Middle class drinking epidemic ?

In your opinion. I'm not sure that's something that's echoed by too many other people.

Irrespective of the amounts, if you're taking alcohol every single day, I think there are some issues that require addressing.

WormThatTurned wrote:

A shared bottle is.

but youre not sharing it...!

Of course anyone can get 6-7 glasses out of a bottle...however I dont think I have been anywhere in ten years or more (apart from Geneve) where they still served a 125ml...which is a 1/6th bottle...normal measure these days is 175ml and 250ml in the majority of places. And of course one glass of wine even at a 1/6 measure is at least 1.5 units alcohol, not one as many assume.

half a bottle of average wine is 4.5 units of alcohol per day or over 30 per week, that ain't healthy...certainly not long term. You might be healthy now Wormy, you are also in your early 30s so you should be healthy..!

6 weeks ago at the beginning of Sep, we buried my hubby's cousin, same age as my hubby (46), same school, granted I dont think he was only drinking a mere 0.5 bottle of wine a night, but he was probably doing no more than most "middle class drinkers" identified in this report.

Can I be a kill joy and pick up the issue of cost.

If you are looking at a bottle of wine per night (between one or two people, not important which though if brat is saying she only does a couple of glasses a week then something's not adding up here) and two bottles per night at the weekend, that's 9 bottles a week. At a fiver a bottle on average that's £45 quid a week or over £2300 a year. Not dissimilar to what some people spend on cigarettes.

It's your money and your choice how you spend it but there are people trying to live off that. £2300 a year more off your mortgage would make an enormous difference to most people.

You can do quite a lot with HALF of that and still have a liver to be proud of in £15 years time and not have to give up completely. But as other people have said, needing a drink every evening isn't a good sign.

It is possible to put the cork back in, screw the cap back on and finish the bottle the next evening.

Oh and to pick up on an earlier comment, I don't think anyone is saying bread and potatoes are bad for you.

Fat and sugar maybe but not bread and potatoes. And the messages are far more on 'everything in moderation'.

helencbradshaw wrote:

WormThatTurned wrote:

A shared bottle is.

but youre not sharing it...!

Yes I am.

Ciao's Favourite Member wrote:

Irrespective of the amounts, if you're taking alcohol every single day, I think there are some issues that require addressing.

Like what ??

Contrary to being a raging alcoholic, It is nice to come homeafter a days work, unwind and relax by opening a bottle of wine with your partner and enjoying the contents whilst having a conversation. Completely normal, behaviour. As long as you drink responsibly and safely you shouldnt become a 'target'.

If someone was going through 2-3 bottles a night, I could maybe understand. But a shared bottle isnt an issue I dont care what anyone says. Jeez if you went through life worried about everything you ate or drank or did or went to or wanted to do youd go through life being miserable, never accomplish anything and probably sad and lonely to boot.

koshkha wrote:

At a fiver a bottle on average that's £45 quid a week or over £2300 a year. Not dissimilar to what some people spend on cigarettes.

You can get Semillion Chardonnay for £2 a bottle in Netto - my fav

N.E.T.T.O thats where all the saddos go

never heard of the place....

I've never been in one either. I dont think they exist in Scotland do they Drew? I am quite attached to a nice NZ sauvignon though which is more like £8 than £5 or £2...

Well I guess the £2 a bottle Netto wine now knocks you out of the Middle Class demographic.

And it probably has about 6% alcohol so you should be absolutely fine Wormy. Problem over.

WormThatTurned wrote:

Contrary to being a raging alcoholic, It is nice to come homeafter a days work, unwind and relax by opening a bottle of wine with your partner and enjoying the contents whilst having a conversation. Completely normal, behaviour. As long as you drink responsibly and safely you shouldnt become a 'target'.

If someone was going through 2-3 bottles a night, I could maybe understand. But a shared bottle isnt an issue I dont care what anyone says. Jeez if you went through life worried about everything you ate or drank or did or went to or wanted to do youd go through life being miserable, never accomplish anything and probably sad and lonely to boot.

No body is saying you are an alcoholic! but the fact are clear if you drink more than a certain amount per week than you are harming your health long term. You are not a 'target' but it is the responsability of the health experts and the government to give us this information and then we can all decide what action we take.

I don't understand why people are so defensive about their drinking... what you said about coming home and relaxing with a glass of wine is fine and I'm sure a lot of people would also have a ciggie as well but not many would argue that smoking isn't bad for you...

koshkha wrote:

Well I guess the £2 a bottle Netto wine now knocks you out of the Middle Class demographic.

And it probably has about 6% alcohol so you should be absolutely fine Wormy. Problem over.

I never purported to be

If I am a class and I dont believe in class, Im as working class as you can get Im afraid

Mauri wrote:

No body is saying you are an alcoholic! ...

Oh thats good then, I could have sworn some of the comments were hinting at exactly the opposite

With all due respect, if you are drinking a bottle a night, then I would stick my neck out and say I think you are. It is not meant as an insult, mearly stating what I consider to be one based on personal experience.

My dad started like that, and still drinks everynight. I without a doubt deem him as an alcoholic. Sommit you don't really realise or notice, till you have to go without.

drewboy wrote:

With all due respect, if you are drinking a bottle a night, then I would stick my neck out and say I think you are.

No Im not drinking a bottle a night, how many more times ?

And with all due respect, you are talking bolloxx. I am not an alcoholic and find it insulting that you think I am.

I don't think you are an alky at all. A long way from it. Even if you were on a bottle a night which you aren't. I used to travel with a guy who'd regularly put away 2 bottles a night and I wouldn't call him an alky either. But I also wouldn't say that its sustainable in the longer term.

You started the debate about whether 30 units a week is too much, as I recall. It's not a LOT over the healthy recommended level of 22 units. Cut back one unit a day and the doc will pat you on the back and you'll live to bounce your grandchildren on your knee.

Or you can ignore the government guidelines and take your chances - that's why they are guidelines and not law.

But after we've all been picking at you, you probably need a drink!

WormThatTurned wrote:

drewboy wrote:

With all due respect, if you are drinking a bottle a night, then I would stick my neck out and say I think you are.

No Im not drinking a bottle a night, how many more times ?

And with all due respect, you are talking bolloxx. I am not an alcoholic and find it insulting that you think I am.

I said 'IF'. I was meaning it in terms of if someone was, then I would consider them to be one.

As I said, I say this from my experience of living with someone who found this level of drinking acceptable. I find nothing bolloxx about that statement at all.

With respect I have known Jas for 6 years and if a measure of being an alcoholic is not being able to go without then he is not an alcoholic.

Also my mum is and has been for about 10 years, although she says she is not any more and its not as bad. She could and would drink roughly a bottle of wine AND a large bottle of whiskey every night. It even got to the point where she would start in the morning and drink at work. She really went mad, and was dangerous, drink driving and more then once almost setting the house of fire. The worst person to live with, hence the reason I moved from home so early, the reason I dont drink much drink and the reason I would never put up with living with an alcoholic ever again.

spoilt_little_brat wrote:

With respect I have known Jas for 6 years and if a measure of being an alcoholic is not being able to go without then he is not an alcoholic.

Thats a very good measure, as I said above.

It's a measure I had to use on myself when I ended up drinking about a bottle of wine a night for a while. When I realised that it was the first thing I thought about when passing the local co-op every night (ie go in and get a bottle) I knew that I was slipping in the wrong direction and had to make an effort to stop doing so.

But then I had the benefit of seeing the signs of that before.