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Is drinking as harmful as they say it is? I have a colleague of mine who drinks like crazy, he has been drinking since he was 19 and now he is 40. He drinks 3-4 beers a day and 8-9 beers on Saturdays and Sundays. He told me this has been his pattern for the last 20 years. In addition he smokes a pack a day and says he has been doing this for the last 2 decades as well.
He also eats out fast food and the like for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
He claims that his health is perfectly fine and he told me his BP at last measurement was 122/80 which astonished me. In addition he leads a sedentary lifestyle yet he has no weight gain from all that food and beer!
Is it possible some people are just immune to the effects of all these habits that are deemed "bad" for everyone else?
Well, for starters, that is not crazy drinking.
Next, this is what will happen.
1. he's in denial. there is no way his health is good as he describes it. "he says" is talk. When was the last time he did full blown blood work including all kidney and liver tests? Had he H1C done lately?
2. he'll get hit hard, and sudden. One day an ache will come, that will turn into pain that will need to be addressed by a doctor and then they'll find a whole lot of wrong going on with his body.
OP, please, don't be silly and don't try to justify that life style for yourself based on some dimwit.
OP ask your friend how he feels when he ends up in the emergency ward at the hospital for heart attack and/or stroke. All good things come to an end sometime and then you pay the piper.
There are lots of smokers who never got lung cancer and there are also lots of nonsmokers who have lung cancer (e.g. John Edward's ex-wife).
Yes there are. Those non-smokers who do get lung cancer are nevertheless taking in huge amounts of atmospheric pollutants (including other peoples smoke). Apparently, smoking isn't the worst thing one can do to oneself. I lost my brother to smoking related cancer. The lung cancer was only discovered when the brain tumors started to affect him. But didn't die of lung cancer.
Is drinking as harmful as they say it is? I have a colleague of mine who drinks like crazy, he has been drinking since he was 19 and now he is 40. He drinks 3-4 beers a day and 8-9 beers on Saturdays and Sundays. He told me this has been his pattern for the last 20 years. In addition he smokes a pack a day and says he has been doing this for the last 2 decades as well.
He also eats out fast food and the like for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
He claims that his health is perfectly fine and he told me his BP at last measurement was 122/80 which astonished me. In addition he leads a sedentary lifestyle yet he has no weight gain from all that food and beer!
Is it possible some people are just immune to the effects of all these habits that are deemed "bad" for everyone else?
His 3-4 per day is more than what's recommended, but not so much as to really cause problems. I certainly wouldn't call it "drinking like crazy." At 3-4 a day, he may not even cross over the legal limit for driving, depending on body weight. It has long been one of the persistent paradoxes that even heavy drinkers live longer than abstainers. Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers, Study Finds - TIME
As to the weight and BP, it could be a lot of things, including good genetics, fast metabolism, that he doesn't eat as much as you think, that he is more active than you think, etc...
In any case, it seems like almost everyone knows someone that smoked heavily, ate and drank what they wanted, and lived to a ripe old age. My own Grandfather, while not a smoker, likely had at least 3-4/day and whatever he dang well pleased and is 91 years old now. He was in good health up til this last year.
So much depends on genetics, its hard to call for any individual. But it does sound like the drinking is a bit over the line, and smoking is never good, period. The thing about drinking is that, as a previous poster pointed out, the effects can manifest suddenly. I've known people who "turned the corner" in their 40's and suddenly started developing health issues where before they seemed to be having a grand old time.
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