Don't Poison Yourself


For some things in life, the healthiest amount to ingest is zero. That covers tobacco cigarettes, most illegal or recently-illegal drugs (probably -- research on them is not good), alcohol (maybe), refined sugar (again, maybe), and various additives and preservatives in "food-like substances." That said, your body can handle a bit of toxicity now and again, so there's no need to avoid every little additive, just avoid the biggest killers, cigarettes and excessive alcohol.

Here is the CDC's list of the top 12 causes of death in the United States, as of 2017:
    • Heart disease: 647,457
    • Cancer: 599,108
    • Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936
    • Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201
    • Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383
    • Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404
    • Diabetes: 83,564
    • Influenza and pneumonia: 55,672
    • Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,633
    • Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173
Cigarette smoking contributes to risk for heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, stroke, and nephritis. Excessive alcohol is a culprit in cancer, accidents, and suicide... and maybe a couple of the others. Being obese and/or having diabetes contributes to risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer's, and kidney disease.
For smoking, I think it's pretty widely accepted that there's no up side to the habit. Alcohol, however, seems to have a more ambiguous status. Some believe that drinking a moderate amount is healthy. That's not such an open-and-shut case. I'm leaning toward drinking very little, myself. I'm adding my notes here, mostly un-edited, because there is a lot of information to plow through out there, if you want to.
The conventional wisdom allows up to 1 or 2 glasses of wine in any given day (or equivalent in other alcohol), but this is based on outdated research, some of it funded by the alcohol industry. There is some research that shows that light and moderate drinkers have a lower risk of non-fatal heart attack than teetotalers, but they have higher risk of cancer and other things, so on balance the physical risks outweigh the benefits. However, drinking is a key element in a lot of social and celebratory occasions, and we can tolerate a little imperfection.


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