Wow... I'm a "heavy drinker"

[Janie Grace]

According to the CDC, a woman is a heavy drinker if she has eight or more drinks a week. I don't drink every night, but I probably have wine 4-5 nights a week. I will usually have two glasses... one with dinner, one later after the kids go down. I am *never* drunk. What do you think? Do you agree with the CDC? I am shocked that this kind of consumption would be considered heavy drinking!

[ThisIsTheDay]

I am not a drinker. I don't totally abstain, but I might have a couple of drinks over the course of an entire year.  Many of my friends are complete non-drinkers.

 

It would not cross my mind that you are a heavy drinker. At all.  But then I don't agree with the CDC on a lot of things.

 

I was going to give you a hug, but I thought, heck, CHEERS!  :cheers2:

[whitestavern]

I am surprised too...and right about where you are as far as consumption.  I often enjoy a glass of wine while I'm preparing dinner and another while I'm eating dinner (not always, but more often than not). 

[lavender's green]

It seems like there's an assumption that you do all  your drinking at once, for some reason.  I've had two or three occasions where doctors ask how much I drink in a week, I'll answer, and they'll immediately say "all at once?!" in a disapproving voice.  Um...no.  In a week.  The way you posed the question. :confused1:

 

Now I say what I drink per day, no matter how they pose the question.  It clears up the confusion.

 

You can be my drinking buddy, Janie Grace.  We match!

:cheers2:

[Crimson Wife]

Not all women are the same size. A petite woman would have a lower threshhold for "heavy drinking" IMHO than a large woman.

[maize]

Sounds to me like you would be make a good Frenchwoman ;)

[73349]

I'm a teetotaler and would call your drinking moderate. I think you'd have to go over 10-12 a week or more than 3 in a day for "heavy" to be justified, unless you felt you needed it or wanted to cut back but couldn't.

 

That said, I'm smallish and would likely be impaired after 1 to 2 drinks. I'm assuming a more average-sized person is being considered here.

[Janie Grace]

Sounds to me like you would be make a good Frenchwoman ;)

Well, I'm not French but it does seem cultural to me. This is the way my parents and grandparents consumed wine (regularly but very moderately) and it has never crossed my mind that this would be a concerning amount of alcohol. 

[Desert Strawberry]

It's a guideline, not a diagnostic. Yes, I do think 1-2 drinks every day is above average. But not necessarily abnormal or problematic. I think if you find yourself in that category, you might want to take a little inventory of yourself just to be sure a problem isn't brewing. If you are comfortable with your consumption and have no other problems or concerns, carry on.

For me, at a difficult time in my life, I found myself drinking 1-2glasses of wine every night. I felt it was adding to my troubles-or maybe just not helping. I stopped. At other times, I have drunk that much or more and felt fine about it. It's not really about the alcohol. It's about the circumstances.

My dh has always been solidly in the heavy drinker category. He never felt it was a problem. And then, quite suddenly, it was. He felt he was losing control. He quit, attended a few meetings, made some changes in his life and hasn't had a drink in over a year. He feels much better now. He believes for him it was an escape that prevented him from personal growth. He is happier now.

How you feel about it is personal. If you are fine with it, great. If you aren't, address that. 

[swellmomma]

I don't know if the cdc is right or not.  It seems excessive to me, BUT that is because I only have a glass of wine 3 times a year.  Meaning it is just my perception that makes it seem excessive not that it necessarily is.  I can see why the cdc considers 8+ to be heavy drinking because they are thinking that the person is drinking 7 days a week and twice on saturday kwim.  Now whether it actually is or not is another thing entirely.

[PrincessMommy]

in the context of how you describe it it doesn't sound excessive to me.  One at dinner and then another glass a hour or two later just isn't that much to me.... and I only drink about 1-3x per year (and then it's hard cider or hard lemonade). 

 

 

[SproutMamaK]

It's more than I drink (I have a glass or drink maybe 2-3 times a week, but that's because I'm too cheap to spend much money on good drinks, lol), but I wouldn't consider it heavy drinking by any stretch of the imagination. That's not even enough to get tipsy, you're never having more thna 1 drink at a time.

[Dory]

I know three kinds of drinkers in my world. I have a couple friends that have A glass of wine after a meal a few times a week, but it's a rarity for it to be more than that one glass. I have friends that have a few drinks Friday night and Saturday night (they're single though and don't have to be with it the next morning). I have a couple people in my world that drink 3-4 glasses every time I've seen wine in front of them and who I know have numerous beers every weekend.

 

The first two types sit around 6-8 drinks a week. The last type, well I don't even bother counting cause I know he's drinking more then is ok by any standards.

 

You would drink more then I'm used to seeing, but I don't know if I'd classify you as a heavy drinker when it's only a couple glasses of wine a night.

 

I drink maybe 6 drinks a year and all of them are when I'm out with my little sister who is one of the weekend drinkers. I never drink more then one drink when I'm with her because one of us needs to stay in full control.

[NASDAQ]

I don't think it's excessive, although I think "Europeans do it" is a great justification. The French have a very high rate of alcoholism (responsible for 49K deaths a year versus 88K in the US, and France has, what, 20% of the population?)

[Mergath]

I'm guessing the CDC is looking at it in terms of long-term consequences to a person's health, rather than our cultural views of what makes a person a heavy drinker.  Having eight drinks a week might not seem like much in the present, but I would guess that over time it would definitely have a negative impact on a person's body.  I couldn't drink that much week after week after week.  I'd feel like crap.

[elegantlion]

I see it like the BMI - not accurate for everyone. It doesn't sound excessive, but...it also doesn't sound like a problem for you, yet it's leaning toward perhaps excessive on a regular basis. I would see a moderate drinker as one who drinks a glass or two 2-3 nights a week, the 4-5 nights is probably what is pushing it toward the "heavy" term. 

[Miss Peregrine]

Honestly, that sounds heavy to me. But I only drink about 1x a year.

[abacus2]

I wonder if their classifications have to do with the medical implications rather than with addiction? It is possible, I suppose, to drink in a way that is ok personally and socially, but not ideal for health.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Moderate use is defined as no more than 1 glass of alcohol per day for a woman.  (2 for a man.)  Heavy drinking for a woman is defined by the CDC as 8 drinks a week and up.  Their definitions are based on what amount of alcohol a week starts to lead to diseases related to alcohol consumption.  You do not have to binge drink to be a heavy drinker.  

[poppy]

I think 'heavy drinker' is accurate, if you have 30-50 drinks a month.

 

You may never be drunk because you have 'earned' a high tolerance, but that's not necessarily a good thing.  However.  I wouldn't say you necessarily have a drinking problem.  It would be a problem if you had to abstain for a week and found it made you antsy and stressed.

 

I drink whenever I feel like it - some weeks 2 drinks a day, some weeks none. My husband has a drink right after getting home from work every single day.  Drinking has been much more problematic for him than me, and he has cut it out for a month at a time when he feels like he's starting to get a little dependent.

[Joanne]

I thin the term "heavy drinker" upsets people.

 

There are people, in the thousands, who are heavy drinkers but don't have a problem.

 

However, there are also thousands of people who drink, minimize their consumption or thoughts of consumption and DO have a problem.

 

The "European" consumption justification never did anything for me.

[Guest submarines]

I drink 4-5 glasses of wine a year, so yeah, this sounds like heavy drinking to me. I'm considering to start drinking 1-3 glasses per week, so it is not like am against alcohol.

[Crimson Wife]

Whether or not that level of drinking causes health problems totally depends on whether the individual is more at risk for cardiovascular disease or cancer. Alcohol lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease but ups the risk of cancer. Cancer runs in my family while cardiovascular disease doesn't, so I try to limit my alcohol consumption. I will have 1 or 2 drinks at social events and that's it.

 

My mom has a glass of wine every night with dinner plus 1 or 2 drinks at social events, and she socializes more than I do because my folks & their friends are now all retirees. She definitely isn't an alcoholic, but I do wish she'd cut back on the alcohol consumption because of the familial cancer history.

[Mrs Mungo]

Drinking at all has both risks and benefits. At some point you take on more risks than benefits. Medical guidelines are designed for your doctor to offer you medical advice based upon. If you are high risk for certain types of cancer, then your doctor might tell you to cut back. If you are a moderate to heavy drinker, then you might not be able to take certain meds. It is a medical guideline, not a judgment.

[livetoread]

I would guess that it is classified as such because that much ups your risk of hormone sensitive breast cancer. When I did a search to find out by how much, the numbers were all over the place, but there is a clear link between even 5-7 drinks a week and increased cancer, with the risk continuing to rise with each additional drink per week.

 

I did see something interesting while searching: that alcohol consumed between first period and first pregnancy ups the risk even more. I wonder if college women are getting that message.

[chocolatechip]

Do you agree with the CDC? 

:svengo: Ha. There are many, many things I strongly disagree with the CDC on.  :glare:

 

I think they're often out to deliberately deceive. . .all to benefit their own agenda.  :thumbdown:

[KungFuPanda]

I'm going to need to see your wine glasses. I prefer the smaller ones at home. (No, not cordial glasses. Stop looking at me like that.) Sometimes when I'm out I feel like people are trying to give me a fishbowl full of wine.

[8circles]

I think it sounds heavy but I don't think that in itself is a bad thing.

[Melissa in Australia]

I agree with all others that form a MEDICAL point it is in the heavy drinker category.

Socially it might be viewed completely differently. I do not drink alcohol at all (cannot stand the taste). I will make no statement on if I think you are a heavy drinker or not. Just because there are others who drink way more doesn't necessarily make slightly less better health wise

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Agreeing with KungFuPanda- measure out a "serving" of wine and see if your glass is truly one drink.  If it is, I don't think 1-2 glasses a night is excessive, as long as your health/weight/etc is otherwise good.  But most Americans easily drink 2 servings of wine with 1 glass, especially now that those huge bowl sized glasses are in style.  So if your measurement is off, "2 drinks a night" may really be closer to 4.  Just something to check. 

 

Yes, a European might drink more often than an American, but you should see the size of our glasses! 

[Jean in Newcastle]

A serving of wine is 5 oz. (some say 4 oz.)    Depending on your wine glass, it should only be half full.  

[Catwoman]

Honestly, it sounds like quite a bit to me. I guess my main question is whether or not you can stop drinking whenever you choose, and not feel the need to start again.

 

Also, if certain alcohol-related diseases run in your family, it might be worth cutting back a bit for long term health reasons. Cancer and cardiovascular disease have already been mentioned here, but I also wanted to add liver disease to the list as well.

 

Again, I'm not saying you are doing anything wrong or that you have any kind of drinking problem, but 8-10 drinks a week adds up to a lot of alcohol when you start multiplying that amount by months or years, so I'm thinking of long term stuff.

[Laurie4b]

As others have said, the CDC is focused on longterm health effects, not just alcohol abuse/addiction.

 

Here is a fact sheet on cancer and alcohol consumption: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/alcohol

Since European standards have been mentioned, here's a perspective from the UK: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/healthyliving/alcohol/alcohol-and-cancer

 

Since breast cancer is a concern of most women, you'll want to assess your risk factors for that as well. Family history is just one. Dense breasts increase your risk by 7x. (You'll know if you ever had a mammogram. If you have dense breasts, it will be noted, partially because it decreases the ability of cancer detection.) Early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), no pregnancies or late pregnancies (after age 30). Being overweight and low levels of physical activity are also risk factors.  http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/alcohol

 

"Moderate" drinkers have the greatest longevity (No more than 1 drink per day for women; you are reporting between 8-10 drinks per week, and possibly more or less depending on your serving size. 5 oz wine is a serving.)

 

Heavy drinkers fare better than abstainers, though there is a question as to why that is--whether it's the effect of greater social interaction that is associated with consumption of alcohol, or whether abstainers include many former heavy drinkers.

 

The good thing is that you've read the CDC's position, you're asking questions, and you can start to research and decide whether you think you should cut back.

[elegantlion]

 It would be a problem if you had to abstain for a week and found it made you antsy and stressed.

 

 

 

This is the check I keep in place for myself as alcoholism runs in my family. I buy a bottle of wine about twice a month. I can drink the bottle in 2-4 days, then I'll not buy another for a couple of weeks, purposely. 

 

Right now I have some left from a bottle and haven't had any for over a week. I've been making different evening beverages like fruit slushies or cafe mochas. I've seen alcohol destroy people, but I enjoy a nice glass of wine. I never want it to own me though. 

 

Not saying that would be an issue for you, just sharing my perspective. 

[DianeW88]

I agree with the poster who said to check your serving size.  I think 8 drinks a week is heavy.  If you're drinking more than 4 ounces in your glass (about 1/2 cup), then you're really drinking about 16 glasses a week.  And that is heavy drinking by anyone's standard.

[Momof3littles]

I stretch my wine out this time of the year by making it sangria style.  I don't do a lot of sugar, so I brew some fruity tea and let it cool, add a bottle of wine to the pitcher, slice up some fruit and add that in.  I add a little sprinkle of stevia. It is best when it sits for a day in the fridge.  Before serving, I fill my glass with some seltzer, unless we have company and I know we'll use a whole pitcher (for say 4 adults). 

 

My mom likes seltzer added to her wine too.  Blasphemy with some bottles, but with 2 buck chuck, I don't particularly mind ;)

[trulycrabby]

 

If your family has a lot of cancer, more specifically estrogen sensitive cancers like certain breast cancers, or if you or anyone has genetic mutations brca1, brca2, or Lynch syndome, and/or of Ashkenazi jewish descent, then you might consider reducing or eliminating your intake.

 

Or, if you cannot seem to go without the wine without anxiety, then you might consider cutting back.

 

If the wine consumption interferes with your sleep, s in you go to sleep sily but then wake up in the night and cannot go back to sleep, then you might consider cutting back.

 

I don't drink at all as I am native american and even a tiny amount gives me a horrid hangover, but I don't think your consumption is heavy.

[FriedClams]

How large are the glasses? Are they really one serving (using oz. measure) or more?

[scwendy]

I'm guessing the CDC is looking at it in terms of long-term consequences to a person's health, rather than our cultural views of what makes a person a heavy drinker.  Having eight drinks a week might not seem like much in the present, but I would guess that over time it would definitely have a negative impact on a person's body.  I couldn't drink that much week after week after week.  I'd feel like crap.

This exactly.  I was not objectively aware of the long-term increased risks associated with moderate/heavy drinking until I became employed in my line of work (where I am privy to a whole range of people's medical records and self-reports).

 

My husband would have been what most consider a moderate drinker and ended up with a cancer very rare in men his age that is associated with heavy/mod drinking.  He was only 29 and fortunately has had no recurrence since surgery.  That was enough for us.  He gave up alcohol and improved his diet drastically.

 

A drink with dinner a couple nights a week or a weekend with 2+ drinks every few months if you have no social/legal problems as a result do not appear to increase the risks of many illnesses, and there is some evidence that very moderate drinking (like one serving size of alcohol daily or a few days a week) may be associated with overall longer longevity.

 

ETA: I think if one's drinking is not affecting his or her social/legal life adversely, it is up to their own judgment how much to consume from a purely health risk standpoint.  But I think it IS good for the CDC to try to make people aware of the potential risks to help them make an informed decision.

[rmtzc2009]

8 or more drinks a week IMO is heavy drinking.  I think others have pointed out good things such as paying attention to serving size and determining if you can/cannot go without the drinking.

[umsami]

I never drank as I didn't like the taste.  But growing up my Mom always had wine with dinner….and sometimes even a scotch and soda.

 

I think the key is can you go with out it for a week and be fine with that decision.  I also think, as others have mentioned, that the CDC definition has to do with health effects rather than alcoholism.

 

I remember there was a Mom comedian known for drinking who later realized she had a problem.  A good friend of mine gave up drinking this year just to see if she could.  It's been enlightening for her.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/mom-stress-motherhood-drove-drink/story?id=10488897

 

""I rationalized it definitely to a degree," he said. "You tend to think of the extremes when you think of alcoholism when that's 3 percent of the cases. Ninety percent of the cases are people who have a hidden drinking problem. ... I think I fell into that same category where I thought alcoholism is people who are running around with a Jameson's bottle in their back pockets."

Wilder-Taylor agreed that while she didn't look the part, she knew she had a problem."

[Mbelle]

I just had a glass of wine and I'm about to have another and cook dinner!

 

I don't drink much during the week, but I probably have one drink every other day and 2-3 per day on the weekend.  I don't think 8 drinks a week is a heavy drinking, just that that is part of your diet.  I consider it much healthier than eating junk food everyday.  Does the CDC have a recommendation about that?  

[Seeking Squirrels]

I could see that being under heavy drinking for medical purposes as others have said, since it averages out to more than 1 per day, even if barely. I drink anywhere from 1-3 drinks a week. Almost never more than one a night. I guess that would make me a moderate drinker.

[JFSinIL]

Does the CDC call a man who has a beer or two after work most nights a heavy drinker?  Balderdash!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Does the CDC call a man who has a beer or two after work most nights a heavy drinker?  Balderdash!

Men's body's (depending on size of course) can handle more alcohol than women can.  So no, the CDC would not call a man who has a beer or two after work most nights a heavy drinker.  The CDC is not taking a moral stance (or any other word that might apply) on this.  If you drink more than a certain amount then your risk of certain diseases goes up.

 

A screening guide for heavy drinking.

 

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Practitioner/PocketGuide/pocket_guide5.htm

[Mrs Mungo]

Does the CDC call a man who has a beer or two after work most nights a heavy drinker?  Balderdash!

From the CDC website:

"What do you mean by heavy drinking?

For men, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 15 drinks or more per week. For women, heavy drinking is typically defined as consuming 8 drinks or more per week."

 

http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/faqs.htm#heavyDrinking

 

The website is actually talking about alcoholism, not just medical risks. Personally, I wouldn't think someone who had a glass of wine in the evenings was a heavy drinker. Granted, I have a photo of alcohol in my profile pic, LOL, but I'm honestly not a big drinker. I have probably 5-10 drinks per month (1-2 drinks/week). So, I guess I partially disagree with the CDC, but I *do* think it's a legit thing for a doctor to talk about in terms of medical risk factors.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Alcoholism is a medical risk.  

[Mrs Mungo]

The CDC is not taking a moral stance (or any other word that might apply) on this.  If you drink more than a certain amount then your risk of certain diseases goes up.

That was what I was thinking until I looked at the actual CDC website. I think they are at least sort of making a moral judgment call when they are automatically calling it alcoholism. I agree that it statistically increases certain medical risk factors, but that really isn't the main point of the stuff on their site. Their main point is that you are an alcoholic if you drink that much, and I'm not sure I agree.

[kitten18]

I don't believe that someone (woman or man) who has slightly more than one drink a day is a heavy drinker.

 

 

 

I probably average 4-6 drinks a week.

[Jean in Newcastle]

That was what I was thinking until I looked at the actual CDC website. I think they are at least sort of making a moral judgment call when they are automatically calling it alcoholism. I agree that it statistically increases certain medical risk factors, but that really isn't the main point of the stuff on their site. Their main point is that you are an alcoholic if you drink that much, and I'm not sure I agree.

You might not be an alcoholic but there is still a very high chance that you might be a functional alcoholic and not know it at that level because chances are that you don't drink that much without some dependency.  I know this will get people's backs up but I do think that people need to consider this.  I was a very functional alcoholic.  I was the one taking my friend's home from the bar even as a teen.  

 

Again - I'm not saying that anyone that drinks that much is automatically an alcoholic but I do think that a doctor is well within his purview as a doctor to point out that dependency can happen at that level (and even at lower levels but more so at that level).