Binge drinking significantly increases the risk of becoming addicted
Even if both are counted as moderate drinking: It has a different effect on the body whether you drink one glass of wine a day or five on Saturday.
Research on risky drinking behaviour among adults focuses mainly on how much alcohol someone consumes on average. What is rarely looked at: the temporal pattern of drinking. Does it matter whether one drinks one glass of wine every day of the week or five on Saturday, i.e. binge drinking? In both cases, considered on average, it is moderate drinking. A team led by psychologist Rudolf Moos of Stanford University School of Medicine took a closer look, the results were published in the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine". . Consumption of five or more glasses of an alcoholic beverage at one drinking occasion is defined as binge drinking. One glass contains about ten to twelve grams of pure alcohol. The scientists found out: Moderate drinkers who fall under the category of binge drinkers have a significantly higher risk of developing alcohol problems than those who drink the same amount overall, but spread over the week. For this purpose, the experts analysed the survey results of more than 1,200 US residents who were older than 30 years and drank regularly.
Among moderate drinkers, binge drinking was almost five times as likely as among regular users to be associated with various alcohol problems. These included addictive behaviour and negative effects on their psyche and professional life. They were also more than twice as likely to still have such problems nine years later.
"Both in the scientific and in the media discussion about moderate alcohol consumption, the temporal pattern of drinking behaviour is overlooked," says Moos. This leads many people to mistakenly assume that moderate average consumption is safe in any case.
Spectrum of Science
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Original article on Spektrum.deCover photo: © Peopleimages / Getty Images / iStock (detail) / Consuming five or more glasses of an alcoholic drink at one drinking occasion is defined as binge drinking. (Symbol image)
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