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Is moderate drinking actually healthy? Scientists say the idea is outdated.
(news.stanford.edu)
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this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2025
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There is, actually. Everything is toxic if you take enough of it. The only difference between what is called "toxic" and is not called "toxic" is that what is called "toxic" has a very low threshold before it is toxic to us.
Now I'm not here to defend alcohol, but that statement is simply wrong.
That is, in fact, not correct. Yes, there are things that have thresholds where they are harmless (e.g. salt), but alcohol isn't one of them. Alcohol, like many other toxic substances, does not have a threshold below, which it is harmless.
The WHO says the damage starts from the first drop: https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health
Everything has a threshold from a toxicology point of view.
Absolutely. Every. Single. Substance.
I haven't read the article you linked, but it does not matter, as a drop is not an indivisible unit of alcohol. It could already be above the threshold.
If your body accidentally absorbs a single molecule of ethanol, you'll be just fine.
Good to know that you, random keyboard scientist, know so much more about this topic than the WHO. So much in fact that you don't even have to check the source.
Let's form a religion around your wisdom. All hail iglou!
Alright, I read your article. All it says it that there is no study determining a threshold. That's your source?
Meanwhile, here is the ECHA page for ethanol, the alcohol most present in alcoholic beverages and the only one "safe" for consumption. You will there find various toxicity thresholds established by studies, although none on humans. But unless you are willing to argue that humans don't have thresholds for alcohol while mice, rats and monkeys do, that doesn't make a difference to the point.
No need to form a religion, it's just documented science.
Rather than hailing me, you could learn a bit about toxicology. Because the fact that everything has a threshold is pretty basic.
That was an absolute shit paper. Their methodolgy was horrible and their statistics were even worse. It's seriously so flawed that I gave myself an migraine from eyerolling so hard.