With Dasain around the corner, it's a good time to talk about alcohol. A lot of people including doctors do not know what, in terms of quantity, comprises a single drink. Without that knowledge, one wouldn't really know what alcohol abuse is, right?

We can broadly place alcoholic drinks into three groups: beer, spirits (whisky, rum, vodka, gin) and wine. Regular alcohol content is about 5 per cent in a bottle of beer, 40 per cent in spirits and 12 per cent in wine. So about 350ml of beer (one can), 150 ml of wine (two thirds of a regular wine glass), and 45 ml of spirits would comprise one measure of a drink.
A healthy man without any contraindications to alcohol may have two drinks per day (or 14 drinks a week), and a healthy, non-pregnant woman, one drink per day (7 drinks a week), as women metabolise alcohol differently. Consuming more than this would constitute alcohol abuse.

Now what of all the news about alcohol being good for you? Drinking, like most things in life, is a double-edged sword. There is some good evidence to show that moderate alcohol consumption may be cardio protective, as it decreases the chance of having blocked coronary arteries, which lead to heart attacks. In addition to having fewer heart attacks and strokes, moderate consumers of alcoholic beverages are generally less likely to suffer high blood pressure, peripheral artery disease, Alzheimer's disease and the common cold. That's not counting the 'ananda' factor of a little tipple.

All people who drink are certainly not alcoholics. But there is no question that the potential for abuse of alcohol is high. Homicides, liver diseases, cancer, strokes, and some heart diseases are all associated with alcohol abuse.
Trying to drink in moderation is difficult given the addictive power of the drug. Importantly, being able to 'hold your drink' is no protection against the ill effects of alcohol. People who are teetotallers should certainly not start drinking now based on what they have read in the papers about alcohol being good for health. By the same token, a healthy adult who drinks according to the above guidelines and has no contraindications need not stop drinking just because his or her mother-in-law does not approve.