some cheese in there too on occasion.

Thank you - I am pretty stubborn so at some point had an epiphany and just started tapering off. I love beer and instead of drinking a lot of cheap beer, I'll have 1 or 2 good (craft) beers. I do still like American light beers from time to time, like after working in the yard. I definitely get some cheese; love cheese

When I was young I drank like a fish.

These days I usually only drink if I'm out with a group that is having drinks (e.g. the LUG). On occasion if I'm in a restaurant alone I might order a drink or two at dinner but only if they have the specific things I like. If they don't have Myers Dark rum I don't drink liquor. If they don't have Guinness Stout I might or might not get a beer - usually not. Most of the time I drink water with meals.

P.S. Why does everyone seem to like the swill called "pale Ale"? I've seen many a place that has all sorts of craft brews from micro-breweries but 90% seem to be pale ales no matter where I travel.

P.P.S. What countries have legal limits to how much you can drink? Are you talking about blood alcohol limits for operating motor vehicles or are there really countries that have intake limits?

this is choc beer, named for the Choctaw indians, (native americans)

https://www.okhistory.org/publicatio...hp?entry=CH046

I have an intolerance to alcohol. I can drink one glass of wine, half a pint of cider or a small glass of spirits but that's my lot. Any more and I become miserable and tearful, which is obviously no pleasure! Just as well because it means I can never get drunk.

In answer to your points:

1. It came along with the hipster movement of the 2010s. My guess it that because a large part of the hipster ethos was an appreciation of [and a refinement of] all things vintage, pale ale, which used to be popular several decades ago, got the resurgence treatment.

I felt like you about it until I found some good ones. If you don't like it, you're probably not drinking good pale ales. There are some astonishingly good ones, and some bad ones. Like with so many things.

2. I should have been more specific, these are not legal limits but advised limits. It would be pretty much impossible to enforce a legal limit without making everyone pay by card and then keeping a databased total of weekly purchased alcohol [maybe China is on the way to this].

Makes you a cheap date then! Jokes aside, my brother had an ex gf exactly like that. She was teetotal because of it. I remember one of the Malaysian girls at uni during my undergrad having a very low tolerance too: one drink and she was on [or under] the table.

Similar to MensaWater; I only really drink if I'm at someone else's house and they offer me some, but even then; I'm pretty much a light-weight. But where I live; you seem to be the odd one out if you don't.

Another thing most people don't realize is that alcohol IS a drug as much as crack is. So it's always funny when you see reality cop shows and they're pulling people over to see if they're drink or drug driving; "Alcohol and drug testing" ... it's like saying "drug and drug" testing. I like when they say something like, "all clear on the breath test, now we have to do a drug test", erm, isn't "breath-testing" you for alcohol a DRUG test?! Like their signs "Alcohol and drug testing" ... Or when you apply for a job; now you have to undergo a "drug AND alcohol test" ...

The misconceptions of society...

I love pale ales - IPA is one of my favorites. It is certainly an acquired taste because they are bitter but I love them. I have also started to like Belgian beers. Not the "fake" garbage like Blue Moon but real Belgian beers (exports) I can get in my grocery store craft section.