I'm not in the top decile but am unfortunately in the 9th at 2+ drinks every single day. The vast majority of that is red wine with dinner very late in the evening immediately prior to going to bed. The red wine part of that may not be so bad, but the rest of it probably is, and I certainly wouldn't recommend my routine as any kind of healthy practice.
One of the many issues with alcohol is its ability to induce gout. In the book "Drop Acid" (Perlmutter, 2022), the author reports on a large review conducted in 2018 relative to the consumption of various foods. While I have no idea how these results were quantified, the following represents the % gout increase associated with different foods:
Alcohol 158%
Fructose 114%
Seafood 31%
Red Meat 29%
There are also foods that reduce risk. Slightly further on in the book, the author actually recommends the quercetin you mention as a dietary supplement to lower uric acid levels. Uric acid is the substance internally that precipitates out in one's joints and causes the symptoms of gout.
Despite my relatively large consumption of alcohol, as well as considerable intake of red meat, I do not currently have gout, but I once did. That was apparently related to the #2 substance on the list, fructose, which is one half of the sucrose (table sugar) molecule, and "Drop Acid" is indeed more or less an anti-fructose book. Three and a half years ago, I independently made the decision to limit my sugar intake to a max of 25 grams per day, as I had concluded beyond question it was the least healthy thing in my diet. At some point afterwards, I noted my gout had gone away, as had the peripheral neuropathy in my toes, which is what many people with Type 2 diabetes have (my fasting glucose has never actually been in the diabetic range).
I had also been drinking alcohol during that entire time at essentially the same rate, so it was clearly the reduction in sugar that caused those problems to go away.
In terms of alcohol consumption, am I an alcoholic? If someone wants to label me as one, I'm actually okay with that, but if I am, I'm a very high functioning one, and I am also extraordinarily healthy for my age. However, we need to be clear that excess alcohol consumption can dramatically shorten one's life. I conclude with a link to the obituary for my cousin, who died four and a half years ago of alcoholism at the same age I am today.
I'm not in the top decile but am unfortunately in the 9th at 2+ drinks every single day. The vast majority of that is red wine with dinner very late in the evening immediately prior to going to bed. The red wine part of that may not be so bad, but the rest of it probably is, and I certainly wouldn't recommend my routine as any kind of healthy practice.
One of the many issues with alcohol is its ability to induce gout. In the book "Drop Acid" (Perlmutter, 2022), the author reports on a large review conducted in 2018 relative to the consumption of various foods. While I have no idea how these results were quantified, the following represents the % gout increase associated with different foods:
Alcohol 158%
Fructose 114%
Seafood 31%
Red Meat 29%
There are also foods that reduce risk. Slightly further on in the book, the author actually recommends the quercetin you mention as a dietary supplement to lower uric acid levels. Uric acid is the substance internally that precipitates out in one's joints and causes the symptoms of gout.
Despite my relatively large consumption of alcohol, as well as considerable intake of red meat, I do not currently have gout, but I once did. That was apparently related to the #2 substance on the list, fructose, which is one half of the sucrose (table sugar) molecule, and "Drop Acid" is indeed more or less an anti-fructose book. Three and a half years ago, I independently made the decision to limit my sugar intake to a max of 25 grams per day, as I had concluded beyond question it was the least healthy thing in my diet. At some point afterwards, I noted my gout had gone away, as had the peripheral neuropathy in my toes, which is what many people with Type 2 diabetes have (my fasting glucose has never actually been in the diabetic range).
I had also been drinking alcohol during that entire time at essentially the same rate, so it was clearly the reduction in sugar that caused those problems to go away.
In terms of alcohol consumption, am I an alcoholic? If someone wants to label me as one, I'm actually okay with that, but if I am, I'm a very high functioning one, and I am also extraordinarily healthy for my age. However, we need to be clear that excess alcohol consumption can dramatically shorten one's life. I conclude with a link to the obituary for my cousin, who died four and a half years ago of alcoholism at the same age I am today.
https://www.bomanfh.com/obituaries/Allan-Richard-Spangler?obId=4450992