Jada Pinkett Smith said 'wine culture' normalized her heavy drinking. How much is too much?
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When Jada Pinkett Smith recognized her problem with binge drinking vodka, she thought moving on to red wine was a healthier alternative – after all, she was accustomed to hearing terms like "white girl rosé" and "wine Wednesdays" in her circles.
"Wine for me was like Kool-Aid," Smith revealed during Wednesday's "Red Table Talk." "When I moved up to red wine, I considered myself like, 'This is better for me because they say that red wine is good for you.'"
For Smith, it wasn't just the occasional glass of wine: It was downing a bottle at the end of the night.
"Once I was going for that third bottle of wine, I said, 'You’ve got a problem.' And it was cold turkey that day. That day I just stopped."
According to liver disease specialist Dr. Jessica Mellinger, who appeared on the show, more women are "drinking like men" and being hospitalized for alcohol-related liver diseases, which are usually found in middle-aged men. Part of the blame is "wine culture," or memes that joke about women using casual drinking to get through the day, whether it be a bottle of wine or a round of bottomless mimosas.
A drink or two to take the edge off may seem like a harmless idea. But how much is too much? Excessive alcohol is linked to liver damage and some forms of cancer, including liver, breast and colon cancer. According to the World Health Organization, the effects of alcohol consumption contribute to more than 3 million deaths worldwide each year.
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How much alcohol is too much?
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism guidelines advise limiting alcohol consumption to no more than three to four drinks per "occasion." Men should have no more than 14 standard drinks a week; women should have no more than seven.
U.S. dietary guidelines recommend no more than one drink a day for women and two for men.
Keep in mind that a standard "drink" serving is a 12-ounce beer or hard seltzer with 5% alcohol, a 5-ounce glass of wine with 12% alcohol, or a 1.5-ounce shot of 40% alcohol, or 80 proof, liquor.
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Is drinking to cope with stress or anxiety bad for you?
Unequivocally, yes.
"It can be very tempting to reach for alcohol during times of high stress," Dr. George F. Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, told USA TODAY in August 2020. "Alcohol temporarily dampens anxiety and other uncomfortable emotions."
That said, he warns, the relief is only temporary – and may end up worsening after the buzz has faded. "Using alcohol to dampen emotional misery tends to make people more miserable and motivates them to drink again," he said, "so it is not a safe or lasting solution for the emotional strain many people are experiencing during the pandemic.
And, in fact, using alcohol to cope may lead to substance use disorders, especially if family and friends begin to voice their concern about your well-being, added Dr. Victor Karpyak, a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist.
"We often hear from patients treated for alcohol use disorders that, in retrospect, they see how this coping strategy evolved into alcohol abuse and dependence," he said.
How do you maintain healthy drinking habits right now?
The key, both Karpyak and Koob say, is to ensure that alcohol consumption doesn't become a salve for discomfort or anxiety.
Turning to other, healthier methods of coping are vital. Proper sleep, nutrition and exercise are key to maintaining good physical and mental health. Reaching out to friends and loved ones, going out for walks and playing games, among plenty of well-documented coping strategies, are all preferable to excessive drinking or substance use.
Karpyak also suggests maintaining a semblance of your normal routine and doing as much as you can to move forward with pre-COVID-19 life plans.
"Taking an active role while under stress is a well-known stabilizing strategy," he said.
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Contributing: Joshua Bote
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Red Table Talk': Jada Pinkett Smith said binge drinking is glamorized
