Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2016 3:46 pm**

denise wrote:When I was a kid, I saw a scientist on PBS say he didn't drink or do drugs because he never wanted to be unaware of his surroundings, or reality. That pretty much stuck with me. Now I have a health reason of why I don't do drugs, but that main reason still holds true.

I drink and I've smoked a lot of pot but this reason is also something that resonates with me. Nietzche says the same thing as well. Drugs allow you to avoid reality and it's better to face it.

Still I think drugs in moderation are basically fine.

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2016 3:54 pm**

what's so great about reality?

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2016 4:03 pm**

BRUTE wrote:what's so great about reality?

It is not that reality is great, it is that the opposite (fantasy, delusion) opens one up to being manipulated and controlled. Also, a clearer view of reality provides a base from which to make accurate and useful decisions.

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2016 4:46 pm**

I never understood why alcohol is so popular. So many other things out there that are so much better effect wise and not as damaging to the health.

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2016 6:56 pm**

Ego wrote:It is not that reality is great, it is that the opposite (fantasy, delusion) opens one up to being manipulated and controlled.

in brute's experience, living in reality vs. taking drugs (even hallucinogens) correlates very little with delusion outside of the trips themselves.

Posted: **Sun Oct 30, 2016 9:26 pm**

For some, there is tendency to wall off certain aspects of reality from one's awareness when sober due to their being scary, depressing, or intense. To the extent drugs undermine that, they can allow parts of reality to be experienced that otherwise would not be. But that also naturally limits how often one wants to use those drugs.

Alcohol, on the other hand, tends to allow human beings who otherwise find it difficult to tap into a more social, emotional, and less overthought mode of relating to reality. Given the way our emotions tend to imbue reality, I think this is just emphasizing one possible reality over others for a time.

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2017 4:21 pm**

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38562048

Alcohol flips brain into hungry mode

In tests on mice, alcohol activated the brain signals that tell the body to eat more food. The UK researchers, who report their findings in the journal Nature Communications, believe the same is probably true in humans. It would explain why many people say they eat more when they have had a few drinks. Rather than loss of restraint, it is a neuronal response, the Francis Crick Institute team says. The mice were given generous doses of alcohol for three days - a dose being equivalent to around 18 units or a bottle-and-a-half of wine for a person. The alcohol caused increased activity in neurons called AGRP. These are the neurons that are fired when the body experiences starvation.

Posted: **Wed Jan 11, 2017 11:01 pm**

Ego - one thing I hate about drinking alcohol is that I often eat a tonne of junk food at the same time. I get drunk and then go nuts. I should state that my nuts is eating crappy food not getting into fights or doing really dumb things.

I used to smoke a lot of pot. I remember getting the munchies once or twice but typically I would eat less.

Posted: **Wed Apr 04, 2018 3:02 pm**

Interesting video on apparent health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption by Dr Greger:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-it- ... one-at-all

The conclusion of the meta-analysis cited:

Estimates of mortality risk from alcohol are significantly altered by study design and characteristics. Meta-analyses adjusting for these factors find that low-volume alcohol consumption has no net mortality benefit compared with lifetime abstention or occasional drinking. These findings have implications for public policy, the formulation of low-risk drinking guidelines, and future research on alcohol and health.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26997174

Also alcohol and cancer:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/can-al ... se-cancer/

Edit: another video in the series:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/do-any ... the-risks/

Posted: **Mon Aug 22, 2022 4:07 pm**

Newer study from earlier this year researching effects of low volume alcohol consumption on the brain.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28735-5

Heavy alcohol consumption has been associated with brain atrophy, neuronal loss, and poorer white matter fiber integrity. However, there is conflicting evidence on whether light-to-moderate alcohol consumption shows similar negative associations with brain structure.
...
Consistent with prior literature, we find negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure. Specifically, alcohol intake is negatively associated with global brain volume measures, regional gray matter volumes, and white matter microstructure. Here, we show that the negative associations between alcohol intake and brain macrostructure and microstructure are already apparent in individuals consuming an average of only one to two daily alcohol units, and become stronger as alcohol intake increases.

Posted: **Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:18 pm**

I'm planning on abstaining from alcohol until New Years Eve. Possibly a bit longer depending on how I feel. Anyone interested in joining? Feel free to participate even if you want to try it for a couple weeks or set your own deadline.

Posted: **Tue Nov 29, 2022 8:05 pm**

While alcohol is not my particular drug of choice (not by my own merit, just an incident of wiring), I will join with refined sugar - things like snickers bars and baked goods - which very much are my drug of choice

Posted: **Tue Nov 29, 2022 8:22 pm**

I have been abstaining from alcohol for 36 years now so I will join in.

In addition I will stop eating anything with added sugar, which is my drug of choice. I might make it 24 hours if I'm lucky though.

Posted: **Tue Nov 29, 2022 8:29 pm**

M wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 29, 2022 8:22 pm
I might make it 24 hours if I'm lucky though.

relatable

Posted: **Wed Nov 30, 2022 3:07 pm**

I have been abstaining since September 4 (my 50th birthday!) so considered me joined in. Thanksgiving was a tough weekend and I suspect there will be some rough spots over the next month. The support of internet strangers will be much appreciated

I don't think there is any help for my sugar addiction so I am not even going to attempt that one. You guys are on your own with that!

Posted: **Thu Dec 01, 2022 2:26 pm**

Best of luck with the refined sugar challenge. That is quite ambitious during the holiday season.

@SouthernAlchemy - glad to have you on board. Strength in numbers.

Posted: **Thu Dec 01, 2022 5:09 pm**

I'll hop on the no refined or added sugar train. I'm in the same position as M and ertyu of not drinking much alcohol, but definitely having a sugar problem.

Posted: **Thu Dec 01, 2022 7:47 pm**

In, on my 3rd month being AF.

Posted: **Thu Dec 01, 2022 11:10 pm**

Reporting quick progress: so far, no success in actually staying away from refined sugar and baked goods but I have increased my awareness of how I end up consuming these things. One time was straight-up self-medication for difficult emotions I was experiencing; a couple of times was, I realized I use them as reward for unpleasant work tasks I've completed or as a bribe to get myself to do said tasks. I also saw how much of it is simply a mindless habit. So while there's been no change in actual behavior, there's been cautious progress

Posted: **Fri Dec 02, 2022 8:47 am**

I lasted a few hours before I accidentally ate a candy bar. I remembered I was doing this challenge right after I ate the candy. smh.

Reflecting on this some - sugar is what I eat when I feel stressed or tired.

I did not eat anything with added sugar yesterday.

Today my fasting blood sugar was 86. Normally this is in the 100-105 range (pre-diabetic). Watching my blood sugar drop and not wanting to be diabetic someday are strong motivators for avoiding sugar.

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