Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

The inconvenient truth that the vast majority of adults refuse to acknowledge is that there is no safe level of alcohol. Any drink is going to damage you, marginal though it may be. Unfortunately the healthiest thing you can do is simply never drink alcohol.


> no safe level of alcohol

I hear this kind of phrasing frequently in the discourse nowadays, but it doesn't seem like a useful framing to me. Is there a safe amount of chocolate? A safe amount of sex? Are we supposed to stop enjoying every pleasure of life as soon as someone does a large study with high enough statistical power to show some negative effect on health, no matter how small?

The question is whether the enjoyment we derive from these things is worth the risk, not whether there is a "safe level", whatever that means.


The phrasing is important as the discussion about personal decisions needs to start from acknowledging it’s a poison, which was not the case for the last centuries. We’ve had narration that some wine and beer is safe and that was incorrect.

Chocolate is beneficial in moderation as far as we know so not sure why you brought it up. So is consexual sex with repeat partner.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: