Wine drinking dangerous ???? :-(

Centuries? Millennia!! Civilization started because people had to stay in one place and farm in order to grow crops to make beer, wine, and mead. Alcohol was the only advantage farmers had over the older hunter-gatherer societies, but it was enough to make our ancestors switch.

My family doctor told me "Keep drinking your wine, Paul. You will live longer". My doctor at VA said I have the highest value of HDL (the good cholesterol) that she has ever seen. She thinks it may be due to my home made wine consumption. I also have very low triglycerides. My liver enzymes are all normal. Enough said; think I will have a glass of wine - or two or so. :)

quite simply put, we homebrewers & vintners, we're sup(*hic)ior beings ;^) Hope this assuages your feelings & "scrooge" 'em if they can't take a joke (or healthful suggestion!) cheers & regards, bob

Pooh on the telly's talking heads. If you are a sot, you are drinking too much. One thing to consider about those ancient wines however, the potency of our wines today is probably like comparing 151 rum to Diet Pepsi -- if they'd had Pepsi back then -- or 151...

I submit that the high cases of elevated liver enzymes is from Advil and Tylenol and not alcohol but the pharmas lobby is just to big. Do not take that stuff for hangovers.

Bob

Barb wrote:

Just an add-on. Every person I know that has had liver problems or elevated enzymes has been a heavy user of Advil or Tylenol. The doctors will never ask you if you take the stuff. They will only ask you how much you drink. If you know anyone with such problems, please alert them to the fact that taking that stuff and drinking is a sure way to shred your liver. Whether your taking it for back pain or headaches, if you want your liver to be healthy you need to address the source of pain and fix it without resorting to the temporary fix of Advil or Tylenol. Believe it or not, it's very likely it's not the alchohol doing the damage.

Bob

Soooo, if I could ask opinions, if ya take Ibuprofen (Advil) like 2 tablets every 7-10 days for occasional pains from off road biking (I'm over 50) --- that is not a heavy user, but should I attempt aspirin or other pain reliever since I like my wine?

Just ask> Just an add-on. Every person I know that has had liver problems or

Dave Allison wrote: Dave,

First, let me say that I am a physician. Second, let me say that it would be irresponsible and unwise for me to say that it is or isn't OK to use acetominaphen or ibuprofen products occasionally in conjunction with alcohol. There are too many variables, and besides, words said in cyberspace live forever. ;)

My personal policy is this: I never use acetominaphen or ibuprofen for any reason, as the effects on the liver are quite real, and I can't justify it for routine problems. In the rare times when I do want a something for body aches after overdoing it, I use aspirin, good ol' acetyl salycilic acid. My feeling is that I'd rather irritate my stomach lining a bit, which will heal, than start doing cumulative, irreversible damage to my liver. And yes, alcohol aggravates both sets of side effects.

I figure that a certain level of liver damage is tolerable, and I prefer to get mine from the moderate use of red wine.

Your mileage, of course, may vary.

Thanks for all the input, folks! The above post makes a lot of sense, and I also have a strong suspicion that all the horrible chemicals we are exposed to every day (laundry products, shower gel, cleaning products, shampoo, air fresheners, petrol fumes, etc.etc) do much more damage to your liver than 2 or 3 glasses of wine a day - particularly the homemade kind where you know what goes into it!

After all (and I think I've got this right ...) 40% of what you put on your skin alone ends up in your body, and therefore your liver!

I, personally, try to avoid as much of this environmental cr*p as possible, using natural alternatives - and people laugh at me 'cos I drink moderately! But I think it's a case of not accumulating lots of different poisons, and we all need at least one little vice!

Barb (dedicated wine drinker!)

The Humourist and commentator H.L. Mencken once said "Puritanism is the fear that someone, somewhere is having fun." I feel that much the same is happening with this "new puritanism" that seems to be on the rise: There is some real fear mongering that anything one finds pleasurable is some how "bad for you."

Take alcohol, as this is the topic that has come up, as an example. I have known pregnant women who have called up their doctors in a state of hysteria because the salad dressing they had on their salad for lunch had white wine vinegar in it. Never mind the fact that by virtue of the fact it is "vinegar" means that it is not alcoholic. This is not to say that FAS is not something serious, however, if you look at the histories of the children born with it, their mothers were not the type to have a glass of sherry after church on Sunday. In each and every case, the woman involved had to work long and hard to drink enough to cause it, these women were hardcore binge drinkers, and alcoholics themselves.

It has been proven that everything from drinking milk to sex causes cancer, and too much of anything will kill you. For the talking heads on the telly that is money in the bank. After all, what makes the news and makes people watch the news? The things that make people afraid.

My advice? Turn off the telly, pour a glass of merlot, and open a good book.

All things in moderation,

Abby

Absolutely agree! A good book and a glass (or two!) of nice wine go together so well!

Barb