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Does anyone find the new drinking guidelines laughable?

Posted , 9 users are following.

RHGB
RHGB

In our village, it is recycling collection day this week on Friday. We have to separate, carboard, papers, plastics, cans and glass bottles into different containers. The cans & bottle containers were moulded plastic with lids.

Over the years, all the lids have been lost, broken (council never replaces them) or they will not fit on with the pyramid of contents.

The amount of beer cans and beer/wine bottles I see in these containers as I walk around to the village shop (before the collection has been), would mean just about every household in the village is occupied by alkies.

I just don't know what real world the people that set these limits live in. A decent pint of lager these days is at least 2.5 units. Therefore having six pints on a Friday, not only puts you over you weekly limit, but means no other drinking whatsoever for the rest of the week. It's not realistic.

1 like, 24 replies

24 Replies

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  • melanie46211
    melanie46211 RHGB

    Posted

    You are absolutely right. And yet, there are so many villages like yours with exactly the same containers .... in general, our country is a nation of boozers.
  • RHGB
    RHGB

    Posted

    Oh and another thing, they are trying to hoodwink the people with this clap trap that it is the first time the limit has been changed in 40 years and it is not hard, because most people don't question anything these days and follow the herd like good little sheep.

    The limit was raised in abour 2000 and can't provide you a link because the post disappears for ages.

    "The Department of Health has recently raised the sensible drinking limits for men and women and currently recommends no more than:

    3/4 units per day for men = 28 units a week

    2/3 units a day for women = 21 units a week"

    So what they have done is effectively halved it for men and reduced it for women. But they keep telling everyone that it was 14/21 previously, which is rubbish.

    • lily65668
      lily65668 RHGB

      Posted

      Are you aware the WHO recommendations are 35 units pw for women and 53 for men? Even some members of the committee that originally set the 14/21 limits have admitted that these figures were "plucked out of the air" for want of sufficient evidence on the subject, and now they're being reduced further.

      I'm certainly not suggesting we throw all caution to the winds and drink as much as we fancy with no thought for the consequences, but I do sometimes wonder whether this constant nannying might have the opposite to the desired effect. Someone drinking slightly over the "official" limits might think they'd already wrecked their health so why bother about it any more. The "rather be hanged for a sheep than a lamb" situation.

      Sadly, the UK seems to be in the forefront of the nannying movement. Last month, just out of interest, I took two on-line alcohol quizzes from different countries on the same day. (My intake is above UK recommendations but within WHO limits and I don't drive, btw.) The result of the UK quiz, which only contained three or four questions, all concerning how much I drank per day and per week, was that I had a serious drinking problem. The Belgian quiz told me I was a responsible drinker! The latter was a much longer quiz. While covering quantities, it also went at some depth into my general health, the circumstances under which I drank, how it affected my behaviour and my ability to do my job, and whether it caused memory lapses or provoked social or relationship problems.

      So... which of the two countries has the greater problem with drunks in its streets and A&E departments? Well, it certainly ain't Belgium!

    • Paper_fairy
      Paper_fairy lily65668

      Posted

       Very interesting lily. My theory is that if it's causing problems in your day to day life then it's a problem that needs addressing. In our heart of hearts we all deep down know when it's a serious problem x
    • RHGB
      RHGB lily65668

      Posted

      Yes, I read all the facts behind the headlines. Much like this week when they started on about kids being rugby tackled.

      Just Google 'rugby tackle daily mail' to see what a bunch of weirdos signed this letter and their agendas. Before anyone says, oh it's the Daily Mail, just think, would those people not sue the DM if any of it was libellous?

      My point being, we often have things thrust down our throats, that we believe because it has someone in academia's signature underneath it and it must be for our benefit. I'm sure they'll use it as an excuse to raise tax, that always seems to be the answer to problems, tax it.

      And if everyone one thinks doctors, consultants, professors et al are so great, why are we still struggling to get prescribed medicine that would help us? If they also actually looked at society they would see the number one reason for drinking is stress of some sort, and it is a coping mechanism.

      I don't believe we had the same problem 40 years ago, but we lived in a functioing society back then, we now live in a dysfunctional society.

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