ronswelters2

ronswelters2, on 2011-07-28 12:14:35, said:

Correction to the foregoing post: on re-reviewing Wechsler's definition I see that his definition of one drink is one 12 oz standard beer which leads to his (controversial) claim that 90 FLUID OUNCES of absolute alcohol is a "binge". This equates to 70 grams of alcohol, not 90 as I stated above. So the daily drinking patterns above are really "binge plus 25%". The word "binge" by the way is mid-nineteenth century dialect for "soak" as in soaking old wooden barrels to seal them.

Interestingly the medical dictionaries seem to define "binge" an an uncontrolled episode of excessive drinking which raises the question of whether a man who drinks more than  the Wechsler definiton but "knows his limit" can be said to be on a binge regardless of how much he drinks.

Ron

In 1993 a Harvard doctor named Wechsler proclaimed that 5 drinks or 90 grams alcohol is a "binge". To my knowledge and experience this is a perversion of the meaning of the word which in my experience denoted a multiday round-the-clock period of complete drunkenness. Many young people feel the same so the idea has only partial acceptance. Nonetheless this establishes a kind of reference point, 90 grams (not fluid ounces) of absolute alcohol.
This is equivalent to any of the following consumption in one day or evening (each a pattern that might be familiar to many drinkers):

4-5 pints  
5-6 12 oz beers  
3 big singh  
3 pints + half bottle wine  
1.5 bottle wine      

Note that the 12 or 15 beers a day that have been mentioned by the OP or suggested as a "bon vivant" life style amounts to more than twice the so-caled "binge" level of 90 g/d. On the other hand the maximum suggested daily amount from most bureaucrats or anti-alcohol enthusiasts is only 20-40 g/day, a small fraction of the 90 g/day reference.

As a long time drinker who has spent many years with daily consumption  near this 90 g/day level, I will follow  (at age 70+) this post later  up with  some comments on my experience.

Ron