very few people want to talk about Alcohol

Let's talk about Alcohol.

Ohhhh - a dirty subject.  Yeah - beer, wine, hard liquor and the consumption of the beverage carrying the alcohol (ethanol).

Ethanol, also called alcohol, ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, and drinking alcohol, is a chemical compound, a simple alcohol with the chemical formula C 2 H 5 OH. Its formula can be also written as CH 3 − CH 2 − OH or C 2 H 5 − OH (an ethyl group linked to a hydroxyl group), and is often abbreviated as EtOH.  Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a slight characteristic odor.

Yeah - it's the same thing they add to the gasoline your put into your vehicle.  Imagine that, you are actually drinking a fuel additive.

So why am I talking about this chemical - well I just quit drinking it.  Stigma?  nope.

Ethanol is a highly toxic, addictive substance.  It is also deadly, drink too much of it in pure form and you will die, and it will not be a social and fun event.

We drink it as beer, wine and hard liquor and various other named cocktails.  But regardless of the delivery name we are drinking ethanol.  Without it you probably wouldn't drink the malt, grape or corn juice.

We are so brainwashed and delusional when it comes to ingesting this liquid that close to 85% of all adults drink alcohol laced beverages at some time. Hell - some actually believe the number one killing drug in Western society is "healthy" for you - drink two glasses of red wine it's good for your heart.  So when you have a heart attack, the first thing they do is serve you a glass of Merlot?

Let me state fact - alcohol is addictive. Period end of story.  You will build a tolerance to the drug like you will build a tolerance to any addictive drug (i.e. nicotine, cocaine, opioids etc.). What this means is over time you will need more of the drugs to achieve the same physical effect.   The "buzz" you received from 2 alcohol laced drinks will now be achieved with 3 alcohol drinks.  Addictive drugs and your body just work that way - it's your bodies defense mechanism against the toxic chemical and it's immediate effects.

My alcohol beverage of choice was beer - craft beer, although if needed I would pretty much drink any alcohol laced beverage (the "needed" will be explained later).  I could pretty much consume 8-10 craft beers before I would just lay down and pass out - great fun, huh?  Initially I would drink 2-3 very quickly (mini-binge drinking), then start "normal" drinking.  Hahahaha - what is "normal drinking?"  the pat answer is - it all depends. Normal drinking for me was 6-7 more beers over the drinking episode.  Sick huh?  Addicted - yes!

Quitting alcohol is believed to be "hard". And if you quit you may and probably will end up with the societal stigma of he's "one of them". You know, them - "the alcoholic."  The modern day leper.  Drink for a while then quit and people - your friends, family and acquaintances will look at you like you have a "disease" that could be contagious. 

I love being a Non-Drinker.

Let's talk about Alcohol - the next series of blog posts will do just that and explain my current alcohol free journey.