Update to this (if anyone is interested). I started drinking a small amount on Friday and Saturday evenings after 11 months of strict no booze. Interestingly enough, 1-2 drinks and I don’t feel an urge to drink more than that really and sometimes, I don’t have booze for weeks. Its liberating as before I would always feel like I needed a drink in the evening and that would turn into 4-5 drinks (or more when I was drinking beer). I really wonder what the correlation is between sugar/carbs and the desire to drink more (and essentially eat more) and/or what I always thought of as an addictive personality. Could it be that what I was perceiving as an “addictive personality” was in reality due to my sugar addiction? In any event, I am thankful for keto! KCKO!
Diet Coke and whiskey
Machoman, interesting indeed. I do think there is ‘habitual’ drinking that really is not alcoholism, per se. Rather that it’s just something we get used to doing. While beer usually has carbohydrates in it, alcohol often lowers our blood sugar, and perhaps that is where the “alcohol munchies” come from (along with our inhibitions and self-control being lessened)?
I had 7 beers a week ago, after many days with no booze at all, and it really did nothing for me - no good “buzz,” just partially filled me up and brought thoughts of how that day’s nutrient profile was now pretty messed up.
Eating sugar/carbs and then wanting to drink more - I don’t know about this. It sure can work in reverse, but all I can say is that I’ve never noticed more desire to drink after eating carbohydrates. Salty foods - like the snacks that many bars cunningly set in front of patrons - do make us thirstier, but I put that down to the salt and nothing else.
“Addictive personality” - just as there is a genetic component for risk of alcoholism, I’m wondering about preference for sweet things, or salty things, or an overabundance of things. Some people have the “Off” switch that kicks in after a very few drinks, the “that’s enough” feeling, while for others it progresses to “more, more, more…”
Among 21 nieces and nephews, there is one nephew that as a toddler liked a lot of repetition, the same songs over and over, the same games with older people, etc. He’s like me - whatever we’re doing, we do a lot of it. If we’re hiking/mountain climbing, we get to the top. Lifelong members of the Clean Plate Club, and if one drink is good, then ten are great.
For what it’s worth, I always thought that the third drink was the real sweet spot. That’s when the feeling really started coming on, and well before you got full, sleepy, sloppy, etc.
