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I've 'given up' drinking for now (since January in fact) and I feel great about it. There is a price to alcohol in the monetary sense but also for health and social reasons (I'll save the details here).
I'll add that I partake of other leisurely activities that may or may not involve intoxicating substances. I look at this as a pressure release valve for the mundane, sometimes stressful, motions of every day life. I'm very occasional about it.
I know @Darthcoin loves beer and I think @k00b has said before on SNL that he abstains from drinking entirely.

This is a three-in-one, guys, feel free to abstain from answering any or all as you see fit (lol - i guess you know that)
  • I'm wondering how other stackers relate to substances?
  • Do you drink and if so are you regular about it or more spontaneous?
  • Do you also have a 'valve,' as I have?
I drink alcohol very rarely. I've never found it to be worth the monetary cost and I know it's basically poison. In social situations, I'll drink a little, but that's about it.
Other than caffein, I don't partake more than that of the other "substances".
My "valve" is either a hot bath or walk outside, depending on time of year.
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The social aspect of drinking is perplexing. It can be a 'social lubricant' at best, yet seems to be the root cause of lots of broken relationships
It's for social reasons that I'm not particularly fond of alcohol. Many a family's traumas, tragedies and silly needless feuds all could have been avoided it you took alcohol out of the mix. Those with good self-control are the exception and not the rule; those who don't have blemished what otherwise could be a good thing.
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I appreciate that dynamic, but I'm just talking about letting someone (who's obviously enjoying the role) mix me a cocktail or cracking a beer while I talk to people.
You only get to be so fringe and unrelatable before people stop wanting to hang out with you...and I'm weird enough without adding another thing to the mix.
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37 sats \ 1 reply \ @gmd 6h
Add me to the camp that thinks the trend of people drinking less might be bad for society. Just one more excuse for people to stare at their phones and not go out and socialize.
Especially when you're young it's fun to go out and have great stories getting drunk with your friends.
As I get older I find a drink or two messes with my sleep and makes me tired the next day, combine that with the price tag it's enough to discourage me.
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I agree that why people are drinking less matters a lot.
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I'm confident that SN loves your weirdness.
letting someone (who's obviously enjoying the role) mix me a cocktail or cracking a beer while I talk to people.
This is similar to the 'gratitude for hospitality' rule followed, I believe, by the Franciscan order of monks, who generally follow a strictly vegetarian diet except when when accepting the hospitality of others. According to the Christian standpoint, these exceptions are made out of the edict, 'Love thy neighbour as yourself.'
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I think modern hipsters call that "flexitarian".
I share this first sentiment. I don’t regularly drink. Occasionally I’ll drink if the social environment calls for it. I don’t find it to be worth the monetary cost. It’s also very dehydrating for me, and I already struggle with dehydration so it’s simply not worth that
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76 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 10h
Do you drink and if so are you regular about it or more spontaneous?
I did stop drinking. I had dinner with friends a few weeks ago and had a beer to be polite, quickly drank it, and struggled but succeeded to not order another.
I have a weak moderation ability. Plus both my parents are addicts, one with alcohol primarily, the other with pills primarily.
If it weren't for how much I work, I might still drink, but I feel like I'm doing enough damage via working all the time and don't want to make things worse.
I'm wondering how other stackers relate to substances?
I let myself chew nicotine gum endlessly. I also drink about as much caffeine as I want most days until ~3pm. That's where I try to keep my "line."
Do you also have a 'valve,' as I have?
The best self-valves I've found are walking, yoga, reading great fiction, and talking with a friend I trust deeply. Absent higher commitment things like that, I'll take a kratom gummy (which is functionally an herbal opiate) which is kind of like my "line after the line."
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I experienced an irregular heart rhythm while using kratom once so I stopped. I believe I read once that some people use kratom to help cut opiate addiction.
I think about this bizarre Jim Morrison 'interview' dubbed over by Rick Rubin where Morrison admits to being 'an alcoholic type person' and adds that the 'Irish are more the alcoholic type.' The interview is worth listening to in its entirety as I think it gave a window into the vulnerable, if not slightly misanthropic, poet-Morrison. It is beautiful, haunting and a bit tragic listening to his voice. Anyway it made me reflective on the cultural baggage that drinking has, wherein comes packaged the specters of both intergenerational traumas and festivities.
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What does nicotine gum do for you?
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100 sats \ 1 reply \ @Aardvark 13h
I used to drink quite a lot, but I gave it up when I finally decided to lose weight and get in shape. After taking a break from drinking, I found out that when I drink, I lose my motivation for days after. I went over 2 years without a drop, until recently, I had one beer in honor of my friend who passed away. I doubt I'll drink again anytime soon.
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I know a man in his late seventies. Can work outside in the heat for hours without flinching, has no major health issues and he never touched alcohol once in his whole live. I have a hard time thinking that his abstinence is unrelated to his longevity. On the other hand, some people's bodies seem to be able to handle it.
I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I'm the type who thinks that a principled life needs to have some exceptions - this is a good example.
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55 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby 12h
I haven’t had a drink in over 10 years.
I don’t take other substances other than the odd CBD gummy.
My pressure release valve is walking in nature and playing guitar.
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I haven’t had a drink in over 10 years.
Well done, man.
walking in nature and playing guitar.
From my experience, both are enhanced by a bit of THC, fwiw.
I'm sure you have good reasons for the decisions you make. Sounds like you're living your best life. Keep it up.
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I'm wondering how other stackers relate to substances?
I don't relate to substances any more. When I was younger, I related heavily until I realized what it does to people. I used to go to parties where there was heavy drinking and smoking, until I arrived to one about 3 hours late, I saw nothing but a real bunch of assholes giving everyone a hard time, including themselves. I quit then and there. I also quit tobacco after seeing what happens to lungs of a smoker in scientific detail, with pictures, in an article in Nature. Whenever I felt the urge to smoke, I remembered those pictures. I immediately went cold turkey after a 3 pack-a-day habit.
Do you drink and if so are you regular about it or more spontaneous?
I will occasionally (rarely, really) have a glass of wine with dinner. I also cook with wine in stews and etc. but there is no alcohol residue by the time I finish cooking.
Do you also have a 'valve,' as I have?
Nowadays, it seems that SN is one of my valves. I also read science fiction or watch some movies, since I have a collection of them on DVDs.
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444 sats \ 1 reply \ @SpaceHodler 8h
I haven't had a drop of alcohol in over 12 years.
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All my best to you, citoyen d'éspace.
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107 sats \ 5 replies \ @DarthCoin 13h
I do not remember when was last time I drank a glass of water... but I am very well "vitaminized".
And please don't come to me with bullshit explanations that beer is damaging my health. I don't fucking care: I have a life and I live it as I want. If I die with a beer in my hand, I will be the most happiest dead man in the world. BTW, for more I drink beer, more healthy I am. I have 25 years that I never visited a medic to check up on me and I am still drinking beer every fucking day and digging with my bare hands, building my citadel.
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😃
Edit: I love beer too so for my challenge I'm drinking dealcoholized beer. Certainly not the same, but still a good way to enjoy a barley sandwich imo. Not sure how long g I'll keep it up ...
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I'm drinking dealcoholized beer.
So you are a piss drinker. That beer should never exist, is the most moronic thing.
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So you are a piss drinker.
Sometimes you just have to live on the edge.
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Saludos (con una Águila grande) de Málaga
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i like to have wine on a Friday or sometimes an iced glass of whisky in a hot bath, i like it as something to signal the weekend is here. pour a glass and relax to play video games or watch a movie.
never beer a beer lover really, just get bloated and it's not an effective way to get buzzed imo.
in my 20s i would be drinking and partying on fridays and Saturdays, out all night meeting women, and I loved it, never affected me at all. obvs wouldn't be doing that at almost 40 as it would kill my older body.
a lot of people use drink as an escape though to escape stress or fix some other issue, that's when it usually becomes a problem, i think.
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I drink nearly every day but I have a policy of not drinking at home so it's always out in a social setting. I go totally dry for ~6 weeks every January and in that time I feel amazing and get a lot done but also feel quite bored haha.
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'Resetting' your body like you do in January is important. I'm certainly interested in different types of fasts and how this can jump-start our bodies' natural healing mechanisms.
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Yeah I actuallly do a three day water fast during that period as well. Does feel good to start my year with a solid reset!
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Of cos most persons drink.. there's even a drinking festival in Germany every 1st of October and the festival is called "Oktober fest"
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @flat24 1h
I grew up in a place to drink alcohol is normal from 14 or 15 years. I consider that during my adolescence I drink everything that corresponded to me for life. Exactly 10 years ago they were my latest activities in conjunction with alcohol. I decided to pay a certain point, after my 20 years. And since then I have kept free of a drunkenness and spending that generates drinking alcohol for a long time.
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I used to drink everyday for like 6 years straight, shitty vodka. I qiit drinking but i replaced it with other less harmful drugs
So @DarthCoin, why do you love drinking?
I don't like to drink. Only at parties for c
I used to accept a drink from people at social events, just to be normal, but then after a sip or two, I wouldn't finish it.
I just don't like the taste. And it's basically poison to the body, so just not interested.
Other substances...nope, not for decades. Just don't like it.
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Yes, I come from a country where beer and rugby are core to the nations culture so until a few more boomer shed their coils, not drinking is the option that raises eye brows.
With that said and with the benefit of distance and the perspective it brings I can see that the level or drinking normalised in my home country is truly unhealthy. As I have gotten older and specifically over the last ten years I have cut back more and more, where I used to go through 3 litres of beer a night I now go through 0.7.
And there will be multiple alcohol free nights a week these days which once upon a time would have been viewed as heresy. Funnily enough thanks to spending too much time with a bad influence I can drink more then ever these days, although I am much slower and more moderated in my drinking as a result of that ‘training’.
I’m also more particular these days, I like my beer and have almost entirely given up on wine and spirits such as scotch which I used to love involving in all the sophisticated celebrations fine dining entailed with aperitifs and digestives etc. now I just want one or two of my favourite craft beer and I am happy with that.
Once a week I like to go out with a friend and ‘tie one on’ but these days that involves a lot less total volume consumed than the old days, home before midnight and a very mild hangover. I really fucking hate hangovers these days, my body cannot bounce back like it used to so I rarely drink to the point of having a bad hangover, once a year, maybe never. I’ve also come to believe that beer is pretty damn healthy for you, especially if free of preservatives.
I have my wife to thank for reining in my drinking, I am much happier drinking less but I fought her every step. I am pleased to see the kids today don’t drink anywhere nearly as much as we did but in my home county it’s going to take time, the drinking culture is deeply ingrained and there is little encouragement around excelling at academics, STEM etc. and much stronger emphasis on manly ball sports and drinking beer. On the contrary, if you excel academically and don’t like drinking, people will have it out for you nerd, we don’t like that type of behaviour round these parts.
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Over 50% of American Youths drink
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Occasionally and socially. You only live once
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Never took a drink in my life. I took a pledge at 18 to abstain, and have stuck with it. No regrets. From time to time I think to myself that it would be nice to try a fine wine, but other than that I don't feel its necessary in my life. I was a bartender for many years in NY, and many of the regulars loved my cocktails. I had no clue how any of them tasted.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Blank 6h
Not anymore, I use to be a heavy drinker, and I really can't say how much. But it was normal for me to drink more than half a bottle of whiskey, or two bottles of wine, or two dozen beers in a single sitting. Multiple times per week. Not something I am proud of at all.
I quit drinking about 16 months ago, I gradually cut down until I just decided to stop. I don't think I would ever drink again to be honest.
My valve is a small amount of Cannabis once or twice a week. I find Sativa strains particularly helpful for clearing my mental cache.
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I drink mostly wine and beer, I see as nutrition complement. Wine is better for me as beer makes me feel too much sugar in the blood.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @398ja 8h
I stopped on my wedding day, 13+ years ago, with a short hiatus during the pandemic, mostly beer, then stopped again completely 3+ years ago. Being sober all the time is a superpower
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Not anymore, especially after I discovered how many wonderful and health options out there!
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I used to but not as much anymore. Kids and lack of interest, really. I can’t say I’m a total teetotaler, but it’s maybe a 2-3 times a year deal now.
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Funny enough, I’m reading this post while drinking
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Over here in the tropics, I still enjoy a cold beer now and then. It’s kind of a universal excuse — for the heat, for hanging out with friends, or just watching a game. Always good vibes, as long as it’s in moderation. 🍻
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Ah, our lovely substances. (#965471)
Yes — coffee being the prime, daily drug.
Yes, I drink — pretty irregularly, more on late summer evenings chilling and when I travel somewhere with friends. (The caveat here is that I didn't touch alcohol until age 28, so whatever small amounts I consume these days I'm still gonna be far ahead of where I would have been had I been a regular binge-drinking teenager. Plus, the quality of my booze is somewhat higher than that counterfactual would suggest too: #965471)
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beer is a gift from the gods, and a high-quality beer shud be sought out in order to be enjoyed; the dumb drinkers will go after cheap beer made from toxic ingredients in cheap containers, and they will become sick; same thing with supplements - many body builders get liver abscesses from consuming cheap industrial sludge, for example;
alcohol is EtOH, a compound with a dedicated enzyme produced by ur own body, and anyone who says it's poison, shud consider a variety of many other poisons that they breathe in, ingest, absorb, and inject! these poisons are invisible, but can be perceived and avoided by the power of your God-given brain;
high quality substances in general shud go into ur body, or else be sober and fast; if u don't filter the consumables, u are the filter, so treat ur filter well, and seek out quality consumables;
i also like an occasional cigar, of the highest quality i can afford; there is evidence floating around that nicotine can help break down some compounds that are inside the injectables;
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The Tennesseean says...
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I drink, though I've never really enjoyed getting buzzed or drunk (I do that maybe once every few years at a party with friends). But I love a good beer as well as various spirits (scotch and gin in particular). Probably consume about four drinks a week total.
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I used to drink... a lot. Every (week)day, 10+ beers. In a social setting, that is. Rarely alone.
Then, I left university, and I kept drinking, but it became less frequent. Now, nearly 2 decades later, it's more like once a week. A still can drink one too many, but I can go for months without.
Life was good when I had it back in the day (it did wonders for my social life), life is good now without (it does wonders for my health). Also, my wife can't drink (that missing enzyme~~) but likes it, so I prefer drinking less to avoid putting temptations in front of her.
My valve is sports now.
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(that missing enzyme~~)
low alcohol dehydrogenase, I read about it in my school books :)
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