Expert: Druideck - 7/9/2009

Question
Hello!  I've been doing a great deal of research on the health benefits of beer recently, and I am very interested in taking advantage of these benefits.  One of the positive effects is a substantial reduction in the formation of kidney stones, which I may be very prone to.  My mother and my wife have shown concern, however, because all of these studys state that the benefits are greatest when one drinks beer moderately (which always seems to be represented as two beers a day for males and 1 for females).  They both feel that two beers a day is bordering alcoholism.  As it is, I rarely have the urge to drink more than one or two beers at any given time, and its almost always at night with dinner.  I suppose my question is whether or not drinking two beers a day consitantly would be considered by an expert like yourself as alcoholism.  The studies I'm referencing make it very clear that drinking more than two a day will reduce and even reverse these positive effects, and I am well aware of this.  I currently do not binge drink, and I don't plan on doing so.  Thank you for your help!  Below is a link to a medical abstract from the American Journal of Medical Sciences regarding what I was speaking about.

http://journals.lww.com/amjmedsci/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2000&issue=11000...

Answer
David,

Alcoholism is characterized more by
the loss of control when drinking
than how much a person drinks or how
often. It also involves strong craving.
If you have a history of alcoholism
in your family then drinking may not be
worth experimenting with.

Alcoholism usually involves problems
caused by lack of control such as
impaired driving charges,
relationship or family difficulties
and other emotional and/or mental
and physical health problems.

A drink or two per day may be okay if you are
not experiencing any problems due
to alcohol use.

You may also want to question yourself
as to why you are interested in pursuing
a possibly unhealthy path to better health.
Being overly interested in beer as a health
aid may be a warning sign to future alcohol
problems developing.
Alcoholism also includes a mental obscession
with drinking.

Common sense and some caution is advised
but make sure you are well aware of how
you react to drinking and what your
family history is like concerning
alcohol use/abuse.

Some people are able to use alcohol
moderately without any serious living
problems developing, others are not.

If it is upsetting your family
just to talk about this then
perhaps that is enough to abandon
the idea. Just some food for thought.