I like to have an occasional drink. I suspect that mild drinking on the order of 1 glass of wine per day is not likely to cause harm and would probably be something that a doctor wouldnt feel bad recommending as being generally safe to possible stress reduction health benefits.

That said, there is plenty of research suggesting not drinking is healthier for you and non drinkers are much less apt to diseases like cancer et al. I also think there are plenty of folks who either dont want to or cant stop drinking that would include some doctors that would not want to suggest not drinking at all.

I definitely notice anxiety increases either the day after or the night of drinking. In some ways I could see it causing a feedback loop, but I also somewhat enjoy what I would consider a jolt of reflection during those times. Am I treating people with kindness? Am I too focused on the wrong thing? That said, as Ive gotten older, I think curbing to completely stopping drinking is the trend for me.

The most relevant part to me:

"an immune protein called Interleukin 10, or IL-10 [...] By boosting IL-10 signaling in the brain, [...] scientists could reverse the aberrant effects [...] a stark reduction in anxiety-like behaviors and motivation to drink alcohol."

As usual, the 'in mice' caveat applies, but if there is a compound which can both reduce anxiety and motivation to drink that works on humans without terrible side effects, it would certainly be huge.

Interesting that "anti-inflammatory" is mentioned several times in this short piece.

I used to be a moderate drinker, having 1-2 per day several times a week. After stopping completely about 8 or 9 months ago, I no longer have acid reflux or that burning feeling in the back of my throat from spicy food.

This was an unexpected and wonderful result, to say nothing of dramatic weight loss and other benefits.

I used to think there could be health benefits to moderate drinking, but in retrospect it was only a justification for unhealthy behavior.

An altered immune response makes sense, given what alcohol puts your body through.

It wasn't obvious how much use or how chronic the use had to be - is it implied to be chronic heavy drinking or just the glass of wine a day that causes the changes?

Any suggestions for alcohol-free things to do in Covid-era NYC after hours in autumn and winter when you live by yourself and have spent all day at your desk in your bedroom?

A bit off topic but is there a medical consensus that a glass of red a day is a net positive?

Mirror: https://archive.is/0SRPm

After not drinking alcohol for more than a year, I just feel alcohol is such a drag on life. A lot of mental energy and time consumed in alcohol related activities. Planning, buying, drinking and recovery from hangover if you had too many. Not to mention physical effects like upset stomach, feeling cranky next day, headaches etc.

Just like we don't like to overwork, so our body. Not processing alcohol and its side effects - few less things to do for our body. I feel very calm most of the time and less anxious than before. I also didn't fell sick in last one year. No visit to doc.

Above all net positive in mental and physical wellbeing are too good to have one or two drinks.

2020: bad diet >> little or no exercise >> stress from society and work >> poor sleep = weak immune system

is this why I am immune to COVID?

If Biden follows the playbook he had with Barack goodness knows he'll give the boys in blue and black whatever they want when it comes to surveillance of private citizens.

From the paper:

"To induce alcohol dependence, we used the two bottle choice - chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure (2BC-CIE) paradigm"

Is this pure ethanol ? If so, conclusions about wine and health do not apply here.

Wine - as in fermented, not distilled beverage - is much more than ethanol, much like coffee is much more than caffeine.

Alcohol has long term detrimental effects on your working memory which is a bad thing if you are a knowledge worker.

btw, what was I saying? nvm.

I genuinely believe that if alcohol wasn't "invented" thousands of years ago most societies would treat it like they treat dangerous and physically harmful drugs like heroin or cocaine. Looking at the data and what we know about biochemistry and human physiology, it's absolutely indefensible that alcohol is available in every corner store but possessing the marijuana equivalent of a single bottle of liquor sends someone to prison for years.

I never had a drinking problem, but quitting alcohol altogether has resulted in nothing but positive outcomes.

It's curious how my friends from college are largely in two groups now (not correlated to intelligence or motivation);

A) not really that interested in alcohol and focussed on work

B) focused on work but drink every night and still "party" all the time

This is seemingly an American phenomenon that's incredibly regressive and also seems to negatively affect women more than men. For whatever reason, women also seem more susceptible to the trap of drinking and partying excessively.