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ALCHOHOLIC_AVOIDANCE

                                              February 6, 2007

   What reason might there
   be for a pattern of
   vegetarians being anti-
   alcohol?

   The reason is that vegetarians
   are often vegetarians at least
   in part for health reasons.

   The physical damage from
   going heavy on meat,
   pales compared to the
   damage from going heavy
   on booze.

      The logic is, if large
      amounts are poisonous,
      maybe you should avoid
      it completely.

         That's a pretty simple,
         obvious, case for a          It is also, at least sometimes,
         course of action...          a wrong argument, of course:

         It's obvious to the             It's not unusual for low
         point where you might           doses of a poison to be
         wonder how anyone can           beneficial (this is called
         miss it.                        "hormesis").

            Why would anyone                  It may be that low doses
            ever think to                     of meat is in fact better
            question why someone              than a pure vegetarian
            would avoid alcohol?              diet... and it is indeed
                                              often claimed that there's
                                              evidence that moderate
                                              drinking is good for you.



         From
           ALCOHOL


        "Common argument: moderate drinking is good for you.
        Supported by stats showing more heart problems
        amongst teatotalers.  Problem w/this data: to be
        a teetotaler, you must be weird, an extremist,
        driven.  Stress of being abnormal?

        "(There's a simpler counter-argument: grape juice is
        apparently as good as moderate wine drinking.)"


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