Speaker 1: Hey, folks, it is Tuesday, June ninth, and Americans are
Speaker 1: drinking at the lowest rate ever recorded. And after you
Speaker 1: hear this episode, that number is probably going to go
Speaker 1: down even more. And with that, welcome to this episode
Speaker 1: of Amy and TJ. Good Lord, have mercy. All the
Speaker 1: studies have been going this way. You almost roll your eyes,
Speaker 1: don't you. Robe Sometimes here's another study that says coffee's
Speaker 1: good for your coffee's bad, red wine is good, but
Speaker 1: only this much. Probably get all these random studies. Folks,
Speaker 1: listen to us. This is not a random study. This
Speaker 1: is a big deal study and you need to listen
Speaker 1: because robes, they are telling us we need to be
Speaker 1: drinking even less.
Speaker 2: Yes, this is I hate to use the word sobering,
Speaker 2: but this has been a sobering review of this new study.
Speaker 3: And look, they looked exclusively here.
Speaker 2: At US Americans, at the United States, and they looked
Speaker 2: at the relationship between having one drink a day and
Speaker 2: your life expectancy. When you look at what these researchers
Speaker 2: found to be true, how many people have two drinks
Speaker 2: a day? That was the recommendation up until just a
Speaker 2: short while ago.
Speaker 3: Men, you can have two drinks.
Speaker 1: A day, and everybody knows this, and women can have
Speaker 1: one drink a day. This has been standard. Everybody understands this.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows this. They've even been some suggestions over the
Speaker 1: past several years, Robes even that you know what, even
Speaker 1: light drinking, have some red wine, it's good for you.
Speaker 1: Some people still have that in their minds, Robes. This
Speaker 1: is a stunning result from a legit organization. Some controversy
Speaker 1: behind it, and Robes, this one has to be paid
Speaker 1: attention to. But it does go in line with where
Speaker 1: the research has been going for several several years.
Speaker 3: Which is any amount of alcohol is dangerous.
Speaker 1: Any drop period, healthy period, and.
Speaker 2: One drink a day increases your risk of premature death period.
Speaker 2: If you have two drinks a day, that risk jumps
Speaker 2: so significantly.
Speaker 3: It shocked the heck out of me.
Speaker 1: It's shocking, and it's coming from a study we are
Speaker 1: getting that was just published yesterday Journal of Studies on
Speaker 1: Alcohol and Drugs. That was the name of the journal
Speaker 1: where it came out. But this particular study is called
Speaker 1: the Alcohol Intake and Health Study, and it was commissioned
Speaker 1: by the Biden administration. So Ropes to pick up there.
Speaker 1: This is relevant to the story about where these studies
Speaker 1: come from in the first place. So a little background here,
Speaker 1: just brief background, just get you caught up to let
Speaker 1: you know what we're talking about here.
Speaker 2: Yes, so one of two studies commissioned by the Biden administration, yes,
Speaker 2: studying the impact of alcohol. They were being made in
Speaker 2: an attempt to rewrite new dietary guidelines, which we just.
Speaker 3: Got from the Trump administration.
Speaker 2: We'll explain how all of this plays into our new guidelines,
Speaker 2: the veguesst guidelines, the Vegas guidelines. Ever, but there is
Speaker 2: a suggestion there's a reason why they're so vague the result.
Speaker 3: It involves money.
Speaker 2: The results of this study, though, did not go in
Speaker 2: line with what the alcohol industry was being for, and
Speaker 2: so the allegation is that the Trump administration didn't include
Speaker 2: these new findings in their health guidelines because there was
Speaker 2: a lot of money at stake via the alcohol industry.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, the study we're talking about had had been
Speaker 1: going on for some time, and some preliminary results came
Speaker 1: out last year or were being floated around not publicly, yes,
Speaker 1: but yes, the alcohol industry got wind of this. So
Speaker 1: the lobbying starts behind the scenes. And sure enough, Robes.
Speaker 1: Earlier this year, remember they gave us the reverse pyramid, right,
Speaker 1: they gave new health guidelines and a part of that
Speaker 1: was guidelines having to do with alcohol consumption. So we
Speaker 1: were waiting on an update from Doc Doz. Right here
Speaker 1: he is, he's gonna tell us this is what you
Speaker 1: should eat now. So tell us also what we should
Speaker 1: drink now. And he told us Robes, it is two
Speaker 1: drinks a day, okay for guys, one drink a day
Speaker 1: okay for women. He didn't get into the numbers, no, he.
Speaker 2: In fact, these new guidelines set by the Trump of
Speaker 2: industry actually took away the numbers, the numbers that we
Speaker 2: just talked about that we were also familiar with. I
Speaker 2: think most women know that one drink a day, or
Speaker 2: if you're a man, two drinks a day is what
Speaker 2: is considered safe. Ish, I guess maybe, but that was
Speaker 2: basically the limit. That's what you shouldn't drink more than
Speaker 2: now the limit is hey, just you know, drinking less
Speaker 2: is better. That's that is the guideline from the Trump administration.
Speaker 1: And that is I think we all understand that. But
Speaker 1: so many in the medical field, Robes, we're saying, no,
Speaker 1: you got to give people more than that, to give
Speaker 1: them guidance for how they should behave. Drinking less for
Speaker 1: TJ is different than leading drinking less for Robock. Yeah,
Speaker 1: drinking less for another couple is different from the Robot
Speaker 1: Holmes house. Correct, That was what the argument was at
Speaker 1: the time, Doctor Oz. Even then, this was the funny
Speaker 1: part of it, Robes. He said, well, there are benefits
Speaker 1: the alcohol, social benefits, and it's healthy to get out
Speaker 1: and be around people more. That was actually what he said.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was describing liquid courage and medicating I guess
Speaker 2: against social anxiety. That doesn't seem to be good enough
Speaker 2: or a good enough reason. When you look at these
Speaker 2: numbers and you increase risk of prematurely dying, and we're
Speaker 2: talking about from alcohol related disease and even injury they
Speaker 2: include in that as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, all of this is related to directly attributable
Speaker 1: to something you did with alcohol. So this is another
Speaker 1: reason Robes to study with such a big deal.
Speaker 2: Yes, so if you have one drink a day, you
Speaker 2: increase your risk for premature premature death one in one
Speaker 2: thousand people.
Speaker 3: Okay, now what does that end up being the percent?
Speaker 1: You hear that and go, okay, big deal. So if
Speaker 1: someone if doesn't drink at all, and then there's another
Speaker 1: person who has just one drink a day, you are
Speaker 1: still at an increased risk. But that risk only shows
Speaker 1: up in one in one thousand people. That doesn't sound
Speaker 1: like a lot. Good robes the next.
Speaker 2: One here, So yes, that one. I'm like, all right, fine, yeah,
Speaker 2: I think do you think of it? Okay, how many
Speaker 2: people say they might average two drinks a day. I
Speaker 2: would be willing to guess those who drink that's a
Speaker 2: pretty fair standard number. Well, if you have two drinks
Speaker 2: a day, that risk jumps dramatically for premature death. Now
Speaker 2: you're talking about one in twenty five.
Speaker 1: What I thought I was reading it wrong?
Speaker 3: So did I.
Speaker 1: I cannot believe that a difference of one drink a
Speaker 1: day that you make and you go from the risk
Speaker 1: of premature death from one in one thousand to one
Speaker 1: in twenty five.
Speaker 3: That's a high risk.
Speaker 1: Ropes that will make you reconsider what you have during
Speaker 1: the next NBA Finals game. Ropes that is, I cannot
Speaker 1: believe that number.
Speaker 2: The marijuana industry just did a collective leap.
Speaker 3: Woo high five. Not that there aren't risks that I'm
Speaker 3: sure we'll find.
Speaker 2: Out all about those as that becomes more studied, as
Speaker 2: it becomes more heavily consumed.
Speaker 1: It's not always the joke.
Speaker 3: There's a trade off.
Speaker 1: I haven't heard of anybody dying of weed.
Speaker 3: No, I know that is true.
Speaker 1: It's a joke, but still if you get it.
Speaker 2: Yes, but California sober may become just the new thing, New.
Speaker 1: York sober, Arkansas sober, Louisiana. So that's all get on
Speaker 1: board with this. This stut Robes, folks, we can't say
Speaker 1: that enough. One drink making a difference of having two
Speaker 1: a day versus one a day, and your risk of
Speaker 1: dying directly because of alcohol jumps from one in a
Speaker 1: thousand to one in twenty five. Robes, that is the
Speaker 1: biggest signal that we should all stop drinking.
Speaker 2: I got chills from head to joe seeing that. And look,
Speaker 2: if you are at risk for cancer, if you are
Speaker 2: a cancer survivor, and if you are a woman and
Speaker 2: you had breast cancer, I mean they actually specify this.
Speaker 3: You should not be drinking.
Speaker 2: And I know my doctors all told me as a
Speaker 2: breast cancer survivor once I was diagnosed to limit my alcohol.
Speaker 2: I have in periods. I have, certainly more recently. But
Speaker 2: when I read something like this, why the hell are
Speaker 2: we putting poison in our bodies so we can feel
Speaker 2: a little looser at night, so we can relax a
Speaker 2: little more, so we can feel more comfortable around other folks. Yes,
Speaker 2: there's enjoyment, but this certainly makes I think a lot
Speaker 2: of us who are now reading this for the first
Speaker 2: time even become more intentional than we were before.
Speaker 1: This is really stunning. And look, we enjoy our drinks,
Speaker 1: we absolutely do, but we have cut back, and it's
Speaker 1: been happening past a couple of years. More and more
Speaker 1: things come out, more and more studies zero. There is
Speaker 1: zero health benefit to drinking alcohol.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the only claim was that it can. I believe
Speaker 2: even doctor Oz pointed this out. Besides the social aspects,
Speaker 2: there are studies that have shown that there is a
Speaker 2: benefit to heart health if you are a moderate drinker,
Speaker 2: meaning one to two drinks a day. However, the point
Speaker 2: being any benefit you get, which I believe is actually
Speaker 2: provable to your heart health, it is offset by your
Speaker 2: risk of cancer and other alcohol related diseases that far
Speaker 2: outweighs any benefit you might get in your heart health.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're gonna die early with a good heart.
Speaker 3: Exactly, exactly, awesome, exactly.
Speaker 1: This is that this one is pretty studying. Now we
Speaker 1: talked about competing studies. We'll get into here a seconds.
Speaker 1: As we talk about this, how many drinks, it goes
Speaker 1: back and forth. I'm using the official CDC reference here,
Speaker 1: but I think that's another part of the confusion. You
Speaker 1: tell people, hey, how many drinks are safe, They'll tell
Speaker 1: you two for men and one for yeah, and then well,
Speaker 1: how many drinks is two drinks? I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: everybody can clearly define what that is.
Speaker 2: Well, and when you really think about this, obviously, every
Speaker 2: time I have had a glass of wine and the
Speaker 2: restaurant or the a lot of it is at the
Speaker 2: airport lounge will ask you do you want five ounces
Speaker 2: or nine ounces?
Speaker 3: And I laugh, I'm like, duh, I want nine ounces.
Speaker 2: But when you look at a five ounce poor, especially
Speaker 2: any wine drinker out there, it is I guarantee you
Speaker 2: half at least half of what you pour yourself that
Speaker 2: you count for one drink. It is five ounces of
Speaker 2: wine twelve ounces of beer. That's fairly standards. So that's
Speaker 2: a can of beer basically, or a bottle of beer
Speaker 2: and then one point five ounces of hard liquor.
Speaker 3: But we've talked about this.
Speaker 2: If you drink a margarita, you are drinking way more
Speaker 2: than one point five ounces of liquor because that's just
Speaker 2: the tequila. Correct, Then you've got the quantro or the
Speaker 2: triple sack or whatever else you.
Speaker 3: Put in there.
Speaker 2: So mixed drinks, especially cocktails, end up being more like
Speaker 2: two drinks, maybe even three drinks.
Speaker 1: Would you say that most people at home I was
Speaker 1: about to say women, but people at home, when they
Speaker 1: pour their glass of wine at home, is it usually
Speaker 1: a nine ounce pore?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: I would think five.
Speaker 3: It's definitely not five.
Speaker 2: If I had to guess, I should actually just pour
Speaker 2: what I think, because I actually you know what I have.
Speaker 2: I have big glasses of wine that feel fun if
Speaker 2: I'm gonna just if I don't care. But I have
Speaker 2: very small glasses of wine that almost are like for
Speaker 2: a dessert wine.
Speaker 3: So that is probably a five ounce po.
Speaker 2: You remember when I joked and said I'm pouring a
Speaker 2: second glass, but I swear it was only five ounces.
Speaker 3: So but I always try, like they say, if you're
Speaker 3: trying to lose weight, buy smaller plates.
Speaker 2: So I actually used that with some wine glasses I
Speaker 2: bought so that I would only pour myself five ounces,
Speaker 2: because yes, it's very easy. Yes, I know, if I
Speaker 2: use my smaller wine glasses, I'm pouring myself a five
Speaker 2: minut five ounce poar.
Speaker 1: We've changed some habits to where we actually use a
Speaker 1: shot glass, yes, to measure the drink makes a difference
Speaker 1: versus just pouring in there. I know that sounds small.
Speaker 1: It sounds but all those little things wrote robes, right,
Speaker 1: You start getting into habits and the next thing you know,
Speaker 1: you're only drinking on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And now
Speaker 1: I'm only drinking on game weekends, and now I'm only
Speaker 1: drinking on very special occasions. Roads is not a bad
Speaker 1: thing for all of us to cut back on.
Speaker 3: Drinking, not at all. And you know, my brother had
Speaker 3: a great plan.
Speaker 2: He's a physic and he is always trying to spread
Speaker 2: the wealth of information that he's amassed over his years
Speaker 2: in practice. But yes, he is somebody who drinks on
Speaker 2: the weekend, but really, aside from special events, does not
Speaker 2: drink Monday through Thursday or Sunday through Thursday.
Speaker 3: I believe is how he rolls and Rome.
Speaker 1: I just the industry. Now, we talked about it at
Speaker 1: the top, around the top talking about we're at a
Speaker 1: record low for the number of Americans that drink that
Speaker 1: numbers at fifty four percent. We talk about half, just
Speaker 1: half of Americans consume alcohol.
Speaker 2: Now, that's remarkable. And by the way, I couldn't believe this.
Speaker 2: This is according to Gallops, so it's legit. Literally in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, we're talking four years ago that rate
Speaker 2: was sixty seven percent.
Speaker 3: We're now at fifty four percent and dropping. That's remarkable.
Speaker 1: Dropping. You know what's going up? Weed sales and what
Speaker 1: was the one of the weed and few We call
Speaker 1: it weed water, but it's.
Speaker 3: DHC infused water as an alternative.
Speaker 2: If a lot of people, it really is about having
Speaker 2: a sensory memory or just having a glass with ice
Speaker 2: in your hand, maybe in a wine glass or something.
Speaker 3: And yeah, if you want to get a little buzz
Speaker 3: or feel a little you know, relaxed.
Speaker 2: THHC drinks are an alternative to alcohol, and they're rising
Speaker 2: crazily in popularity.
Speaker 1: Keep them in stocks these days, so freak feel go
Speaker 1: in that direction. Robes younger for your daughter, your oldest
Speaker 1: and a bunch of her friends. They go out. They're
Speaker 1: not looking for alcohol, No, which is expensive and dangerous.
Speaker 2: No, I know, and I'm not promoting here weed gummies,
Speaker 2: but yeah you can for I don't know what it
Speaker 2: ends up being three bucks for one gummy. You can
Speaker 2: spend your night feeling a little loose, a little happy,
Speaker 2: drink some soda water, and you wake up feeling great
Speaker 2: the next day.
Speaker 1: Man, we are we are going to get zero alcohol
Speaker 1: sponsorships on the show. We're consumers, but we're also folks
Speaker 1: health conscious and we know as what we run. We
Speaker 1: are keto, we cut back, are, we pay attention to
Speaker 1: our sleep. All these things we do for health, and
Speaker 1: this one thing we don't necessarily let go of. But
Speaker 1: stay here. This was one major study that came out,
Speaker 1: just came out yesterday. It wasn't necessarily supposed to. We'll
Speaker 1: explain how this one came out in the first place,
Speaker 1: and we'll explain the other competing study, the one that
Speaker 1: actually says go ahead, drink, just drink less. Stay here,
Speaker 1: all right, folks will continue here on Amy and TJ.
Speaker 1: Put the drink down. Put it down, folks, pick up
Speaker 1: a joint. That is what a new study say, okay,
Speaker 1: they left out joint. It left out the joint part,
Speaker 1: but it was implied. No, it was not what the
Speaker 1: new study we are discussing here that is telling us, folks,
Speaker 1: there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. It is
Speaker 1: actually putting some stacker numbers in front of us that
Speaker 1: your risk of dying from something alcohol related prematurely goes
Speaker 1: up significantly if you go from drinking one drink a
Speaker 1: day to two drinks a day. This is incredible. With Robes,
Speaker 1: this study we were talking about was supposed to come
Speaker 1: out along with all the guidelines that the Trump administration
Speaker 1: put out in I think it was January of this year,
Speaker 1: February of this year. Okay, it was supposed to go
Speaker 1: with that, But we are just getting it now, and
Speaker 1: it's not necessarily a leak, Robes, but it's not necessarily
Speaker 1: an authorized release, if you will. I don't know the
Speaker 1: right way to put this.
Speaker 2: Yes, well, I mean it was released despite the fact.
Speaker 2: I mean, look, a government alcohol study that was published
Speaker 2: finally came out, but the one that the Trump administration
Speaker 2: relied on said something very very different.
Speaker 1: It was said they said very different, and Robes. They
Speaker 1: also the folks that said it were a big part
Speaker 1: of the controversy. Several of the people who were a
Speaker 1: part of this other panel for this other study have
Speaker 1: connections to.
Speaker 2: The alcohol industry nations, they had a financial incentive for Yes,
Speaker 2: you could argue this particular study, this one was from
Speaker 2: a panel appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,
Speaker 2: and Medicine, and their report came to the opposite conclusion truly,
Speaker 2: of the one we just mentioned, the one that.
Speaker 3: Was just released.
Speaker 2: It suggested that moderate drinking, and we're talking about again,
Speaker 2: those two drinks a day for.
Speaker 3: Men one for women was healthier, healthier, yeah.
Speaker 2: Than not drinking at all. However, it did make the
Speaker 2: asterisk It noted moderate drinking was also linked to a
Speaker 2: higher breast cancer risk. That's the only asterisk that one had.
Speaker 1: That that is very difficult to You know what, I
Speaker 1: don't need science, I don't need a backup scientist. I
Speaker 1: don't need the other side. I need to refute. That
Speaker 1: just sounds silly.
Speaker 3: It doesn't make a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: You're telling me I can drink and I'm going to
Speaker 1: be than if I didn't drink. That just doesn't sound right.
Speaker 3: It doesn't I mean, it just flies in the.
Speaker 1: Face of common sense, and so they try to make
Speaker 1: that argument that you're almost discredited robes as soon as
Speaker 1: that comes out. Yes, So that's why these two studies
Speaker 1: competing studies, if you will. But a lot of folkses
Speaker 1: are dismissive of that one.
Speaker 2: Yes, and this new report that came out. A former
Speaker 2: government official, his name is Robert M. Vincent, said he
Speaker 2: believes he was actually fired from his position because the
Speaker 2: report that we just talked about, this one that absolutely
Speaker 2: I believe will change your alcohol habits if you haven't
Speaker 2: already changed them, based on information we've been hearing. But
Speaker 2: he believed that he lost his job because he wanted
Speaker 2: this out. He wanted this report out, and he says
Speaker 2: that he was technically fired for a reduction in force
Speaker 2: overhaul at the agency.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thing's happens. Economy could be tough.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it could just be a coincidence, but he doesn't
Speaker 2: think it was probably AI. He said this my He's
Speaker 2: like this report was going to cost the alcohol industry money.
Speaker 2: They didn't like going from two to one for men,
Speaker 2: and they didn't like the mention of cancer.
Speaker 1: I can understand that road. The alcohol industry is struggling
Speaker 1: they are. They are struggling, not like we are talking
Speaker 1: and borderline existential to some particular places and drinks and
Speaker 1: what was it? Oh my goodness, what am I thinking about?
Speaker 1: Where they had just they had just.
Speaker 3: Bourber Jim beam it was bourbon, Yes.
Speaker 1: Just sitting. I mean they had to do with taxes
Speaker 1: and had to do other stuff. But ro those folks
Speaker 1: aren't drinking it.
Speaker 2: Oh and wineries are shutting down like this is a issue. Absolutely,
Speaker 2: wineries are shutting down. Alcohol distilleries are shutting down. People
Speaker 2: are not consuming alcohol the way they were, and that's
Speaker 2: a good thing for the health of this country. It's
Speaker 2: certainly a bad thing if you make your money in
Speaker 2: the alcohol industry. There is no question they have powerful
Speaker 2: lobbies Washington, just like the smoking industry did for oh
Speaker 2: so long and still does to an extent. But yes,
Speaker 2: there is a fight, and it's all over money. It's
Speaker 2: not about health. I think, as you pointed out, use
Speaker 2: your common sense. It's not hard to get your head
Speaker 2: around the idea that excessive drinking, or drinking more than
Speaker 2: one drink a day could lead to premature death.
Speaker 3: Yep, that reads.
Speaker 2: I'm not shocked when you see by how much that
Speaker 2: is the shocking number I think for a lot of us.
Speaker 2: And look, I do think one drink a day is
Speaker 2: so reasonable. And look, one in one thousand you're still
Speaker 2: obviously increasing your risk of premature death.
Speaker 3: But that's a hell of a lot better than one
Speaker 3: in twenty five.
Speaker 1: Damn, that is stunning. So I hope this gets the
Speaker 1: attention that it does deserve. And if nothing else, we
Speaker 1: don't have to fight about it. You don't have to
Speaker 1: take this side of that side. But we're albad to
Speaker 1: give us all something to think about.
Speaker 2: Yeah, to have information, you can make your personal choice.
Speaker 2: You can decide what risk you want to take. We
Speaker 2: all do it every day in everything we do, when
Speaker 2: we eat, how much we exercise, all of that. But
Speaker 2: knowing what our actual risks are is very important when
Speaker 2: you're making those decisions.
Speaker 1: My favorite Robes that I wanted to leave with, and
Speaker 1: we saw sort of articles on this, but they did
Speaker 1: quote a one of the scientists who was ahead of
Speaker 1: that study that was talking about sometimes drink it could
Speaker 1: be good for you or there you know.
Speaker 3: Right, socials, he's a social anxiety.
Speaker 1: They let they finished their article Robes with this quote
Speaker 1: from the guy from that study. And I quote, I
Speaker 1: don't believe anyone should start drinking for health reasons.
Speaker 3: Yes, I did see that.
Speaker 1: Even he has to. You just have to, no matter
Speaker 1: what you gotta. Like, that's common sense. We all know.
Speaker 1: Nobody should be drinking because it's going to improve your health.
Speaker 3: Absolutely not.
Speaker 1: And every single sip you take hurts you in some
Speaker 1: way how bad. Don't know. Where do you fall in
Speaker 1: that one in one thousand and one and twenty five?
Speaker 1: We don't know, but that's the risk you take. But Robes,
Speaker 1: now you got a little more information, and look, that's
Speaker 1: a good thing.
Speaker 2: Knowledge is power and knowledge can be life saving. So
Speaker 2: just wanted to pass along this eye popping, jaw dropping
Speaker 2: headline we saw about alcohol and how much you should
Speaker 2: be having, which apparently is almost never. I'm with that everyone,
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to us. I'm Ami Robot alongside TJ.
Speaker 3: Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.