Note: this drinking habit is even worse than binge drinking

That binge drinking is bad for you is no surprise anymore. It will still happen regularly, but a few years ago it was really in the news a lot because there seemed to be a kind of trend. Young people were constantly taken away and brought to the hospital because they couldn't handle their drinks, or thought it was cool to drink so much that it became dangerous. As an adult, you should be wise enough not to let this happen, and you probably also no longer have anyone in your environment who experiences this.

Of course, we know that alcohol is not something to promote anyway

Gooische vrouwen received criticism for normalizing the fact that there is constant alcohol consumption. There are now entire campaigns about this topic, because many people are not aware of the impact of alcohol on your health. It is still something that ‘comes with it’ and I personally also really enjoy a glass of nice red wine with dinner. But without realizing it, you sometimes drink more than you think. Even if you might not feel tipsy or drunk, drinking several glasses over a longer period is just as bad for you. Well, it turns out that it is even worse than binge drinking. They even have a name for it: high-intensity drinking.

High-intensity drinking vs Binge drinking

With binge drinking, you consume 4 to 5 glasses of alcohol within two hours. This can lead to alcohol poisoning, unconsciousness, or forgetting large parts of the evening. In the long term, binge drinking can also cause damage to your liver or brain. But binge drinking usually does not happen regularly, unlike high-intensity drinking. This is something that is socially much more accepted. If you have ever eaten in a really good restaurant, you know that a wine pairing is often offered with the menu. Like the other day when I was served 11 courses, with a different wine for every two courses. That number just doesn't fall under high-intensity drinking; that is only the case when you drink 8 or more glasses of alcohol in one sitting. So it's not about a specific timeframe, but if you first sit in a restaurant and then go for a nightcap in a bar nearby, you quickly reach that limit.

This is something to seriously watch out for during the Christmas dinner

The consequences of regular high-intensity drinking are even greater than an occasional binge session. You can suffer liver damage, digestive problems due to damage to your stomach lining, cardiovascular diseases, and you also have an increased risk of cancer. In short, are you going to eat at someone who knows how to make quite a culinary spectacle every Christmas? Including the most delicious wines and aperitifs? Then don't forget to occasionally put that glass of alcohol down, and instead take a few sips of water. Just as tasty, but much healthier.

Source: NY Times