globefish23 wrote:
I was thinking about the people that drink a beer or two whenever they have their schnitzel for dinner - everyday.
I simply see no sense in drinking alcohol daily, even if it is "just" alongside dinner.
A glass of water is enough.
You're just increasing your alcohol tolerance threshold. And it's this regularity which I think defines alcoholism.
Of course, if you go binge drinking every weekend you're an alcoholic as well.
Light drinking takes the edge off...you aren't anywhere near drunk, but you feel a little more relaxed, glib, etc.
Your body can likely metabolize a couple of drinks per day with no additional ill effects (i.e. long-term damage) to your liver, especially in the prime of your life. There is no absolute scientific consensus on how much is a safe daily level to consume...for example, in the US it's 1-2 drinks per day for a man, versus 3 or less per day in the UK. A single drink per day may even increase overall longevity.
The point being that life is meant for living, it's not a game to see who can endure the aging process the longest. Things like light drinking are probably not going to shorten your lifespan very appreciably, and can complement a lot of situations quite nicely.
Also, a lot of craft brews made stateside are amazingly flavorful. Numerous craft brews in the states actually recommend food pairings on the bottle wrapper. Not everything is Pisswasser here. That said, something with the flavor is definitely lost in transit, because the Budweiser I tried in Euroland was not great by any standard, and the Guinnesses I had in London were better than any I've ever had over here. And it's not especially hard to find good European beers (real Trappist ales and the like) if you live in a town with over ~20,000 people (or simply near a city).
I'm sure my views are an exception to the current rule over here, but things are changing rapidly. It seems that bars featuring their own microbrews are increasingly more common, and some of the craft brewers are getting big enough that the nation's tastes in beers seems to be changing/maturing overall, as decent options start becoming available in places like gas stations and chain supermarkets.