Alcohol

I don't think it's marketing, I think people like a change and the manufacturers try to keep up with them. As for drinking too much, when I was young I certainly did, maybe not as much as some today but certainly more than I should have. It's fun. All this preaching and holier than thou posting is just sour grapes. Of course there can be problems, but for most it's just a hangover the next day.

Sour grapes[

I like alcohol - but not to excess. If we’re on holiday in a ‘dry’ country I don’t miss it. When, many years ago, I went to the doctor suffering from severe stress and unable to sleep, he prescribed a whisky before bed. It worked better than pills and I didn’t become dependent on it.

What shocks people is that I much prefer spirits and beers to wine. Wine can upset my stomach, and I can’t drink red wine at all so just have one spritzer or fizzy water with a meal to be sociable. But not sitting with a wine glass in hand seems to be more noticeable and I’ve gained a reputation for drinking although I consume far less than they do (maybe two or three spirits a week and the odd Becks Blue alcohol free lager).

My aunt drank a whisky every night since having a severe illness in her late fifties, on the recommendation of her doctor. She lived to be eighty seven but it was smoking that killed her not drinking. I can’t drink Scotch (most spirits, in fact) but I am very fond of a particular malt whisky that is too expensive to be anything but a special treat. When a bottle comes my way, I guard it jealously and make it last!

I think most people have some sort of ‘addiction’ or something they would struggle to give up, whether it be booze, cigarettes, chocolate or Big Macs. I am not sure how much it is influenced by advertising though. I always remember the Martini slogan ‘Anytime, anyplace, anywhere’!

I have never been a "drinker " despite having been brought up as an army brat . I have no problem with anyone's drinking preferences . What really gets on my goat is when I say "No thank you " to a drink many people say " Oh go on ! one won't hurt you or "are you sure ? " On many occasions I've almost
lost my cool as having said no people still keep pushing .Grrrrr!

I drink very little. We were invited to friends recently for drinks and nibbles. It was a lovely day so we sat in the garden. Our hosts brought the Pimms out. Which I find easy to drink. Especially when it’s cool on a hot day. Anyway, being good hosts they kept topping up my glass with Pimms. I was drinking it. Next thing my lips felt rubbery and I was finding it difficult to speak. I didn’t want to say I had over done the drink but I kept thinking how am I going to stand up without them noticing. I pulled it off, nobody knew. Never again!

Oh dear Lyndie, hope you were ok next morning.

It can be dangerous when hosts /waiters constantly top up your glass.???

Bit of a relief to see a few light hearted comments here. We can all relax now, given the latest news that there isn't any alcoholic drink in the world that's safe to sniff at. We must never let a drop pass our lips again, we must give up butter and low fat food, we must eat brown bread not white, unless we have kidney problems, then we must never let brown bread/pasta/flour/rice or any whole grain pass our lips - unless our gastric needs mean we need wholegrain.

I'm with my lovely grandpa - all things in moderation and a little bit of what you fancy does you good.

I have family members who are alcoholics so I'm very careful. I enjoy a glass of red wine 5 days a week with evening meal with the occasional second small glass if out with friends. I used to drink a couple of glasses to help me relax, like gillybob, but it doesn't really do anything for me now. However if I'm in pain (fibromyalgia, arthritis) I often think painkiller or wine? and plump for wine.?
Apparently alcohol use by older people is quite high and if it helps people enjoy their latter years, why not? I do, however hate people gettjng drunk, not that I witness it often, but I really can't stand drunk people. So many young people drink far too much nowadays. When I worked mang young people jn our office spent Mondays recovering from weekend bunge.

excuse typos!

annep - same here!

We all joke about don’t we - wine o’clock, a cheeky Chardonnay and so on and so much socialising revolves around drinking.
Because of gastritis I gave up for 3 months earlier this year and it was a strange feeling. I will now have a glass with friends and admit to a small single malt last night because I felt so cold but rarely have a glass of wine now I am on my own. Perhaps I know drinking alone can be a slippery slope, but actually, it isn’t all that pleasurable, rarely living up to its promise I am also terrified of a flare up of the gastritis (although it may have had other causes), but am unwilling to take the risk.
So a glass with a meal and only ever one. No fun any more!

Alcohol? I can take it or leave it. This past week I have been away with friends and had a few glasses of wine, but now I will probably not have any for weeks.
I do worry about one family member who drinks at least five nights a week, a serious amount, and sometimes has to be carried up to bed. How they are fit to do the school run the next day is beyond me. In their circles there is no social life without alcohol. I find that sad.

They need to be careful about possibly still being over the limit the next day at school run time, cabbie.

With all due respect to you, Fedupgran, how do you correlate being brought up as an “army brat” with being a “drinker”? I am the proud mother of two “army brats”; one barely touches alcohol at all, and the other only drinks at weekends, and then in moderation.

Each to their own. Whatever floats your boat. We are not idiots who need to be told to drink prosecco or gin.

Agree with you Maw, drinking , to me, is a social pastime. I just don’t do it on my own.
When my husband was in hospital for quite a while, I couldn’t even make myself have a drink to relax me when I got home.

I love a glass of wine. My dm and dear gran never drank a drop and my gran lived to 90 with altzimers from aged 70 and my mum developed altzimers agsin at 70. She’s now 87 and incontinent and confused. She’s dragging dad down with her.

Both would have been better dying st 70 when their brains did. We could remember them as fiesty funny strong women not the frail shells they both became.

I intend to enjoy my life with good food and drink. I am now 54 with all my kids independant and I hope to go out with all my faculties. If I get an altzimers diagnosis I fully intend to comit suecide.

So yes have the wine, gin, prosecco and choc and

Alcohol in moderation is fine imo. My mum had vascular dementia. She consumed a lot of alcohol in the last 2-3 years. ( think because she missed dad so much bless her). I often think it contributed to the dementia.