The Moderation Myth

“Drink in moderation.”
It sounds sensible, grown-up, responsible… even healthy.

But here’s the truth no one tells you: moderation is a myth—a marketing slogan created to make us feel in control of something that is, by its very nature, unpredictable.

Alcohol doesn’t behave consistently in the body.

We’re taught that if we keep our drinking “moderate,” we can rely on getting predictable results. But real life shows us the opposite. You can drink the same amount on two different days and experience wildly different outcomes.

Why?

Because alcohol is processed by the body under constantly shifting conditions:

1. Sleep Quality

A night of poor sleep means the brain is already compromised. Alcohol hits faster, harder, and pushes you into deeper impulsivity.

2. Food Intake

A full stomach delays absorption; an empty stomach sends alcohol straight to the bloodstream. Same amount, totally different physiological reality.

3. Weight Fluctuations

Changes in body composition affect blood alcohol concentration, meaning the same number of drinks can suddenly behave like far, far more.

4. Stress Levels

High cortisol accelerates alcohol’s effects and suppresses the prefrontal cortex (the decision-making part of the brain).

5. Immune System Load

If your body is quietly fighting an infection—even one you haven’t noticed—your liver’s capacity to process alcohol decreases dramatically.

6. Drinking Pace

Two drinks in 20 minutes ≠ two drinks over two hours. We pretend all “units” are equal, but your biology disagrees.

This is why one night you can drink two bottles of wine and walk away “fine,” while on another night, a single bottle—or even a couple of glasses—can unravel your life.

It’s not about your willpower. It’s not about your self-control.
It’s about the fact that alcohol is volatile, inconsistent, and not something you can ever fully predict or manage.

And here’s the bigger point:

No amount of alcohol is beneficial to your health.

We used to tell ourselves it was “heart healthy.”
We used to pretend that “a little red wine” was medicinal.
Science has now dismantled all of that.

Alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen—the same category as:

• Tobacco

• Asbestos

• UV radiation

• Processed meats

This doesn’t mean alcohol and asbestos are equally harmful; it means they are all proven to cause cancer.

And the cancer that most affects women—breast cancer—has one of the clearest links to alcohol consumption. I know you’ve seen it too: women our age suddenly facing diagnoses at alarming rates.

Is it any wonder?

For the past two decades we’ve been immersed in “wine o’clock,” “mummy wine culture,” “rosé all day”.
We’ve normalised a carcinogen as a self-care ritual.

And here’s a fact hardly anyone is talking about:

Drinking just 7 units per week carries a similar cancer risk to smoking 10 cigarettes a day.

Think about that.
A few glasses of wine per week = a half-pack-a-day smoker in terms of cancer risk.

Yet only one of these is socially demonized.

History will repeat itself.

A few decades ago, we look back on old photos of people smoking on airplanes and in front of children and feel shocked—almost incredulous.

One day, we’ll feel the same about alcohol.

The advertising.
The social pressure.
The normalisation.
The way we pushed drinks into people’s hands.
The way we glamorised addiction in pretty pink bottles.

I include myself in that.
This is not judgment.
This is a truth that most of us were never informed of.

So here’s the real message:

Moderation wasn’t created for your protection.
It was created for the alcohol industry’s protection.

Alcohol is unpredictable.
Alcohol is harmful.
And the belief that we can “manage” it is the illusion that keeps us tied to it.

Learning the truth isn’t about shame.
It’s about finally being free.