'Baby Boomers' and Alcohol

The trouble is when I have had alcohol it then gives me the taste for chocolate, so I have a double whammy of calories.

I have a drink when out, or we have visitors, and prefer spirits to wine. I rarely have more than two, if that. I have a bit of a fear of losing control!
It's Friday evening, and my treat was a Pistachio Magnum! Tend to keep an eye on my weight, and if consuming calories, my preference would be chocolate over alcohol.

Good for you annsixty. You sound like me and my DH. We enjoy a drink, but don't drink every day. When we do drink, we have what we want to have. As you say, we are not harming anyone and it helps us relax. We have been through the mill and I know alcohol isn't the answer but it helps us at times.

I don't drink. There is nothing I like the taste of and I hate the sensation of being tipsy. DH is virtually teetotal. He may have the odd Bailey's at Christmas.

After experiences with ex, I'm terrified of drunk people esp men. They's so unpredictable and personalities change so much at time.

I have nothing against people drinking. It's drunk people I can't handle.

RQ, if I have more than two I wake up at 2am!

I heard the programme. It made me think. I have cut back a great deal on my drinking in the last six months.

rosequartz has a point. Different metabolisms seem to deal with alcohol differently. If I'm drinking at home 3 small 125ml glasses of white wine are more than enough. If I drink full bodied red wine two glasses are sufficient.

Party mode is quite different, but I suffer the next day!

x

I don't think you need to, either, annsixty.
I am fed up with 'baby boomers' and those a bit older being made to feel guilty all the time by the younger generations.

As it is Wednesday we have had a nice meal. Preceded by a G&T and a bottle of wine between us. We will do this again on Sat and Sun, this is our routine. We enjoy it, we never eat out as DH can't do that now but we enjoy what we do, we don't harm anyone and it is my relaxation in a stressful life. I am not making excuses, I don't need to.

When I stop trusting myself to be 'sensible' and have more than two glasses of wine I end up with an almighty headache the next day.
Now how come a dear person I know can drink like a fish and she never, ever has a hangover? She can also stop drinking for a week or so which probably means she is not alcoholic.

Perhaps it has more to do with genetics, some people have more addictive personalities than others.

But that's just it, rosequartz, should we be slaves to 'the limits', which no one really seems to agree on, or just trust ourselves to be sensible?

I had 1.5 glasses of wine this evening (most unusual in the week).

Of course heavy drinkers harm themselves and their families (if they have one). However, I can't see that a glass or two of wine or a couple of spirits two or three times a week does anyone any harm - it's knowing the limits and sticking to them.

Trouble is they couldn't use "Saga louts" without either breaching copyright or advertising,I expect
Alea

There is evidence that moderate drinkers on average live longer than heavy drinkers(which is to be expected) but also surprisingly longer than non-drinkers. So I regularly consume my moderate doses of elixir for longevity - red and white wine and thoroughly enjoy myself !

I probably drink less now than I used to but still over do it from time to time. The thing is is if I am stressed or worried I self medicate, this is not a drain on the tax payer as I buy my medicine myself and if it shortens my life then my pension up take will be reduced. Leave us alone Nanny state. It is both patronising and intrusive.'
fit and active and fun loving freedom is what I want my retirement to be about.

Older drinkers indeed risk damaging themselves more than anybody else (no greater incidence of drink driving) and are unlikely to be found rampaging in the streets of Magaluf, so to use the tag line "lager louts" was both misleading and inaccurate, I agree.
Trouble is they couldn't use "Saga louts" without either breaching copyright or advertising,I expect.

Maggie, the survey was based on the records of 28000 patients of gps. Of those, there were 9000 records showing the drinking habits.

Older drinkers are the same as any other drinkers. If they drink too much they are a pain in the arse to their families, a drain on the health service, dangerous behind the wheel, liable to aggression and violence, and a source of distress and unhappiness to their partners. The survey did not actually look at these aspects, because all it did was ennumerate the volume of alcohol consumed in that age group, relating to ethnicity. But it's well known that these are the results of heavy drinking, so not sure how anyone can say that older drinkers harm no one but themselves, Ana.

Current guidelines for women are no more than two to three units of alcohol per day, Maggie, so I reckon the aged lady in the previous post was within limits. Maybe if she is literally having this every day she is over the guidance, not sure.

If I have more than one glass of wine I fall asleep. End of story!

Yes - that'll be it jane!

Maggie
I agree Ana. Do you think GNHQ was been infiltrated with agents from the intergenerational warfaristas?

You're right, Ana. Though I am just off to my regular pub quiz night and our team name is The Saga Louts.

and misleading.

I must say I think the heading referring to this thread under 'discussions of the day' is both lacking in taste misleading.

There's no suggestion in the survey that older drinkers are doing any harm or causing annoyance to anyone other than themselves...

Me too Roses my friend made a light, delicious sponge cake with a strawberry jam filling, which I thoroughly enjoyed today.

I enjoy a nice glass of wine too, but not every day.

Well I will be having a couple of glasses tonight. As someone said 'maybe it will shorten my life - a few years less of dribbling in the nursing home' cheers

Ah well, I'll take your word for it, elena, because I sadly haven't the time to read the report you've now linked to . I'm easily confused. You're saying then that the report was only based on the records of 9000 people, not 28000 as you stated earlier?

Even if it is 1 in 20 of people who drink having a 250ml glass of 13% wine per day or more, I still can't see this as a cause for panic. The percentage will be much lower when applied to the population in general assuming we accept (do we? does the report?) that rather a lot of over-65s don't drink at all.

You described 21 units earlier as being within 'lower risk' guidelines for Teetime's MIL. I thought the guidelines for women in the UK were up to 14 units per week? Do tell me if I'm wrong again, and I'll increase my consumption! I doubt Teetime's MIL will be worrying either way about her tipple shortening her life!

Incidentally, Canadian guidelines were mentioned earlier in the thread, and they are more generous than ours. For women, they recommend a limit of 10 drinks a week, with their definition of a drink being 142ml wine at 12%. So 17 units a week, and cheers, grannyisland!

www.ccsa.ca/Resource%20Library/2012-Canada-Low-Risk-Alcohol-Drinking-Guidelines-Brochure-en.pdf