Alcohol

[ButterflyWoman]

Originally Posted by Leather Husack

It makes you warm?

It gives the feeling of warmth. St Bernard rescue dogs used to carry brandy in a keg around their neck, in the belief that it would help warm the person being rescued.

The actual fact, though, is that it causes the blood vessels to dilate, which is what caused the warmth sensation, but you're actually losing heat that way. (It's not a LOT of heat lost, of course.)

[elucidate]

Originally Posted by ButterflyWoman

It gives the feeling of warmth. St Bernard rescue dogs used to carry brandy in a keg around their neck, in the belief that it would help warm the person being rescued.

The actual fact, though, is that it causes the blood vessels to dilate, which is what caused the warmth sensation, but you're actually losing heat that way. (It's not a LOT of heat lost, of course.)

Maybe that's why the russians keep drinking?

btw, I noticed that Caterpillar has become Butterfly Woman.

[ButterflyWoman]

Originally Posted by elucidate

I noticed that Caterpillar has become Butterfly Woman.

[Leather Husack]

Originally Posted by ButterflyWoman

St Bernard rescue dogs used to carry brandy in a keg around their neck, in the belief that it would help warm the person being rescued.

I knew about that. I just didn't put two and two together lol.

[ZephyrusX]

Yah, I was warned about the cocktail thing.

My mother keeps telling me cocktails she use to drink when she was younger. Half the fun I have is going around asking waitresses/bartenders whether they'll make me a yellow bird and they all give me baffled looks.

Either I'm asking the wrong people or my mother is making up names of drinks.

Originally Posted by elucidate

This is why I do it too...hence cocktails. Yummy coconut and pineapple and you can hardly taste the alcohol...suits me, though it can be dangerous if you forget there is alcohol in it and just keep downing them.

I had a fun new years with a friend where we sat in the bath and just drank gin and tonics out of tall glasses...very refreshing, and fun.

I love watching the process of making a cocktail as well...but in general I do feel the way Andrew said most of the time about alcohol...just once in a while I revert and want to have something yummy.

[Nathan Bumpsteed]

Hey Leather Husack,

Great question man! Let me preface my opinion below with saying I am a social drinker on occasion.

But! I also firmly believe that in the history of all human kind, alcohol more than anything else has done more damage in relationships, friendships, marriages, careers, health, and spiritual faith than anything else ever has or probably ever will. (Except for maybe Facebook, but that's a different story!)

Alcohol is literally poison in your liver. But my negative view on it is more from a social wrecking standpoint than health related.

Your grandpa sounds like an awesome dude.. But I'm sure he would have accomplished all of those great things if alcohol never existed.

Again, great question man..

Nathan

[Leather Husack]

Originally Posted by Nathan Bumpsteed

Hey Leather Husack,

Great question man! Let me preface my opinion below with saying I am a social drinker on occasion.

But! I also firmly believe that in the history of all human kind, alcohol more than anything else has done more damage in relationships, friendships, marriages, careers, health, and spiritual faith than anything else ever has or probably ever will. (Except for maybe Facebook, but that's a different story!)

Alcohol is literally poison in your liver. But my negative view on it is more from a social wrecking standpoint than health related.

Your grandpa sounds like an awesome dude.. But I'm sure he would have accomplished all of those great things if alcohol never existed.

Again, great question man..

Nathan

Thanks

[Razia]

I don't like alcohol, its really bad for health...so better think before having it.

[cheesedip1]

Alcohol's a poision, nuff said.

A little bit, in moderation tho, isn't so bad.....

[cheesedip1]

Personally, I'd rather numb myself with food than with smoking, alcohol or drugs....


I'm a food person......

[cheesedip1]

I think smoking hurts YOU worse than beer, but beer , I think, can hurt OTHERS worse than smoking. (drunk driving, impared senses, less focus etc.)

Not sure about drugs.....

[Leather Husack]

Originally Posted by cheesedip1

I think smoking hurts YOU worse than beer, but beer , I think, can hurt OTHERS worse than smoking. (drunk driving, impared senses, less focus etc.)

Not sure about drugs.....

Well as far as that goes, it comes down to responsibility. I won't get too much into that, I think you can understand what I mean by that.

[Frisky]

I LOVE beer!!

And yes, drinking responsibly is the way to go

[Leather Husack]

Haha, yes. This post is a bit old and since I posted this I've thought quite a bit on it. I think I know where I stand as far as alcohol. Even did some research haha. Thanks to everyone who commented and shared their opinions. It definitely helped.

[Bonadea]

Everything has good and bad, it's the art of learning to balance it.

[garentee]

I was quite a big drinker in my younger days, and slowly over time I stopped for the most part.. I will have a beer now and then or wine or more occasionally a glass of hard liquor. I definitely do not like how it makes me feel or think.. I cannot give it up because I am ruled by my taste buds.. I love the taste of great beer and wine and some hard liquor (though some of the hard liquor out there that I used to drink, tastes like gasoline to me now)..In my opinion drinking to get drunk is a waste of time...and brain cells and liver function... though I think I did enjoy it somewhat in my younger days....

[Clint Cora]

I use to drink a bit socially when I was younger. Then for some reason I still can't explain (maybe the recession!), I just stopped altogether except for the odd holiday cocktail or ice wine.

I actually do not miss the taste of alcohol at all. My own tolerance has probably decreased too as one little drink and I'm already feeling it.

I know that there are studies suggesting a little bit of red wine might be good for the heart but I don't even like red wine so I don't bother. I'll rely on good ole cardio instead.

One thing for sure is that eliminating alcohol surely has a positive effect on the bank account as well as no worries about bashing up my car because of drinking.

[Bgare]

I used to drink quite a bit. When I was 19-20 it was at my highest. I would toss back about 3-4 beers a day or so. After a little while, I have a few hangovers, and even worse was when my body wasted most of it's energy cleaning out it's system and let some colds in while it was occupied with the clean up. The colds were my biggest motivation to stop. When my body was using most of it's energy to detox, it became far too vulnerable.

There's been a couple times I had that realization since, and both times I've been stuck with colds thinking the whole time that I shouldn't have drank as much. I think I've pretty much learned my lesson that moderation is key.

It's a hard thing, as I love beer, and I get some premium stuff that has higher alcohol (~10%) and only comes in 22 or 24 oz bottles, but I try to limit myself to one a day, and I try to share if I'm stuck having a bigger serving.

For the most part, I tend to only have a beer a day now. Occasionally I'll substitute it for a glass of wine. I don't think that one a day has any noticeable detrimental effects. When it comes down to it though, what keeps me on the right path is frustration with my lack of performance from drinking.

[Leather Husack]

Originally Posted by Clint Cora

One thing for sure is that eliminating alcohol surely has a positive effect on the bank account as well as no worries about bashing up my car because of drinking.

Haha yea I bet so. I've never really paid much attention to how much it costs though to be honest. Beer and all of that kind of expensive?

[raykilleen]

Originally Posted by Johnny Metal

Alcohol isn't addictive, no drug is addictive, the drug is an inanimate object. Like a ball. A ball cannot be addictive. What you're trying to say is that you had a neighbour who did not know how to (or was unwilling to) stop kicking the ball.

What you speak has truth to it however if one has not brought themselves to a certain level of clarity before participating in mind altering substances things may become extra confusing.

[raykilleen]

Originally Posted by Nathan Bumpsteed

Hey Leather Husack,

I also firmly believe that in the history of all human kind, alcohol more than anything else has done more damage in relationships, friendships, marriages, careers, health, and spiritual faith than anything else ever has or probably ever will.

It's not a belief it's a fact; alcohol has caused tremendous suffering for many, just as being born to this planet does, understanding where the suffering arises the solution.

[jaydeschizo]

Originally Posted by Johnny Metal

Alcohol isn't addictive, no drug is addictive, the drug is an inanimate object. Like a ball. A ball cannot be addictive. What you're trying to say is that you had a neighbour who did not know how to (or was unwilling to) stop kicking the ball.

Johnny, have you ever had an addiction and if so for how long? Because what you're saying sounds like a big load of BS to me.

You can know how to and you can be willing to stop 'kicking the ball' but a real addiction doesn't work that way there's a lot more complicated crap behind it. From the outside looking in, yeah that's all there is to it, wanting to stop and knowing how to stop, but it greatly understates the difficulty and complexity of dealing with an addiction.

[NickW]

Nathan Bumpsteed:
"I also firmly believe that in the history of all human kind, alcohol more than anything else has done more damage in relationships, friendships, marriages, careers, health, and spiritual faith than anything else ever has or probably ever will."

raykilleen:
"It's not a belief it's a fact; alcohol has caused tremendous suffering for many, just as being born to this planet does, understanding where the suffering arises the solution."

There might be more to this--Another view:

"The search for unpolluted drinking water is as old as civilization itself. As soon as there were mass human settlements, waterborne diseases like dysentery became a crucial population bottleneck. For much of human history, the solution to this chronic public-health issue was not purifying the water supply. The solution was to drink alcohol."

Often the most pure fluid available was alcohol -- in beer and, later, wine -- which has antibacterial properties. Sure, alcohol has its hazards, but as Johnson breezily observes, "Dying of cirrhosis of the liver in your forties was better than dying of dysentery in your twenties." Besides, alcohol, although it is a poison, and an addictive one, became, especially in beer, a driver of a species-strengthening selection process.
[...]
Suffice it to say that the good news is really good: Beer is a health food. And you do not need to buy it from those wan, unhealthy-looking people who, peering disapprovingly at you through rimless Trotsky-style spectacles, seem to run all the health food stores.

And:
"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
--Benjamin Franklin

RealClearPolitics - Articles - Beer: Is There Anything It Can't Do?

[raykilleen]

Originally Posted by NickW

There might be more to this--Another view:

I have nothing against alcohol but much compassion for the illusion of suffering.

[Razia]

I think why to have alcohol its very bad habbit one can have which is not easily be get rid of once it got , so try to avoid it.