The Truth about Alcohol
Tonight I watched a British documentary about alcohol on Netflix. If you are like me and enjoy a glass of beer, wine or spirits, I recommend it. It actually may alter my behavior from now on.
Watching the documentary while sipping Elijah Craig bourbon
The catalyst for the 2016 documentary was a change in the UK guideline on the amount of alcohol deemed without a lot of risk. The amount was lowered to be 14 units per week, spread over a couple of days, irrespective if you are a man or a women. A glass of whisky is 1 unit, a large glass of red wine is 3 units. A regular glass of wine or a pint of peer count towards 2 units. As the host of the documentary experienced during a test, 14 units is not a lot. He actually drank 28 units during a “normal” week.
The documentary doesn’t unearth anything really earth shattering, yet it does show experimentally the effects of alcohol. We tend to eat more when we drink (in addition to the calories from the alcohol). We are horrible at multi-tasking, and loose our inhibitions, or simple abilities to stop. Deep sleep disappears. We also learn that lining your stomach is a good idea and that red wine is better. However, you can get the same goodness out of many other food, like walnuts and chocolate.
As this was a British documentary, I am inspired now to switch to tea for a few weeks.