I’m simply suggesting that it would interesting to see a study of the exceptions to the general rule that people who smoke or drink die younger. You might say I have a personal interest, I’m 84 and both my parents died at 70 and neither drank and both quit smoking before 30.
In limited amounts, there may be some benefit. The issue is that most people drink far more than the limited amount that would provide benefit.
Since you are on a GLP drug, it is interesting that it lowers your interest in drinking for most people. I have never been a big drinker. Maybe 2-3 drinks a month. I now go months without drinking.
Normally, on a Friday night, I might have 1-2 beers once a month with a burger or while watching a movie. I have my last drink, I think, on my birthday in November.
Now I will admit I binge drink on vacation. I may spend all day just drinking, reading, etc but that is once a year, maybe twice but I haven’t done that since before COVID>
I hadn’t heard that about the GLP-1s. But I didn’t have much interest anyway. I might have 2-3 beers a year. Maybe a drink with colleagues at a conference if I’m not driving.
Last Zepbound is Sunday, but I signed up with him for something that should be similar, I hope. Six month subscription, not sure if I’ll continue after that, or if I’ll need to.
I might have 5 ounces of Zin wine when I get anxiety from reading how long I’ll live and being a smoker for 66 years and both my parents passed in their 50’s.
They are exploring GLP for OCD and other disorders. Lots of theories as to how it works. It is being tested as a treatment for alcoholism. It doesn’t make drinking unpleasant; it just seems to lower your desire.
I feel the same way about these kinds of claims about coffee. I just do not buy the notion that this 200° brown acid water is somehow healthy. It smells like industry dollars influencing those conclusions.
I suspect a true clinical study measuring biomarkers would tell a different story.
Despite my comments immediately above, I do find this plausible for just about anything.
Along with “the dose makes the poison,” there is also a phenomenon called hormesis — a.k.a. the hormetic effect — in which limited exposure to a low grade toxin exercises the body’s defense mechanisms and provides a health boost.
Even apples have a trace amount of cyanide, for instance.
Obviously the dose has to be appropriate. One drink per month for example, not three per day.
I talked to a cardiologist about it once. He thought 2-4 ounces a day would provide a benefit since it would help thin the blood a bit.
Who drinks 2-4 ounces? Nobody.
I wonder if he would agree that 21 oz per week (3 oz times 7 days) taken in one or two doses would provide the same benefit.
As I say that, it seems this is a large amount.
No, it had to be spread out. That was his opinion. You could never consume more then 4 ounces a day, otherwise the negatives outweigh the positives.
I thought there was something some years ago that turned the taste of alcohol very nasty. I may be misremembering.
As I understand it, the oversimplified version of GLP-1s is they basically make your digestion process go slower, so your stomach takes longer to empty and so you don’t get hungry so soon.
Doc had me do a blood test before prescribing Zepbound, checking for any thyroid issues. The Hims NP didn’t seem concerned about that. Asked like 2 questions about the things I had entered and that’s it.
Couple of drugs do that. metronidazole will make you projectile vomit.
Some people feel it increases the risk of thyroid cancer. Seems to only be an issue if you have a history of thyroid cancer.
We used to be regular consumers of wine and been know to buy by the case. When my wife had to get a stent in 2024 (due to heredity, not drinking related), she gave it up cold turkey and I worked through the few bottles we had until they were gone. I had a glass or two at a holiday dinner, but that’s it. Can’t really say that I miss it.
I rarely drink wine. It tends to make me feel like shit the next day.
This all being said, I will probably strain my coffee whiskey tonight and try it.
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Believe that Mounjaro and Zepbound are pretty similar. The dosages start at 2.5 and increase by 2.5, eventually to 15.0 mgs.
I started at 2.5 and eventually got to 12.5. Each month the dosage would increase by 2.5.
At 12.5 started having stomach issues. The main one being diarrhea. Backed off to 10.0 and so far so good.
I had read that it sends your brain an “I’m full” signal so you don’t overeat. I have noticed that if I have a sandwich for lunch when I am out with my bike group, I wrap half of it up to take home.
I smoked off and on all my life. I haven’t smoked in about 3 years now. But part of that was the costs…I was buying a pack of gum at a convenience store and the guy was putting cigs in teh slots. I asked him how much a carton was - he said about $110 for Marlboro’s. Back in the 80’s, I was smoking about 3 packs a day…I’d go broke at that rate today. While a lot of ex smokers are nazis - I liked it. I don’t like the smell of a cigaratte burning in an ashtray, but the smell of teh smoke wafting out of a truck window actually smells good to me. I said if I ever get diagnosed with something terminal, I’m taking up drinking and smoking again.
The smell when it is first lit is awesome.
I haven’t smoked since the mid-1980s and that was usually a pipe and occasionally a cigar. Whenever we get near someone who smokes today, we can smell it immediately, and it’s not a pleasant scent. My guess is that more people than average here in NM smoke.
In 1962 we paid $1.10 a carton for sea-store cigarettes in the Navy. Whenever our ship would go outside the 12-mile marker the skipper would open the ship’s store to avoid having to pay taxes on them.
I started when I was 16 and quit cold turkey in 1963.