My Response to Andrew Huberman’s Alcohol Podcast
A few days ago my Mom sent myself and my siblings a YouTube link to Andrew Huberman’s podcast on alcohol consumption. She asked us if anyone had thoughts and I responded with mine.
To be completely clear, I am not saying I have all the answers, nor is this necessarily a challenge to anything Huberman is saying. Furthermore, to my sober friends, I am in awe of your self-discipline and have nothing but respect for your life choices. This is not a challenge to your lifestyle and someday I will undoubtably join your ranks. If Huberman had been saying similar things about caffeine or sports or sugar I would have written essentially the same email.
My email is just some general thoughts about life’s inescapable dangers, intangible pleasures and how paradoxical it is to be a human being. Some of my family thought it would be worth putting up somewhere, so here you go.
Hey fam!
I gave this a listen, everything he’s saying makes total sense and he’s obviously a foremost expert in his field. Very insightful. It seemed obvious to me before this that most people (myself included) drink too much. This podcast bears out that evidence for sure! I am sure this is a very good thing for many people to hear and I am sure it will change people’s lives.
Personally I am weary of the recent onslaught of podcasters & influencers (not denigrating Huberman btw I know he’s an incredibly accomplished neuroscientist) who micro analyze certain substances or activities to the point where nothing is enjoyable anymore.
Getting too much sun is bad for you, not enough sun is also bad for you. Also, sunscreen is bad for you. Too much meat is bad for you, not enough meat is also bad for you (sorry Caroline). Working out obsessively is bad for you, not working out enough is also bad for you. Staring at screens is terrible for you, flying on planes exposes you to radiation, running marathons destroys your knees and back, pesticides cause cancer, loud music gives you tinnitus, and every time you set foot in a car you’re risking your life to a degree far higher than almost any other activity that human beings do. Even the most tame sports have substantial risk to cause long term damage to certain parts of the body (Dad’s shoulder, anyone?). Hell, sitting in a chair for more than 2–3 hours a day lowers your life expectancy.
Alcohol is poison and there are no health benefits if you only look at the basic functions of the human body. Consider the analogy of a car. Good inputs = Good outputs. You wouldn’t put milk in the gas tank, nor would you replace the oil with beer. Gasoline doesn’t belong in the wiper fluid tank and off roading could easily lead to punctured tires or damage to the chassis.
But I am not a car, nor a bag of chemicals that you can dump certain ingredients into and expect an optimal result. Are the happiest and most successful among us those on the most strict diets, workouts and sleep schedules? Some of them are and some of them aren’t, most are a combination of incredibly good and incredibly bad habits. The same can be said of wealth, if being rich equated to happiness we’d live in a far more benevolent world (can you imagine how happy rich kids would be?). Simply put, if we knew how to perfect the human experience everyone would follow that formula. Obviously I’m not saying to not work out or be cognizant of your diet, I work out every day and continually try to improve my eating and drinking habits. Being disciplined in those areas has dramatically improved my health and mood. In fact, Jess and I recently cut out seed oils from our diets and I feel far better!
I sometimes wonder what my life would have been if I had never touched alcohol. Would I be better off? Would I have gone to that bar ten years ago where I met my wife? Would I have accepted the invitation to take a shot at the bar where she was standing? Would I have a son on the way? Would I be married at all?
Most of my drinking days are over. I will still have some beers at a show or with my brothers but I know I have a great responsibility coming and I won’t have as much time anymore. I’m not planning to completely stop drinking and I’ll probably have a seed oil infused Dorito from time to time. I’m definitely puffing a cigar at the next wedding in the family and my ears will probably get worse as I keep DJ’ing. I’ll keep sitting in chairs, going on airplanes and driving my car…
Speaking of cars….if I were one, you’d find me off-roading. The chassis might be damaged in the end, but it’s going to be a hell of a ride.
David
