{"id":311,"date":"2025-05-18T10:32:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T08:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.familie-kleinman.nl\/brain\/?p=311"},"modified":"2025-05-18T11:59:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T09:59:40","slug":"alcohol-is-the-only-drug-you-need-an-excuse-not-to-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familie-kleinman.nl\/brain\/index.php\/2025\/05\/18\/alcohol-is-the-only-drug-you-need-an-excuse-not-to-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Alcohol is the only drug you need an excuse not to use"},"content":{"rendered":"

I started drinking beer around the age of 16 or 17, I guess. I actually stopped for a while when I saw the other side of alcohol \u2014 back when I worked at a Laserquest arena and had to deal with more than enough drunk people. I cleaned up my fair share of vomit, or cleaned up after people who couldn\u2019t even hold their proverbial number one while playing a game of lasertag in the labyrinth.<\/p>\n

That experience put me off for a good while. But a few years later, I started drinking again.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

No fucking clue.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Your first drink<\/h2>\n

And do you remember your first drink? Your first beer or your first glass of wine? Did you like it?<\/p>\n

I sure as hell didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Beer is bitter by design. I hated it the first few drinks. I can still remember people telling me, \u201cIt\u2019s an acquired taste!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah\u2026 right.<\/p>\n

And take wine, for instance. I still can\u2019t enjoy it. I never made it past the so-called \u201cacquired taste\u201d<\/em> stage. How the hell is it even possible to create something so foul-tasting from something as tasty as a grape? What even is<\/em> the taste of wine, anyway?<\/p>\n

Oak barrel juice?<\/p>\n

And how do people even imagine it has a fragrance of banana, strawberry, or whatever fruit they think they smell or taste? Seriously \u2014 it\u2019s fermented grape juice that\u2019s been sitting in a wooden barrel.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget the traditional method: people mushing grapes with their bare feet.<\/p>\n

Toe cheese, anyone? Try getting that idea out of your mind. \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n

Or the insane customs that come with wine. You have to spin it in your glass, then stick your nose inside to smell the so-called aroma, and then slurp a bit to \u201cenhance the taste.\u201d All part of the wine-snobism \u2014 pardon my French.<\/p>\n

Try doing the same with a cola or a coffee, and people will look at you like you\u2019ve completely lost your mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let alone when you say, \u201cHey, this cola has a banana fragrance in the background \u2014 this must be a good year!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I quit drinking<\/h2>\n

“Alcohol is the only drug that if you don’t do people will look at you like you’re having a problem.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The quote is not mine. It is taken from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6eCktvGBkeo<\/a> this video, credits where it is due \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

I quit drinking a few months ago. Do I miss my beer? Yes! Even yesterday. We got home from working in our garden, and the moment we stepped inside, I craved a cold beer.<\/p>\n

Am I really that conditioned?<\/p>\n

But I didn\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

For one, alcohol is just empty calories \u2014 and the more I dive into the subject, the more I\u2019m glad I stopped drinking. And now let this sink in. We all know smoking is bad for you \u2014 no debate there.<\/p>\n

But did you know that alcohol is ranked on the exact same level as heroin and tobacco when it comes to health risks?<\/p>\n

Yes. It\u2019s that bad.<\/p>\n

And to make it worse: alcohol is socially accepted. \u201cHey, you don\u2019t want wine with your food? Are you sick? Are you pregnant?\u201d You actually need an excuse not to drink!<\/p>\n

Alcohol is linked to several types of cancer. And here\u2019s another lovely fact: alcohol is an actual poison. Your body just happens to have developed a way to break it down \u2014 as long as you only ingest small amounts.<\/p>\n

The reason our bodies can cope with small quantities of alcohol is actually pretty simple. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors were able to eat overripe and partially fermenting fruits in the autumn. That small evolutionary advantage \u2014 being able to survive the mild toxicity of fermented fruit \u2014 is why your liver can just barely<\/em> handle alcohol today.<\/p>\n

Let that sink in: we normalized a toxic substance, just because we can barely handle it.<\/p>\n

Lets take it to the extreme:<\/p>\n