258 thoughts on “Alcohol: Cancer, ‘Safe’ Consumption and Choice”

1. So then we stand out. I used to drink alcohol but as the years passed, my body took longer to recover and in the end I had to give it up and face the reality of life.

   Now I am labelled as not being fun because I don’t drink alcohol or coffee. It can bring so much in people when you say no to these things. The rest is up to them as to what they do with this reflection.

   1. Shushila I have also found that I’m not fun because I do not drink alcohol as you say it can bring up a lot in people when they can see you having so much fun and not having to resort to alcohol to induce the fun or worse pretend you’re having fun. There is no fun in drinking alcohol as the next day you wake up feeling ghastly because of what you drank the night before, it just wasn’t worth it for me.

2. Loretta this is a sad state of affairs around the world. There are more side effects from many things we consume, but also what we watch, whether social media or TV, which are just as addictive. People rave about this show or that show and are lost in the drama of these things. Yet life passes us by and we can’t cope with the every day events that occur in our lives. So it’s a no wonder people turn to things to help them cope. It is one big vicious cycle.

   When we hear from people like Serge Benhayon and the depth stimulants can affect us, we see another side to life, that we have been ill prepared for. We then bring understanding to what is playing out.

   I love living my life from this awareness than pretending everything is okay. Then we observe life from a different perspective.

3. I too have in my past felt like I needed to fit in socially and so I have accepted a bottle of beer only to duck out to the bathrooms to pour it down the sink and fill it up with tap water. I never liked beer but it was simpler to just accept the bottle and then just swap it for tap water without anyone knowing, rather than try to explain, argue or justify that I did not like drinking alcohol. By holding a beer bottle in my hand I was left alone and not pestered to be drinking. What a strange world we live in where we are not permitted to make supportive choices without someone trying to convince us otherwise.

   1. We are all expected to confirm to the ‘normal’ even though we know it is not normal. There is nothing normal about the life we are living it is totally abnormal, but currently there are not enough people in the world who are waking up to say this life is not it, there has to be something more to life than this drudgery. But the tide is turning.

4. I have worked shifts at a local hospital and the dreaded nights was always the Friday night and Saturday night shifts – we knew it would be extra busy because of the consumption of alcohol and the resulting increase in accidents and incidents and domestic violence. How is it that so many of us still accept this as ‘normal’ or write it off with a blase comment about it just being silly behaviour….

5. “A few years ago I attended a workshop held by Universal Medicine, and Serge Benhayon was the speaker; he explained that alcohol, once drunk, affects you not only on a physical and emotional level, but also on an energetic level. You are clearly not yourself when you drink alcohol.” – I too have been witness to those very close to me turn into someone not at all like themselves, and this is a very disconcerting thing to feel, especially when you are young, but also just as disturbing when you are older.

6. We all know that alcohol is not something that we should be drinking, so what do we get out of drinking it? From all the discussions I have had with people over the years that drank alcohol including myself, it is that it offers a respite from life, a way of checking out. What we don’t seem to consider, is what is checking in as we check out? We have all heard the stories of people who have done something silly or harming say when they are sober again that wasn’t me, I didn’t know I was doing that. Is it time to stop and consider why we want to check out on life by taking any substance that the body doesn’t need. Perhaps if we changed the way we lived we wouldn’t need to check out because checking into ourselves gave us everything we could ever want. Is it possible we have this round the wrong way?

7. I welcome the day that health warnings do appear on alcohol, it is a poison, and should be labeled as such.

8. Fitting in with any substance so we feel needed, as is the glaring way that we pursue alcohol that abuses our bodies. It is difficult to find anyone who can say they absolutely fell in love with alcohol as I can remember everyone saying it was an acquired taste, when in truth our bodies were sharing it is a poison but I want to part of this group so I will do anything to-fit-in.

9. We need to start calling poison a poison. Why do we want to stay playing with something that we know is potentially very harming to the extent it can be a question of life or death?

   1. We do, alcohol is a poison, ‘This verified my instincts as a child that alcohol was a ‘poison’ to the body.’

10. Thanks Loretta, there is a tremendous pressure on people to drink, it’s quite a coercive posture people hold if you don’t drink. Nothing is making sense because we don’t like the taste when we first try alcohol, we persist to fit in and because we may want to experience what being tipsy or drunk is like, yet it truly makes us feel terrible (especially the next day), and is linked to 7 cancers as well as other health conditions and societal problems like violence…. yet so many are endorsing it! And, we actually pay money for it!

    1. I remember the pressure by friends trying to get me to drink alcohol when I was in my teens. I hated the taste of it, but for some strange reason they wanted to get me to drink the stuff, and they felt better when I drank the ‘poison’. Makes you wonder what is really going on in that they have to get you to drink this poison.

       1. I agree, without intending to be critical of any one person, peer pressure to drink alcohol exposes that the relationship is anything but caring or loving of another. And, if a person’s decision to drink was true for them they wouldn’t need others to join them.

11. This is a very powerful blog with a very clear message for us all ; there are no safe levels for alcohol consumption.

12. I used to drink alcohol, but if I was really honest I actually hated the taste of it and the hangovers were particularly bad for me, it was obvious this was ‘poison’ to my body because of how my body reacted to it. I look back now at how I abused my body when it was clearly telling me otherwise, I overrode what my body was communicating to me and eventually paid the price. Why do we accept it as normal to abuse and trash our bodies with known poisons? I know I did many years ago, so conversations like these are important to bring awareness and support to others who are ready to hear the truth.

13. It is only when I learnt about the energetic effects that alcohol has on the body that I truly understood and decided not to drink alcohol. We do know that alcohol is a poison to our body but it is just a part of the picture as there is much more going on and knowing the whole truth helps to truly let go of things.

    1. Well said Lieke – there is so much more happening than what we let ourselves realise, but when we are willing to feel and see then much is revealed in this exploration.

14. Alcohol has us escape from the tension and pressure we feel in life. But what we need to understand is that it is only an escape, so in other words we are vacating the situation and let things to fester, which simply means, us withdrawing not only not changes the situation we are escaping from but has it worsen as nothing is done where our input is needed. Meanwhile we are weakened by the intake of alcohol and then when coming back to the situation at hand we are even less capable of dealing with it.
    Alcohol is harming us immensely and denies us any true connection and evolvement.

15. The famous French expression ‘savoir vivre’ points to a series of things that apparently have a more than positive impact on our quality of life, except that in truth they bring something n the short term in exchange for the harm they cause in the long run to us. How can we use an expression that supports what in the name of living well is killing us?

    1. Great point and great words Eduardo – How can we champion something that is to our detriment and to our demise? Something must be very wrong when we cannot see further than a short distance ahead and we choose to be blind to consequences that are unavoidable.

16. I think part of the problem is that we only see the small term harm – so having a hang over or even being physically sick but then seemingly the recovery is relatively quick, but we do not consider the long term effects of what that much poison just did to our organs – or as you so rightly say – what energetically we just did to ourselves.

17. “In summary, he stated there are no safe levels for alcohol consumption.” I wonder what the world would do if every major newspaper published this on the front page – would people actually care that they are harming themselves? Or do perhaps people already know that is the case but continue to do it anyway?

    1. Some older people I talk to have the attitude that they want to enjoy their life, and have their treats, showing a complete lack of responsibility for their health and well-being.

18. The proof that alcohol is a menace to our society is incontrovertible, and yet it continues to be used in enormous amounts. A point of pause for us all… are we not willing to reduce road deaths, or domestic violence simply by changing what we ingest?

19. Alcohol is a very harmful substance in society that has been normalised but being seen as normal does not make it actually normal…it is a poison that is a dysfunctional aspect of society be it on a social level or health wise it offers nothing to enhance who we are.

20. There are only a few people willing to stand out to say that there are no safe levels of alcohol consumption. Which means that no matter the amount consumed, it is dangerous to our health and increases our risks of developing particular diseases. Many have vested interests, even if it is to protect our own behaviours that we justify. “it helps me relieve stress” “I only have 1 or 2 glasses with dinner”. We can only fool ourselves for so long.

21. I think it’s really valuable to reflect on if there are things we consume or partake in that we have actually felt are harmful to us but override that feeling because we’re told it’s normal to partake in it or that it’s good for us (when in reality it’s not). It’s like disregarding what we know from our body to fit in with what others say instead…

22. We let ourselves be worn down by the standards we have made normal in our society. Alcohol is not at all good for our bodies nor for our state of being, that is a fact and no arguing of a little bit is ok or some might be even good for us changes this fact. It just shows how very much we are fooling ourselves. We need to start to open our eyes and allow ourselves to see and stop playing the game we are playing. We are so off track to what is truly normal to ourselves that we have a long way to go to come back to the normal that is natural to us.

23. When you see what alcohol does in the body it is bizarre that we have ever championed it. Yet whenever I have a conversation with friends about why we drink alcohol they always share how it has a use, it lifts up, it numbs, it ‘takes the edge off’, if ‘keeps me awake’, ‘it helps me ignore all of the things I don’t want to deal with’. So we know deep down it harms us but it seems we are not addressing the root causes but just accepting the consequences to the coping mechanisms we are using to get through life.

24. I attended a meeting recently where someone was giving a presentation on millennial children that are now going into the workforce and how to nurture them. My main take away from the presentation is it seems they are sensitive and many do not drink alcohol and if this is the case then maybe at last there is a sea change happening?

25. Brilliant blog Loretta. I have seen right before my eyes how people are no longer themselves when they start drinking alcohol. I chose from very early on in my life that I didn’t want to drink alcohol because of how it made me feel. What I saw was a distinct change in people’s behaviour and the way they look. Often by the end of the night I was feeling very much a lone even though my friends were all around because they were no longer themselves. What I noticed was when I went out with my friends they were themselves but when we went home together it felt like they were strangers.

26. We don’t put alcohol in a baby’s bottle and why is this so? It is a reason we all know, and this is because we all are aware that it is a poison, otherwise we would not question offering to a baby. So, at what point did we deem it OK for the same being to drink a poison and champion the amount we can handle? ‘Handle’ being the operative word and if it was something that enhanced and inspired our living way it would not need to be ‘handled’ and in all honesty who wakes up after drinking alcohol feeling renewed, refreshed and vital?

27. What opened my eyes and totally confirmed alcohol was poisoning my body was knowing what alcohol did to me energetically. I did not want to be energetically poisoned, have my life force drained and give my life over to whoever who was around me.

28. As a community we need to become very real and honest about the true harm of alcohol and how it is contributing to domestic violence, psychological and emotional issues, more accidents and affecting the health and well being of families and individuals on many levels.

    1. I agree Anne, we can clearly see how harmful alcohol is but society still very much accepts consuming alcohol as being normal. The damage alcohol does to our body, our families and our community world wide is astonishing. What drives us to drink alcohol which is clearly poison and very harmful? Because we are very intelligent beings but there is something about this that does not add up. Are we prepared to expose what is really going on? This blog certainly is and in a very inspiring and honest way.

29. It’s incredible some doctors still stand by the research paper that claims moderate alcohol consumption is actually good for some heart diseases and would not advise patients to give up alcohol as long as it is not excessive. If a substance is found to be harmful to a human body in any way, never mind what the diagnosis might be, that sure is enough to tell people to stay away from it.

30. We seem to accept that illicit drugs alter our state of being and can affect our behaviours and cause much destruction in our relationships and society at large, but It is interesting how accepted alcohol is when collectively it would be affecting us all on a much grander scale that illicit drugs do.

    1. I recall questioning that also many years ago too Suse. However I was in reaction at the time to what I was seeing and developed behaviours in opposition to this, to spite what I was seeing. This is not helpful either and really only encourages all of these behaviours. We do need to sit and really look at the effect that alcohol is having and a good starting point is the effect that is has now our bodies. As Loretta says here if you combine smoking and alcohol there is a 75% change of developing a head and neck cancer, which I see a lot of in my work and yet this is not something that is discussed very much and is really a huge opportunity to to stop and simply be honest. We will get this, but unfortunately we will see a lot of unnecessary deaths because of this combination.

31. We fool ourselves if we think there is a safe level of alcohol consumption and we can all feel and see the effects alcohol has on our bodies and behaviour and they are not good ones.

    1. I agree Esther – our eyes are closed deliberately so, as if we were to be honest with the destructive effects of alcohol of ourselves and each other, we would then have to admit that we are not OK, so much so that we are opting to poison ourselves to avoid and escape feeling the lovelessness and abuse that we are choosing to exist with and allow in our lives.

       1. Yes, simple steps of honesty will bring us far because it allows us to see more clearly.

    2. We certainly do Esther and this deception deeply hurts us all. The effects of alcohol is deeply harmful but until we as a society recognise this, alcohol will continue to be sold as being a good for us.

32. “I chose to not drink” When we choose not to drink alcohol with the awareness of the harm it can cause to our body we offer the reflection to others who may be feeling the pressure to ‘fit in’ to also feel empowered to make this choice.

33. This is a powerful blog and truly supportive for anyone wanting to give up alcohol because giving up alcohol is life changing and thus it is wise to seek all the support out that is available.

    1. I wonder why I even started?! I mean it is not as if it is a core survival need by the body so to consider the need to give it up suggests that I am denying myself something. Having not drunk now for years – I have lost count to be honest, it doesn’t even form part of a consideration for me, so what changed in the way I am dealing with life now and how I was dealing with life then?

34. It is very telling of how we are living when we allow any form of abuse and poison in our body and around us and do nothing about it. Why wasn’t alcohol distinguished the first time someone consumed it and acted out in a way that was completely foreign to them and those watching on? When there is an emptiness to fill there will always be options out there to numb and distract us from feeling what is there.

35. Great call Loretta, how come we ignore all the evidence that is presented to us where alcohol is concerned? If this were any other drug being introduced now we would probably be talking about banning it or at least severely restricting it’s use. Alcohol is seen as the lubricant of our social functions in society but it masks so much, there’s the horrific consequences you note here, but there’s also the fact that we’re spending time with others not being ourselves. And when you consider that it seems odd, why would we not just be ourselves with others and how did we get to be living in a way where we needed a crutch to be with people? It suggests there’s something here for all of us to look at in how we live and how we are first with ourselves and then with all others? The starting point is honesty, to admit we need alcohol, as a reward, because we’re exhausted, because we feel awkward and let’s have some real conversations in this way and see where it goes? Aren’t we all worth that?

36. It is interesting to read about the ingrained family customs that many of us can relate to, and how these customs essentially indoctrinate the next generation to keep the same behaviors as the previous generation. What does this say about humanity when we look outside our own walls to see others doing the very same thing. To see and feel the absolute damage of such behaviors, yet in many cases continue to champion our own whilst criticizing another’s. This exposes the very real harm behind them, not only do they harm our bodies, they also affect how we think and ultimately provide the very horrible foundation of living in separation to others. From here wars are begun.

37. We are thinking we are intelligent species yet we choose to drink a substance that is poisonous to our body and also alters our state of being so we are able to abuse our children, partners or family, are aggressive and destructive to the environment we are in. But is this truly intelligent? And is there any safe level of alcohol to drink if we know this all is caused by drinking alcohol?

38. It is incredible that doctors advise patients to drink alcohol, a glass of red wine is good for the heart they say, so my mother regularly enjoyed a glass most days, since then she has become more aware of her body and how drinking alcohol isn’t actually supporting it at all, it may appear a more relaxed state but in truth it does the opposite making you feel more anxious than before and then you create a cycle of wanting another drink.

39. The reports on the effects of alcohol are showing society that it is poisonous to our bodies in many ways, but still so many simply put their head in the sand and refuse to listen, probably as they don’t want to give up one of their ‘pleasures’ in life.. We are being presented with the medical facts that there is no safe limit but still the counter reports persist in presenting that a little bit in moderation is good for you. It doesn’t make sense to me that a little bit of poison can be good for you – I am sure that if we asked our body it would agree.

40. I will never drink alcohol again thanks to Universal Medicine and understanding how it effects you energetically by deconfiguring your makeup to have no control over your choices.

41. With levels of illness and disease at such incredibly high levels is it not time for everyone to look at what they might be doing that may be contributing to these escalating rates? To be responsible for how they live, and what they ingest, and surely this would mean avoiding known poisons like alcohol and sugar?

    1. Sadly it is only when people become ill or sick, that they then take off the dark glasses and look at how they are living – mind you many do not when they become ill and choose to stay in ignorance and resistance, but life is such that it will keep presenting you with whatever you need to waken you out of this slumber and ignorance.

42. Alcohol is clearly a poison and very destructive for our body, most of us know this by now, with some still choosing to bury their heads in the sand thinking it won’t affect them.

43. Smoking and alcohol consumption are risk factors for so many other illnesses. I have just finished an online course about dementia and these two were high on the list.

44. More and more medical professionals are now stating that there are no safe levels of alcohol consumption. With its strong links to cancer, I’m surprised more healthcare workers are not shouting about this from the rooftops.

45. The information that you quote at the beginning ought to be enough to deter anyone from drinking but it doesn’t seem to as it has become such an embedded normal in society. But how on earth can a substance that is a proven poison be normal to drink? We wouldn’t knowingly drink arsenic, would we? What is it within us that we can ignore such compelling evidence so we can keep on drinking? I can’t remember having access to information like this as a teenager and if I had I do wonder if I would have ignored it and had another drink?

46. As a society we need to stop and truly consider the ill effects of alcohol and be truthful of the repercussions of how we relate to it with regards to special occasions and celebrations in life, this needs to be talked about openly as it sets the imprint on young people to fall for the illusion “to celebrate” when in fact they are poisoning their bodies the quality of their lives in general.

47. I used to drink for many reasons and I abused myself and others as a result. I stopped many years ago after feeling my dependence on alcohol and not wanting to follow some of my close family members any further along the road of alcoholism. It took a little while to be able to feel who I was without it but I did, and then came across Universal Medicine where my understanding deepened and my health and well being rocketed. With alcohol my life was a mess, without it it is beyond better. That’s good enough for me.

48. wow, you go Loretta! I love how you call it as it is! It is illogical but we have built a way of living that is so far from stillness, love, harmony and playfulness that we need a coping mechanism to deal with the tension. Alcohol is that coping mechanism and I can see that unless we support ourselves and each other to rebalance the way we choose to live life and the areas we choose to place our focus, then we will continue to need those coping mechanisms to deal with the tension.

49. There may be a debate on whether there are safe consumption levels for alcohol, but when it comes down to it, there can be no debate. The facts are simple about the harm that alcohol does both to the body, and to society.

50. Well said Loretta. The truth about alcohol and its impact upon our body, let alone our lives, our relationships, its undeniable connection to domestic and other violence, cannot be denied. And we all do know its altering effects upon our state of being – again, undeniable.
    And so, we must ask, why the societal preference for such harm, destabilisation and destruction? What is going on, that we have so normalised this harm and in so many cases, made it an intrinsic part of our culture and way of life? There has to be a far greater denial of ourselves and discontent for things to be as they are, does there not?

51. The mind baffles to understand how we have made a known poison so ‘normal’ and accepted in everyday life, and if you choose not to drink alcohol many look upon you as weird and anti-social – how far have we strayed from what we know is true.

52. I lived much of my life with alcohol playing a big part of it. I always felt uncomfortable and “on tenter hooks” but to ignore this feeling I too drank to cover up this uncomfortable feeling. That was until I could no longer continue to ignore that why I felt this way was because people changed when they drank. Then I realised that I was doing this too and stopping was the only way I could be true to myself. This was not easy, people tried to make me drink again and said some pretty horrible things to me, but knowing the true pain it caused, no pressure could make me again choose such a behaviour that harmed me and disregarded and disrespected everyone I was with.

    1. This is beautiful Leigh, even though there was some attack coming at you for making a loving decision to stop drinking alcohol, you stayed steady so not to harm or affect yourself or the very people who were in reaction. I know with an absoluteness that I will never again drink alcohol… there of course are always other ways I still poison my body with food, emotions and thoughts but letting go of substances that alter how I am supports me to see and feel these more clearly.

53. Alcohol is not normal, as such, but why we choose it and many other harming activities is what truly has been normalized. As the need to dull and escape the reality of our lives is what we have made normal. Instead of stopping and changing our lives if we cannot stand to stay with ourselves in the life we have.

54. Working in palliative care I can confirm that most head and neck cancers have strong link to alcohol and tobacco use. A lot of these cancers can be difficult to treat with very challenging side effects. Once upon a time I would have said that this would have happened to those that drank and smoked a lot. In other words it was related to the amount taken. But that is not true, because we see people who have only had moderate to small amounts too. The costs of using alcohol to people and community is huge and I suspect that what we make in taxes is only a small sniff of what is required to pay for our use of this drug.

55. The effects of alcohol are so obvious – the fact that after only a glass of wine or one beer there are noticeable changes to a person is a dead give away that something more is at play, energetically speaking. The real question we need to be asking is, why are we so unhappy with ourselves that we need to drink a considered poison to relieve ourselves? What is missing from life? Probable answer, our true and ever loving selves.

56. It is odd – and actually quite crazy – that alcohol has become so socially acceptable, even though we know we don’t feel good after drinking it, and the wider damage that it causes to society as a whole.

57. We have to come to terms that people use alcohol to make sure that they are not themselves because they do not like to be in their bodies. It is like saying, I will withdraw to a place I know, a place I consider safe, a friendly place. The first question is how do these feelings talk to everything that happens when people get drunk? The second question is do we really know what happens to us when we withdraw through alcohol?

58. One of the attraction of alcohol for me was that it changed me and I was no longer my usual self – even though there often would be consequences that I would be totally mortified with. How sad a life I must have been having that I could not bear being my ‘usual’ self to that extent, and of course it begs a question of what I used to define ‘being myself’ to be.

59. The acceptance of alcohol as being ok, as a drink a day is good for you.. Is the lie that needs to be exposed, over and over again, in articles like this one written by Loretta. The more this is exposed, the harder it will be to ignore.

60. It is fascinating and yet deeply concerning that a substance that can cause so much harm physically to the body, let alone to society through accidents and violence is so widely accepted. The statistics are shocking and yet in spite of them there is a reality that people appear to be unwilling to face… it seems as if things will only change when people become more personally aware of the harm and then choose responsibility from a place of lived understanding and self care.

61. As long as there is honesty we can then look at the reason why we need to drink something that is damaging to our body in order to alter our state of being, what areas of our lives are we living less than who we are? what are the pictures that we are holding which create the stress and the anxiousness that later give us the need to drink to feel better? It is only until we take responsibility that once again we can connect to our essence and truly commit to treat our bodies with the love and care they deserve.

62. It is fascinating to see how this sort of research is ignored, despite being peer reviewed, double blind placebo’d and published in reputable journals. These are the criteria the health professionals and powers-to-be insist are present before new research is considered credible. Why is it then that it does not make front headline news every day for a month once it is published? The reason as I see it, is it is asking us to change our lifestyles radically, bringing into question the extent to which we have embraced something so detrimental to us and more to the point why. Questions we, as individuals and as a society, would rather not delve into. Easier to read the words, give it a cursory acknowledgment and continue on with our lives. Fortunately the body knows the truth and our increasing statistics on disease and illness will eventually force a much needed level of honesty and from there, change.

63. We need to seriously ask questions as to why such significantly important findings such as “there are no safe levels for alcohol consumption” as stated by Professor Ian Olver, CEO of Cancer Council of Australia, are not making world headlines.

64. Alcohol is so ingrained in society’s fabric that all such warnings seem to fall on deaf ears.

65. A great article Loretta.
    Alcohol has a lot to answer to. But more so do we as human beings, as alcohol would not be consumed to the degree it is in society today if we valued ourselves. If we but stopped and considered that living who we are is the greatest gift we can give to another, and that alcohol literally rapes us of our beingness. Is the real question to be asked, why do we not want to live in the fullness of who we are?

66. The alcohol fuelled rage and violence is certainly known by many, yet we continue to glorify that having a drink is a good a social thing to do. Then there are those who don’t touch alcohol because of this aggression and decide to contend with pot or other drugs because it ‘chills you out’ and wouldn’t fuel such anger. But the question really is, why do we need anything at all to alter our state of awareness and sense of who we are in the first place? Why are we escaping who we are and finding relief in substance abuse of any kind?

67. This is exposing greatly that there are even positive effects of alcohol, actually only the relief it gives makes it a widely supported substance. But this can’t hold up when we all choose to truly listen and claim back the responsibility for our health.

68. It is quite astonishing how blind we pretend we are when it comes to alcohol consumption. We try so hard to make out like it is not a problem in our society or is bad for our health. Anyone who speaks up against it – be prepared to get shot down. And if you quietly choose to not drink , well that can be a very loud statement that ruffles a lot of feathers.

69. When you sum up all these effects of alcohol that are negative on our bodies, relationship and society as a whole as a result it actually does not make sense we consume it so much.

    1. From this perspective yes Lieke I totally agree, but if we delve a little deeper to question why we would continue to consume something that is so clearly detrimental to us, solving nothing of worth by it’s consumption, the answers make a little more sense. At a very fundamental level most could not deny that alcohol is consumed to ‘take the edge off’ life in some way. Being just the way we are… whether that is stressed, uptight, lacking in confidence, wanting some ‘dutch courage’, needing to ‘fit in’ with others etc, is a tension most find unbearable. That alone explains a great deal of alcohol consumption, and in those moments of tension, one’s health is furthest from one’s thoughts.

       1. Exactly Jenny. It is the same overeating or eating things we know we should not eat, we all know the effects of alcohol, smoking and certain foods on our bodies but there is this tension inside us that justifies any consumption of these foods and drinks because it makes us, for a bit, not feel the tension.

70. You wrote this article three years ago, yet only now is the media occasionally publishing the truth about alcohol and how it is linked to some cancers. The tragedies – through domestic abuse and even still with road traffic accidents – could be reduced. Yet drinking alcohol is still considered ‘normal’ in society today. To refuse alcohol at a celebration is tantamount to a rejection of the whole proceedings!

71. The normality of alcohol everywhere you go is frightening. I recently made a request at work to go to a restaurant of my choice for my farewell dinner. The response from my boss was how much trouble she got in last time they went to said restaurant due to the bill being so exorbitant from the excessive alcohol consumption. My immediate reaction was to suggest we don’t drink. It’s amazing how the very thought of not consuming alcohol in a social setting actually stresses people out and creates anxiety. We are so conditioned to protect ourselves from being vulnerable with others. It’s extremely sad!

72. Awesome Loretta. This is an article worth publishing in the paper, medical journals, and particularly all the magazines about so called ‘health and wellbeing’. It feels so obvious it’s crazy how much we ignore all of this evidence.

73. It really is wonderful to read how a well respected academic writes ‘there are no safe levels for alcohol consumption’. But how long will statements like this simply be ignored by public media, when it should be headlines blazoned across our pages… alcohol is NOT safe.

74. Thank you Loretta for sharing so clearly your experience with alcohol. It’s quite surprising how adults used to encourage children to drink alcohol to get stronger. There is the belief that it is not so bad, even many doctors support that it is healthy in reduced quantities when it is a known cause of different types of cancer. There is a strong unknown about what alcohol really is and its negative impact in the health and wellbeing of people. But many people choose to live under this unknown to “have fun” and to “live the life” when in true they are choosing a kind of slow suicide in every glass of wine or cocktail.
    Alcohol is one of the biggest socially accepted addictions but also the use of videogames, videos on Internet about violence, porn, music and videoclips with sexual content which at the same time are promoting the alcohol consumption and drugs…All of this is affecting our society considerably in a negative way as most of this content is supporting an unnatural way of living that does not respect the human body in any way. As a result, we are already living the consequences of that in the many cases of illness and disease but also in the cases of depression, anxiety, suicides, murders…and so on. How much ill does society need to be to realize that socially accepted addictions are not so right?

75. How long will it be before as a society we start to listen to the medical community who are clearly telling us alcohol is detrimental to our health.

76. Loretta this continues to be a huge point of debate – alcohol – why we drink it, what it does to us. I was very much caught up in the glamour of alcohol – sold to me as something that would relax me, a privilege, a compliment to food, an indulgence, something to appreciate. I was caught in it all and used alcohol to numb me, I used it to look sophisticated, I used it to relax. But in all this time never did I want to see that Alcohol is ethanol, it kills people, breaks relationships and is completely addictive. I never wanted to see what it does to the liver and the body. But Universal Medicine asked me to be absolutely honest with every single choice and to see them in full – so I did start to see what alcohol does on an addictive and harmful level, and from this point I was able to make the choice based on how it felt in my body. This opportunity should be given to everyone. The problem with marketing is we tell people what we want them to hear. But is it about us as a society not wanting to be responsible and seeing the whole picture first?

77. So many of us use the excuse that we started drinking alcohol to ‘fit in’ with those around us even though we did not like the taste or the effect on our body and the same with smoking cigarettes. In the UK the law now prevents smoking cigarettes in any public building as well as in your own car if there are children present and as a result cigarette smoking has reduced rapidly and it is now considered ‘normal’ not to smoke. As more and more people take responsibility for their own health and choose not to drink it will, gradually, become ‘normal’ not to drink alcohol. Drink and Drive legislation should be made zero alcohol levels the same as for airline pilots; we are all responsible for our fellow travelers.

78. Alcohol is without a doubt a poison, making it socially acceptable makes is no less a poison. Ignoring the significant impacts to society also makes it no less an issue.

79. Loretta I agree with everything you share here. After witnessing what I did as a child and the effects of alcohol on the adults around me, it was clear to me it is very much a ‘poison’ and the changes in their behaviour was frightening to see at times.

80. I am just involved in a research project about head and neck cancers. Cancer of the pharynx is cancer in your mouth – no fun for eating and swallowing.

81. Well said Loretta. We have gotten to a stage where almost no function goes ahead without alcohol and when anybody tries to stand up and limit (not even stop completely) it sales, there is a swift and strong rebuttal. It seems we are a society who feel entitled to drink alcohol and smoke tobacco freely as a coping mechanism and as a ‘reward’ or social requirement. I also feel that there are huge amounts of greedy governments and businesses who gain through alcohol sales so have a vested interest in encouraging people to consume these products. The damage is beyond measuring.

82. One day it will be known by all and considered crazy that we even partook in such lunacy. Society has a long way to go until we all get there but with blogs like these telling it as it is and highlighting the truth we are shown another way a way that does not poison or harm but instead heals and evolves.

83. Great article and a brilliant point about the link between coming of age and society’s permission to guzzle alcohol. As kids, we desperately want to be older and so the lure of being a grown up is further symbolised and evidenced by legalised drinking habits. But it would seem that all our rites of passage in life are associated with and marked by alcoholic celebration, making the risk of being labelled a misfitting party pooper very likely for anyone with the common sense to choose according to the body rather than from a misguided sense of wanting to fit in.

84. I did not grow up with a lot of alcohol but it was definitely considered normal to have a glass of wine on occasion and my mother even gave us a brandy drink when we we felt unwell. It had eggs, milk and nutmeg and I grew to really like it. We had brandy poured over the christmas pudding so we could set light to it. Brandy went into the christmas cake. Tiramisu was a favorite dessert. Travelling one was always encouraged to try the local alcohol and there seemed to be a belief that the stronger it was the better somehow. Of course as a teenager I drank socially and this continued to a greater or lesser degree till several years ago where I began to focus on the effect this strange substance had on my body, and I didn’t really like it. Now I feel that stopping drinking alcohol was one of the the best things I have ever done. My health and well being has improved enormously and the money that went on alcohol can now go on better quality food, another bonus.

85. I remember as a kid we were allowed to drink small amounts of wine so that we could feel grown up at the dinner table. It was also seen as a way of lessening our chances of rebelling as teenagers. What it did though was normalise the drinking of alcohol and make it almost a goal to be able to tolerate the taste of it as it was thought that one of the best things about getting old was the fact that it was legal to drink. And i did become very good at drinking alcohol, until my late 20s when I realised how much it was taking it’s toll on my health. Now I do not miss alcohol one bit.

86. This is a great blog exposing that this lie that there are safe level of alcohol that can be consumed is completely and utterly false. So much money is drained from the health system treating all the illnesses that are related to alcohol consumption, yet the same health system still claim that there are ‘safe’ limits that people can drink. This just seems so contradictory to me.

87. It would seem the evidence is in. Yet it is still the person who doesn’t drink who is considered strange. I suppose the numbing effects of alcohol also allow a person to stay blissfully unaware of the consequences, for awhile.

88. Thank you for spelling out so clearly the harm caused by ingesting alcohol Loretta and your call ‘for us all to take responsibility for the choice to consume alcohol; to be honest and feel what is really going on when that choice to drink is made?’ However much they try and fool themselves people know deep down that alcohol is not good for them but unless they are willing to address the issues of why they drink they will struggle to maintain abstinence.

89. What an honest account of the effects of alcohol. As you clearly say Loretta, what is really going on that we need alcohol in the first place and what is missing in our everyday lives that we become dependent on consuming it…?

90. Thank you Loretta for opening up the conversation. I feel we all really know that alcohol is a poison to the body – I certainly did but that didn’t stop me consuming it until I attended a presentation by Serge Benhayon where he explained the energetic effects alcohol has – it was this that caught my attention and I made the choice then to stop drinking as what he shared confirmed a truth I had already felt in my body. He also explained the reason we drink and take drugs or adopt any other dysfunctional behaviour is to numb ourselves from feeling what is really going on and dealing with the issues. Time to start taking responsibility!

91. It is crazy that as a society we have normalised alcohol so much when it is a known poison to the body. I know I would have ignored this truth when I was a drinker preferring to override all my body was telling me until I was forced to look at the harm that alcohol was doing to me and my life – thank god I listened as my whole life changed for the better when I stopped drinking.

92. I was offered the occasional sip of alcohol as a young teen, but it was not at all pleasing . I did drink occasionally when I was around 20 and just occasionally at family get togethers or outings with friends. In my early 50s I decided that I wouldn’t bother to drink as it was mainly to make everyone else feel comfortable. Then when I connected to Universal Medicine and the Presentations of Serge Benhayon, and there was confirmation that it was indeed a Poison in the body, I felt the truth of this, and was glad I listened to my body all those years ago.. Thank you Loretta for your sharing.

93. I remember how alcohol was given to me as a taste from someone’s glass and how I turned up my nose at the smell and spat it out. I remember the laughter of the adults and in later years, I got lost and it became my prop to hide and lose myself. How has drinking alcohol become the most acceptable form of behaviour in our society, and not to drink is often viewed as strange? Someone asked me enquiringly a couple of nights ago, you don’t drink ANY alcohol now? It will be marvellous when it becomes more socially acceptable not to drink alcohol and it’s viewed in truth as the poison it is.

    1. Yes that day is coming Gill! Eventually everyone will know how harmful alcohol is, our bodies will never not be able to hide the devastating effects and nor to will society as alcohol related crime and abuse will become more exposed.

94. Yes Loretta, it absolute declares that we need to take responsibility for our life and not poison our body and cause for mental demage (including the impact on others around you). I have recently seen a video where it was being shown how alcohol, through for instance parents effect their children deeply, you could see in this video how children receive their parents when they had drank alcohol, it was shocking. Lets wake up.

95. There are no safe levels of consuming a substance that is well known for all the abuse and harm that you’ve mentioned here Loretta. It really does beg to question – WHY is this form of abuse on a global scale accepted and legal? and WHY is it needed? Are the levels of abuse and illness worth covering up whatever it is that is trying to be drowned? and does whatever is perceived to need such extreme drowning really that bad? What Universal Medicine has taught me is that altering myself in any way comes from an already altered perception of myself and is not actually the real me. In the connection to the real me the way in which I address the issues in my life are completely different and much more supportive and loving that does not leave myself or others in a lesser or ill state.

96. I agree there is no safe level of alcohol. What I would like to know how come these findings on the association between alcohol and cancer don’t make headline news? Where are the journalists who are willing to step up and report these facts that are based on actual evidence.

97. I was watching a video recently of the top 10 most dangerous drugs out there, and while things like Cocaine, Ecstasy, Heroin all made it into the top 10, the most dangerous drugs were Alcohol and Cigarettes. These legal intoxicants kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, and the reason is that they are an an accepted and normal part of the society we live in. If you consider for a moment the energy we put into saving kids from drowning in pools, or people from dying in car accidents – the death toll of these is a fraction of the people dying from fags and booze. Why are we not doing more be it the law, education, or medically to highlight and eradicate these forms of abusing ourselves?

    1. My eyes have been opened to a small degree to the damage Katie, but I agree – the effects of these pervade through the whole of society, in ways we just accept as normal but are far from it. Its time to take a really cold hard look at what is really going on so we can wake up and smell the roses.

    2. This is a great point Simon, which highlights how normalised these abusive behaviours are in our society today. We all know the campaigns against drink driving, yet there are still recommended ‘safe’ levels of how much you can get away with drinking if you are going drive. I know that if I drank within those recommendation, it would definitely not be safe for me to be behind the wheel of a car.

       1. Just that comment ‘getting away with it’ says so much Eleanor

    3. And add to this list sugar and caffeine and we have another two legal intoxicants that kills thousands of people each year.

    4. It’s important to remember that legalising something doesn’t mean it’s good for us or our bodies, however as soon as we legalise it, we are in effect saying the behaviour is ok, – and so it becomes accepted as the norm, when in fact it is often the complete opposite of normal!

    5. It speaks volumes to me that when these kinds of statistics are presented, we, as a general whole, tend to shut down to them. I know this because there isn’t any general movement in humanity to move away from the harm that socially acceptable drugs like alcohol do. If anything it causes a backlash of defence of the ‘right’ to drink alcohol and labels those who choose not to as the oddballs of society (either that or they are labelled victims because of alcoholism). Doesn’t this expose how little value we place on life? How little we care about the quality we and others live in? And if you agree with this, as I do, then this doesn’t make much sense, as we are abusing ourselves in fundamental ways and also polluting the whole of humanity with our actions. This leads me to understand that there is a part of me that I have let rule the roost that really doesn’t care one iota about me – a fragment of me that thinks it is IT. Thanks to Universal Medicine I know this part to be my spirit – immortal and irresponsible and yet lost. By recognising this it is then possible to bring a greater understanding as to what is going on when humanity dances wilfully along the path of self-destruction, and with love and tenderness, bring us to a stop, where we can bring that fragmented part of us back into the whole and start to truly care again.

    6. We seem very blasé about the dangers related to behaviours that are self indulgent… yes, we will rescue someone in an accident, but may not see anything wrong with the harm caused by alcohol and cigarettes.

98. It is really odd how we train ourselves as teenagers to drink beer to fit in! I remember that bitter taste and trying to overcome it! I was also looking to reach that high from the alcohol to fit in with everyone else and to be silly. What a price to pay to fit in, considering the damage it has on our body and to others around us when drinking. It was not the lack of example in terms of people drinking heavily and dying from it within the family, but still remembering saying it was just unlucky to be dying of cancer when all along we, as human being, were fueling this cancer all our life!! Coming from a French family, I use to drink and smoke regularly, and same as you Loretta, wine was on the table for lunch and dinner at my parents. Many people around the world are still championing alcohol when in effect denying all the consequences that comes with it. If we knew or realise the type of pain and discomfort that going through a cancer is putting us through, would we really consider having another drink? The answer is probably NO.

99. Thank you for this very clear distinction and information.

    There is no safe amount of alcohol but seeing as it is such a lubricant in society few people will say otherwise. Maybe it will be like smoking? In the past Drs recommended certain brands of cigarettes.

100. Loved this Loretta. What you presented was super powerful. I grew up in a household where alcohol was normal, now that I’m living in a house that is alcohol free it is very clear to see the implications and affects alcohol has on someone. Their energetic quality completely charges. It was interesting to note the link between your father and your sister-in-law, alcohol consumption and their health state… It’s happens everywhere and it’s right in our backyards. What’s even more interesting is that the whole world is trying to Ignor the fact that alcohol is poison and has seriously ill effects… Well actually the world knows, but nothing is being done about it.

101. Thank you, Loretta. It amazes me how I failed to recognise the obvious harm of alcohol for what it was for so long. I grew up in a family where alcohol only came out when there were guests. It was not our usual. However, I started drinking underage and became a heavy drinker. Nobody else drank, not even my brother. When my parents and I went out for a dinner during our holiday in Europe, they said they felt more comfortable and felt a part of the scene because I drank alcohol. How crazy is that they actually felt less for not drinking alcohol – because it was not society’s normal.

102. Thanks for your comment Marika, I would love to know how much of a difference it made to your life when you stopped drinking, as you were not a heavy drinker was it a more subtle change? Or were the positive affects huge ?

103. This is a truly important blog Loretta, asking some “difficult questions’ concerning the consuming of a poisonous substance! Its incredible to think adults would offer a small child alcohol and yet rush a child to the doctors or phone a poisons information centre if they thought the child had swallowed another poisonous substance! As many have stated most of our families considered alcohol a natural progression from lemonade in our teens, and we were considered (as I was) not sociable at a gathering if you didn’t drink beer or something stronger. I did drink alcohol for a few years but didn’t like how I felt in my body and over time phased it out of my life.

104. I love this blog Loretta, well written. The question this blog is asking humanity is
     “What is going on with the mainstream acceptance of alcoholism as normal?”

     As you mentioned in your article and what I find interesting is many doctors and nurses are known for ‘letting off steam’ or ‘work hard, play hard’ attitude.
     Nobody questions this as it’s the ‘norm’. I for one did not question it, as I lived exactly the same way the majority of my life. Questioning it brings more responsibility because to look at a practitioner’s self care level, you would naturally have to look at your own. I support mainstream medicine and have an enormous respect for all the doctors/nurses that dedicate there lives to supporting people through illness and disease but maybe we need to look at the example we are setting in the health industry? As a society imagine if the people treating you were actually practicing true health?

105. Great article, Loretta. It is very confusing for people looking to the ‘experts’ for answers – some doctors say that alcohol in moderation is good for you, and others show it has been clearly proven that it is not. Every time a study mentions that having a glass of wine is good for your health, it is on the evening news. Everyone wants a reason or an excuse to continue drinking. However, the answers are not ‘out there’, but inside and all it requires is a moment of honesty, a moment of considering how the body feels after drinking alcohol. The body doesn’t lie, alcohol is clearly a poison, with side effects of headaches, nausea, lethargy and cancer – there should be mandatory warnings on all bottles.

106. This is an excellent article that exposes alcohol for the poison that it actually is. So why do we willingly drink poison and not only drink it but champion it? What are we missing here? I drank alcohol up until my early 40’s. I did it because everyone did it. I never even questioned it even though I worked as a health care professional! It was not until I heard Serge Benhayon present on alcohol that I allowed myself to feel just how harming it is on an energetic level and I have never drunk alcohol since that day. What made the difference? The difference was that I could finally understand exactly how much we are not ourselves when we drink alcohol. Once I connected to this fact it was simple to stop drinking poison in the form of alcohol.

     1. ‘What made the difference? The difference was that I could finally understand exactly how much we are not ourselves when we drink alcohol. Once I connected to this fact it was simple to stop drinking poison in the form of alcohol.’ Yes Elizabeth this was my experience too, a real wake up call and the clarity of Serge’s presentation cut through all my previous excuses to myself and made them redundant.

107. This an awesome blog Loretta exposing the harms of alcohol consumption and the effects on your body. I always hated alcohol and the hangover’s made me feel terrible but I still continued to drink despite my body telling me otherwise. One of the most loving and supportive choices I made was to stop drinking – my health and well being improved enormously and I have never looked back.

108. Growing up alcohol never felt or tasted right, although a had brief periods of drinking in my late teens. It was a sure sign that when I first tasted beer it was disgusting, my body knew, the adults said you’ll get used to it, my response was why would I want to get used to something that tasted and felt horrible in my body.

109. Observing the use of alcohol in the lives of people around me it seems that it is used to relieve or remove the feeling of what is happening in someones life, to ‘relax’, to ‘reward’ or to meet a ‘need’. Your question Loretta is obvious to those that have felt the ‘outcome’ of ingesting alcohol, who have felt the truth of what is happening, of what it is like to lose connection to self and hand control over to another force. Any observations I have offered have been met with laughing it off, the belief that it is good for you or aggression. We can all ponder why the evidence shared at your conference has not been publicised and practised within the health industry? Living life connected to me, feeling the joy, harmony, expansion and vitality as a reflection of life without alcohol and the many other ‘blockers’ is a way to support others to find their own way to living life another way. Great blog Loretta.

110. If we truly and honestly look around us today we can see that there are no safe levels of alcohol consumption as the effects are clearly seen and the choice to drink a poison certainly raises many questions – what is really going on that we feel the need to escape, to poison and harm ourselves and others?

111. Great blog Loretta – thank you. I felt the same initial repulsion to alcohol as child growing up however I gave in to the peer group pressure and drank so I would fit in. I remember when I first started drinking thinking ‘how am I going to do this?’ as it did taste and feel poisonous but the desire to fit in drove me to override and disregard what I was truly feeling. I was never able to keep up with consuming as much as everyone else as I often felt sick early, after a certain number of drinks. Waking up the next day was always in regret with a restless anxiety from knowing that this was not me and questioning ‘what are you doing?’ and ‘that’s it, never again’. I was certainly affected for days after a drinking by not feeling physically as vital and feeling more emotional. I eventually had enough of feeling this way and chose to not drink alcohol anymore. And I can honestly say that I certainly do not miss any part of drinking alcohol at all.

112. Hi Lorreta as I read your awesome blog I was very impressed that you did not drink much alcohol and that you stay with what you feel is true in your body. That is very inspiring and showed me that if you love your body truly you would not harm it and so you can withstand everything even an” italian upbringing”.

113. It is so true what you say about alcohol Loretta, we were told that one drink was ok and good for our health, We only have to look at the lives of drinkers to see that they are poisoning themselves. I have a family member that when he drinks we loose him, he turns into someone that is definitely not him. Sad to see the terrible diseases, and the untold damage to family and friends that one inflicts on themselves and others due to consuming this drug, that is so accepted by society as a normal way of life.

114. It is sad that we use drinking alcohol as a marker for adulthood. As a society we need to look at new ways of celebrating important events and rites of passage. Something that perhaps won’t kill us might be nice.

115. Whilst it is important to have a frank discussion about the true effects of alcohol, what is equally needed is a deeper discussion as to why it has become society’s crutch. What is it about life that we need such a substance to take the edge of things? The answer of course is obvious, that there is a tension to life for most of us that we like to avoid – the stress of making a living, raising a family etc etc etc. Alcohol gives us a “timeout”. Unfortunately it comes with many deleterious consequences for the body and in many cases our mental health. We need to open up the discussion about finding a true way of dealing with the tension of life that actually supports us and assists us to realise that the tension of life is there for a reason, that it is not something that needs to be avoided, but rather something that is pointing us to the reality of the fact that the way we are living as individuals and as a society is not in keeping with our true inner nature. Alcohol is just one way we avoid the honesty that is needed to see this simple fact.

     1. ‘We need to open up the discussion about finding a true way of dealing with the tension of life that actually supports us and assists us to realise that the tension of life is there for a reason, that it is not something that needs to be avoided, but rather something that is pointing us to the reality of the fact that the way we are living as individuals and as a society is not in keeping with our true inner nature.’ Absolutely Adam alcohol is an avoidance mechanism and the price for using it is very high for the individual and for society.

116. Loretta what you share about alcohol’s prevalence and popularity is so true, and equally to the extent that to not drink is considered an oddity, weird, or not normal…or more so not fun but instead boring. Why is it that we need something else that is known medically to harm the body’s natural stasis of harmony, to create our enjoyment? This is the real oddity. Because it’s clear that the ‘enjoyment’ we get from alcohol, is in fact not a true enjoyment, but more an escape to not feel (something).

     1. Well said Zofia, I agree. When I used or should I say abused myself with alcohol it was only ever to enjoin others. When I stopped drinking alcohol in 1993 I replaced it with sugars. Sugars as I now know are just as unhealthy as alcohol! Thanks to the presentations of Serge Benhayon I now understand the process of feeling from my body, what was the “escape to not feel” and how to heal the hurt underlying the not wanting to feel. Therefore it was not just a matter of “stopping” no matter what the drug or food I used to abuse the body because “also on an energetic level” (thank you Loretta ) the true reason for taking the drug or alcohol needs to be healed, otherwise we simply find a replacement and never look to the underlying cause.

117. When I think back to every stupid thing I said or did, the money I wasted and the harm I did to my body when intoxicated, I wish I had never been introduced to alcohol. Thanks for the article Loretta

118. Great blog Loretta, it seems crazy that the consumption of alcohol is still so widely accepted as normal and not considered as much of a health risk even though we have quite a lot of evidence to the contrary – even our bodies can tell us this with a hangover!

119. If the facts of alcohol are now being presented my the medical world and our health systems and governing bodies are in overwhelm caused by the effects this has on us all, how and why is that we as a society are able to continue to buy alcohol so easily. These professionals that are presenting these fact to us need to be continually supported as I’m sure there are many who do not like the findings.

120. Its interesting isn’t it with every thing we know about the negative effects of alcohol, a lot of society still feel that it is okay to drink, in fact they encourage you to drink and think you are odd if you don’t. I have been to parties where because I do not drink I am deemed abnormal where as I am actually feeling normally myself where as I witness every-one else not be themselves after a drink or two. So the question I ask, is who is the normal one?

121. Great blog, so clear and straight forward. I absolutely agree that there is no safe way to consume alcohol. Alcohol is a poison! It is truly worrying how we justify around why it is ok to consume this poison and people find any reason to not stop drinking it. Giving alcohol to kids is utterly irresponsible and just done to justify the own consumption as being harmless. I heard of people putting red wine into the baby’s milk bottle to get them to sleep at night!!!!

122. A great yet stark reminder of the impact of alcohol and the blinkers that society wears to avoid the reality of the damage it causes. You wonder how bad it has to get before people stop and see it for the poison it is.

123. Yes Marika, that there is the killer when people say alcohol and sugar consumption is ok in moderation, actually is another way of saying, I like my comfort, and that is where I’m going to stay…. it is all a choice! There is another saying; ignorance is bliss, but truth to be told ignorance is far from bliss, ignorance is still sleeping in the illusion.

124. It is time, things are very bad. Just this week the headlines were that 11 year olds were smoking to cope with exam pressure! It is time.

125. well said Loretta… I recently had a client tell me, with a certain illness she is experiencing, that her doctor said there is nothing they can do about it, and because of that, he suggests she drinks every night with her girlfriends and takes an annual holiday. I was stunned that he was suggesting something that is a clear poison to the body.

126. Yes, clearly Loretta it is well past time that we as a society stop and question the choice to drink what is clearly poison to our body. We don’t see any animal seeking out substances to ingest over and over again that are harmful to their bodies – and we call ourselves the more intelligent!

127. This is so true: alcohol is accepted as a “social norm”, yet it has been proven to be very harmful to human bodies and a contributing factor to so many problems in the current society. So, why do people keep consuming it and why is there no law sufficient enough to stop this?

128. Yesterday in the supermarket I overheard a guy speaking over the phone to a friend. He said “alcohol allows me to reach an unparalleled level of clarity and intelligence and in a social gathering helps a lot to enable people to express freely and say honestly what they think about something”. I finished buying my broccoli and left. When I was going home I remembered a saying in Spanish whose translation is “kids and alcoholics always say the truth”. This is not true. Only kids do. The other thing his conversation made me realized was the glamour on alcohol is based on a true premise: people are not themselves when engaging the world. Yet, alcohol does not enable anybody to be him/herself. Just the contrary. It guarantees not being yourself but allowing you to think that you are. Drinking alcohol is really insidious

     1. This is an amazing sharing Emfeldman, it shows how our whole perception shifts when we get used to drinking alcohol, to a degree where we cannot see anymore the harm it is causing in so many ways as described in Loretta’s blog. That is why people can then justify and even say that alcohol is good for you. It seems to me that as long as you keep coming back to drinking, you choose to be blind to the bigger picture, only the moment you stop drinking you start to question it and consequently see more clearly, as you do not have an investment anymore, needing to justify your drinking habit.

129. As a teenager (from age 14) when alcohol was being introduced to my life, I knew it wasn’t right for me and I often questioned it’s use because I didn’t understand what was fun about vomiting and acting like a complete maniac. I didn’t give in to the pressure until I was in my early 20’s when I must have decided that it was time to start being a 20 something. At 28, my initial feeling on alcohol was confirmed when I heard talks given by Serge Benhayon on not only the physical and emotional effects it had on the body but energetically also. This all made very good sense to me, and so at the age of 28, I said good bye, as I felt I was able to give myself permission to honour my own feelings. I have not looked back.

130. Wow, awesome blog Loretta. Yes, alcohol is ‘poison’ I felt it too when I was young. My body couldn’t physically cope with the poison and so I chose not to consume it. Unfortunately I feel that a lot of people can feel how toxic alcohol is but are not willing to let it go or acknowledge it. What you have shared about the affects of alcohol is huge and have been known to us for a long time but why are we still allowing alcohol into our lives? What you have shared ‘is it not time for us all to take responsibility for the choice to consume alcohol; to be honest and feel what is really going on when that choice to drink is made?’ Responsibility, this is it, if we all take responsibility for what alcohol really does to us then we can then make more loving choices.

131. It’s interesting what you say about the impact of alcohol. I have found that when I was drunk it was like I was standing back watching myself and would engage in behaviours that were not me. I see this with others too- when they are drunk it’s like they turn into a totally different person- alcohol does affect us on many levels more than just physical.

132. It is strange that Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine gets criticised because he simply states the damaging affects alcohol has to a person. Never has he said don’t drink, that is a choice people are left to make for themselves.
     Apart from a very brief period in my late teens I grew up not drinking alcohol, as it just didn’t feel right. Many times I had to explain to people why I didn’t drink, until I started asking them to explain why they choose to drink which was confrontational for them to look at.

133. I grew up in a family where there was alcohol consumed most days although no one ever got drunk. The children were given sips from a young age (2) and I was having my own little glass of sherry or stout/beer and lemonade by age 9 or 10 and a full glass of ale with dinner by age 12/13. Is it any wonder that I continued to choose things to check out with? My little body had been used to receiving the poison and kept on.
     I was always a minimalist and I knew I was heading for purity. Deep within I knew this was the way. It was not until I listened to a series of interviews with Serge Benhayon and Gayle Cue 4 years ago that I was able to make that full commitment and choice to choose ‘self love’ and to understand what listening to my body actually meant.
     Interesting though, that since giving up alcohol, I came to see that most gatherings or social events would not happen without the presence of alcohol. We in our Livingness are setting a new ‘Normal’.

     1. Thats so intense that you were given alcohol at age 2!! I can’t really get over that…
        Mary-Lou Reed, you mention how our westernised society we lean heavily on alcohol at the majority of social events. I find this fact very sad, as connecting with each other to me is the way forward to evolving humanity and it is difficult to truly connect when under the influence of alcohol.

        1. Back in the seventies when my children were born the common remedy for colic or wind in babies was Gripe Water with alcohol (3.5%), about the same strength as regular beer, or a drop of gin worked just as well. In the UK the alcohol was taken out of Gripe Water in 1992. You may well have been given alcohol yourself Sarah at six months old.

        2. Super interesting point Nicholas, I was given rescue remedy… which for those whom don’t know is hippie concoctions of little drops to calm you down and I believe they may have contained brandy…

134. Thank you Loretta for clearly showing us the scientific and social evidence for how damaging alcohol is to us. Since I have stopped drinking 10 years ago I have had a much lighter more vital body and a clearer head to look back on why I overrode those clear messages from my body that any type of alcohol was poisonous to my body. I totally overrode what my body was telling me as a teenager to ‘train’ myself to drink so I would fit in with the crowd. Many adults I talk with about drinking when they were younger say the same thing – they knew – we all knew – it was awful for our bodies. That just tells me how much we push ourselves aside to align to what others do or think or the fear of sticking out as abnormal if we don’t drink in a social setting. What if it’s actually normal to listen to your body and not drink and eat the things that aren’t good for us? Even though many around me were threatened by me not drinking, at every occasion a few people would say ‘ good for you to be not drinking – I wish I could do that’ . It only takes a few to choose not to drink, to offer a different way of living for others to take notice and have a clearer choice for themselves. We all know the facts of what alcohol does to us – but most still drink – it’s when we see the difference to people’s bodies and lives from not drinking that can wake us up to the damage drinking is causing us. Our communities health will improve from a few individuals making true healthy choices – this change comes from the power of the people – not the health system or the medical practitioners.

135. Your first paragraph says it all really: “Professor Ian Olver, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, shared his latest findings on alcohol and cancer. He presented evidence that alcohol consumption is a known cause of cancer and that:

     • The sites for these cancers are the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver, female breast and colorectum.
     • Cancer is increased because of the ethanol, regardless of the type of alcohol consumed.
     • Smoking and alcohol together are risk factors for 75% of head and neck cancers.

     In summary, he stated there are no safe levels for alcohol consumption.

     Given that this information is easily accessible to everyone, why do we still drink, and begs the question what is truly going on when we as a society still find alcohol acceptable when we all know it is a poision in the body but also: ‘alcohol consumption is a known cause of cancer'”. Awesome sharing Lorettea, thank you.

136. ‘he explained that alcohol, once drunk, affects you not only on a physical and emotional level, but also on an energetic level. You are clearly not yourself when you drink alcohol’
     I too heard this statement on my first introduction to Universal Medicine almost 8 years ago and it stopped me in my tracks. After years of working in the wine industry and consuming alcohol for 30 years, I stopped and the consequence of this loving choice have been amazing. I feel like a different person, as I am now feeling ME.

137. “is it not time for us all to take responsibility for the choice to consume alcohol; to be honest and feel what is really going on when that choice to drink is made?’ – Yes this time is well over due as the statistics are clearly showing us.

138. It seems to be a mass phenomenon to bury how we feel; essentially that is what is going on, to me. And the biggest indicator of this, is when you stop drinking, just how uncomfortable others who are drinking are with the decision. It is like it highlights what they are doing, and to avoid that they say you are no fun anymore, and are dismissive of any real dangers that are being proved by science and statistics again and again; many simply do not want to know what is going on and do not want to be shown there is another way as it means being responsible for what they do. The fact that a multi billion pound business is a direct result from all this denial and burying of feelings and hurts is another reason that as a society we are not being shown the depth of the illness it is causing… there are major vested interests in protecting the status quo. Personally stopping drinking is without a doubt the best thing I have done for my physical and mental health, and that was inspired by Serge Benhayon sharing what I already knew to be true about alcohol and what it did to myself, and others.

139. Great points you have made here, the links are so clear between alcohol and it’s many “side effects” – that to see that any level of consumption is safe is to be deeply denying a lot of clear facts. I too felt no great desire to consume alcohol – when I did it was to “fit in” but I always felt worse for it. It feels so important that we begin to share the truth about alcohol, thank you for starting the discussion on a very important topic we can no longer ignore – that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.

140. Yes you are right Loretta, it is time that we had a mature debate about the effects of alcohol consumption in our society because it is indeed crazy when the real statistics showing the relationships between alcohol and health and social problems are revealed.

141. When I was young I saw the true effects of alcohol on our family and how it left such a huge hurt among us yet when I was in my twenties I chose to drink at times only to fit in. But that did not last for long as to do so really made no sense to me. As you say ‘THERE ARE NO SAFE LEVELS FOR ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION!

142. Your blog has led me to reflect on how I used to use alcohol to numb what it was that I was feeling. It was a ‘quick fix’, dulling me and dulling the sadness, the loneliness, that was there in my body. It wasn’t until I started to truly self-care that I began to feel the effects of what alcohol was doing to me. Eventually I had enough self-care to stop drinking completely and I haven’t looked back since.

     1. Beautiful Donna, to build a foundation of self-care is key to stopping any addictions that we have relied on in the past.

143. It bears repeating “there are no safe levels for alcohol consumption”. It feels like this is something we all intimately know. When I hear people talk about drinking, it often involves terms like ‘smashed’ ‘hammered’ and ‘slaughtered’. For me, these words we choose say a lot about how we actually feel. Makes me wonder why we persist so doggedly do something that seems to hurt us so.

144. With all the ‘scientific’ evidence, let alone our own physical response to alcohol, it is quite amazing that people, including doctors, still advocate that a little in moderation will do no harm and some to actual state that a drink a-day is beneficial. It reminds me of the smoking adverts when doctors would advocate that smoking could be beneficial to health. It all goes to show that for so many that the drive is not love and care of others but selfish greed.

     1. You raise a good point Jonathon that despite scientific evidence people will still believe what they want to believe. There is ample evidence that just like cigarettes alcohol is linked to causing cancer but in our society the preset push is to eradicate only smoking. When you take into consideration all the social and domestic implications of alcohol consumption and its impact on the health and wellbeing of society as a whole, this just does not make sense.

     2. I have a family member who quotes this to me – how alcohol is part of their ‘healthy diet’. It provides them with an almost unassailable righteousness when it comes to their drink, even though they suffered from a stroke and were advised strongly to lose weight and stop drinking. The advice you ‘want to hear’ is so much stronger when it panders to your needs. Compare that to the advice that just simply makes common sense, and you can feel quite clearly in your own body from something as simple as a hang over – alcohol is a poison.

145. Yes, it’s time we took responsibility for our choices on all levels. Alcohol is just another accepted way of taking us out of our selves which causes us deep pain, both physical and emotional, and can create havoc in our lives and the lives of those around us. Alcohol not only can create cancer in our body but can create a ‘cancer’ in our relationships and in society. The question is as you state -” is it not time for us all to take responsibility for the choice to consume alcohol; to be honest and feel what is really going on when that choice to drink is made?”

146. This blog really made me look back and feel why I chose to override the absolutely yuck feeling of alcohol in my body as a teen. I liked the effect, I liked the disconnection – and I liked being ‘one of the adults’. It soon became a way for me to not feel, to socialise and ‘be more fun’. I have now reconnected to how alcohol truly feels for me in my body and that is nothing short of horrendous. It is no surprise it contributes to cancer, and it’s something we should all be aware of.

147. A report that was recently released titled “The Hidden Harm: Alcohol’s Impact on Children and Families” has found that over 1 million children in Australia are negatively impacted by their caregivers alcohol consumption. That’s about 1 in 4 children who are physically abused, emotionally abused, sexually abused, or neglected, with alcohol being the major contributing factor. Considering the damning statistics for alcohol related: violent crime; physical illness and disease; and mental health and you start to get a picture of how we can truly call alcohol the plague of the modern era without any drama intended.

     1. It is stats like this that I realise that even if you are not directly abusing children, by drinking alcohol you are still contributing in some way. You are keeping alcohol socially acceptable and in the market place. It is why I have chosen to stop and will not drink again.

     2. And yet Marshall, even with all these statistics and all we know about how poisonous it is to the human body, alcohol is still deemed as socially acceptable in western society.

148. There can be no safe levels for alcohol consumption as alcohol is a poison, pure and simple. You can not get clearer than that. Although we all would have initially felt and known this to be true many of us chose to override this very obvious fact.

     1. Yes, I agree Kathleen, this fact is over ridden by many of us. I over rode this for many years until I too got very sick and once recovered was not interested in drinking alcohol and so finally I listened to my body and gave it up.

     2. I know that I choose to override this very true and simple fact. I had to push and train myself to be able to drink and smoke as everything in my body just wanted to reject the taste and smell. Once I had pushed passed that point, in order to be accepted, I became so dependent on substances and alcohol that I thought ‘I couldn’t live without a them’.
        Until I attended a Universal Medicine session in that I had a chance to stop and feel what I had been doing to my body. Almost immediately I stopped drinking and substance abuse. Now its hard to believe that I was consuming such large quantities of alcohol and functioning but that was all I was able to do… function. I realise now that it wasn’t that
        ‘I couldn’t live without the drink’ in truth,
        ‘I couldn’t live with it’. As I know how it feels to live now and its worlds apart from my experience of functioning.

        1. Yes well said Sarahraynebaldwin, “I realise now that it wasn’t that ‘I couldn’t live without the drink’ in truth,‘I couldn’t live with it’. As I know how it feels to live now and its worlds apart from my experience of functioning.” The things we ingest so that we can avoid living life is phenomenal, and yet we fear death. Doesn’t really make any sense. It seems we fear feeling all there is to be felt because we have already projected that we will be hurt, so we hurt ourselves beforehand so we don’t feel hurt. What the? Still doesn’t make sense but that is what most of us do, in one way or another, on a daily basis.

     3. Yes true Kathleenbaldwin. There is so much overriding being done when it comes to alcohol.

        1. Yes I know I overrode everything my body was telling me, and all to fit in and look ‘normal’, why has it become ‘normal’ and acceptable to abuse and harm your body?

149. I admire the wisdom you showed throughout your life – knowing all along that alcohol was no good for you. I was encouraged to drink small amounts of alcohol from a young age and the lure of being able to do something ‘so grown up’ won me over. It is ironic that nurses and doctors who know all the health stats you mentioned can be such big drinkers.

150. Thank you for sharing those statistics from your conference, I wonder why these statistics don’t make everyone turn away from alcohol as a safe drug. It seems illogical, illogical that is until we consider that alcohol is drunk as a ‘need’ not always simply a ‘want’ and until we address why we ‘need’ alcohol we will keep ignoring such sobering statistics and justify the ‘want’.

151. You have made such excellent points here Loretta. Alcohol as a poison, contributing to many behaviours in society that are extremely harming, along with the impact on health. Interestingly, it is pretty much socially unacceptable not to drink alcohol. It doesn’t really make sense to me.

152. Great article Loretta – I agree the pressure to drink alcohol is enormous and the weird thing is, I remember when I was in my early teens (just 13) I started drinking and smoking, not so much because I felt it was expected of me – but actually more because I could not wait to escape from myself and my own insecurity and hurts.

153. I can so relate to your blog Loretta growing up in a French household and the fact that the bottle of red wine was always on the table with every meal for my Dad to drink as part of his daily routing after work. And living so close to Italy, I have also Italian relatives whose cultural impositions are similar. Cultural impositions are so strong aren’t they? The way they invade our lives and make certain things normal. We know that alcohol is not good for us in any amount and any colour and it is now time to claim it. Thank you Loretta for a superb article.

154. I have stopped drinking and I was for much of my teenage and adult life a committed drinker, I used it to numb me. I would have been what most people would consider a moderate, social drinker…and yet my body has been so much more healthy and happy since I stopped drinking.

     I have observed how people often get very uncomfortable by when I chose not to drink with them when there is a celebration or a dinner party. I remember feeling that way when other people choose not to drink. Being honest about the real impact of alcohol is important.

     I began to consider what alcohol truly did to my body, my relationships and the world and once I did look at the truth of it, it made absolute sense to stop, there was no question. It does not support society at any level, be it a small ‘social’ sip or complete indulgence.

155. “To be honest and feel what is really going on” This sentence really stood out to me. When we are willing to feel what is really going on in our bodies when we drink, we are then more open to making a more loving choice for our bodies.

156. It is amazing how alcohol has become so entwined with social events and the way it is marketed even though it has now been shown to be linked with so many health and psychological conditions. It’s great to have true role-models to inspire that there is another way, just opening up that we do have a choice.

157. Amazing, you have expressed in words what I have been feeling for so long. When we look past the social normalcy of drinking, and the peer pressure, to the actual harm of what alcohol does, it exposes that alcohol is a poison in every way, and when you decide to drink, you are almost saying – Having fun and ‘fitting in’ is more important than the effect this alcohol is having not only on my body but possibly on another; because when I drink I am no longer completely in control. As you say there are no safe amounts of alcohol, and this needs to start being recognised.

     1. I agree Rebecca, it does seem that initially drinking to fit in is often the factor behind starting something like drinking and smoking, both of which can lead to addiction.
        I remember drinking underage in the pubs and it all seemed acceptable as everyone I knew was doing it and in those days (70’s) the pub manager never questioned how old we were – I should image they are a lot more strict these days.
        I know fitting in and having fun was definitely more important to me back then.

        1. I agree Julie, it is amazing what we will do simple to fit in, but if everyone is trying to fit in with everyone else, what are we fitting in with?

158. I succumbed to the pressure to drink alcohol and convinced myself that I enjoyed it but I certainly didn’t enjoy how it made me feel. Thanks to the presentations by Serge Benhayon I understood exactly what harm alcohol does to the body and I questioned why it had taken me so long to come to a truth that I already knew.

159. True Tim. alcohol is a scientific proven poison. But it doesn’t take a scientist to prove it. It only takes honesty as the effect on the body and mind is so strong. Our society has chosen to deny this irrefutable fact and we as a humanity are certainly paying the price.

160. Wow – a great presentation of the facts Lotetta.
     Reading your recent learnings about how alcohol is linked to cancer – makes a lot of sense to me. I used to drink – and when I did – I wanted to be ignorant to the consequences… ‘What i didn’t know wouldn’t hurt me’. But now with responsibility, as I read so much material on the effects of alcohol – it is quiet scary that something so poisonous is celebrated in society.
     Knowing the facts and feeling how awful it feels in my body has allowed me the choice to say no. I am very grateful for that.

161. Great blog Loretta, there wasn’t loads of alcohol inflicted on me but the age of 14 happened and like you say, that’s what everyone did – so I did it. The thing is that I always felt crap unless I was rolling around hammered and then I guess I only thought I felt good because I couldn’t feel anything at all. Reading this reminded me of how my sister used to console me with the explanation that ‘I’m just a round peg in a square hole’. And she was right! I’ve now found my round hole and it’s a life where I can actually feel, every inch of my body…

162. How is it that so few seem able to make the link between the careless nature of the way so many live their lives with the overwhelming rates of illness, disease, not to mention the wars and countless problems in our community and society. We can no longer come up with enough ways to fix the problems, the only option is to look at the root cause and address issues here. The way every single one of us lives our life either contributes to the problems, or not. We need more people to stand up and not accept poison (alcohol) as ‘normal’.

163. Thank you Loretta, ​for telling us of the effect alcohol has on the body. I’ve often wondered, when seeing people completely inebriated on the streets, how their body withstands the effects of alcohol over time​? I find it quite frightening. ​Maybe if people had the opportunity to see the actual physical damage to a liver or kidney, as the result of excessive drinking, they may change their desire to drink again?

164. Great blog Lotetta and very well expressed. Whatever someone’s view is on alcohol you only need to take it to this unrefutable truth…alcohol is a scientific proven poison. So the only question we need to ask is, why we would voluntarily choose to put poison into our bodies?

     1. I agree with you Tim: great blog Loretta wrote and why would we voluntarily choose to put poison into our bodies? Alcohol is extremely dangerous, but is made seen as normal. How badly are we in need to numb ourselves to drink a poison?

165. You are absolutely correct, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Thank you for sharing this so clearly and with your personal experience. I, too, grew up with alcohol as normal and it became part of my life. It was not until I met Serge Benhayon did I question my consumption although I knew it was not doing me any good. Since no longer choosing to drink alcohol I have noticed a vast improvement in my health, well-being and feel a huge liberation – it is like I have regained myself, though at the time of drinking I was unaware of my dis-connection from myself.

166. If it were cyanide that a doctor was talking about and said “there are no safe levels” for the consumption of cyanide, no one would be in the least bit surprised. But both alcohol and cyanide are poisons in the body and the brave doctor spoke the long overdue truth when he said there were no safe levels for alcohol consumption. As a race of beings we sometimes appear to champion the not caring for our bodies. I speak with the authority of one who has not taken care of my body for a long time until I woke up and realised where it was heading. Our bodies are a key part of us and we should take great care of them in particular with regard to what we put into our bodies, if we want our bodies to be of long term service to ourselves and others.

167. Interesting statistics linking cancer and alcohol. The true message about the harm of alcohol always seems to be sidelined, there are a lot of vested interests in the alcohol industry plus are we as a society ready to look fully at a drug that harms both individually and socially. The information is there ready for consumption but there is always a contradictory study rolled out extolling the benefits of a drink or two for good health.

     1. So true Stephen, we all really need to start to be honest and question why we sideline and in too many ways ignore the collective destructive effect alcohol has on our society.

168. Alcohol was not a big part of my life till I joined the military. After almost any exercise, war games, or real war stuff you would celebrate or numb yourself with booze. This indulgent ritual was encouraged, sponsored and most time provided by the management, a pat on the back for doing a good job. After 20 years, drinking had become the celebration of the end of the day, the sun setting, being 5 o’clock (it was always 5 o’clock somewhere in the world)… the ritual had become a habit… I used it to stay numb. I left the forces but continued to drink for 10 more years. For me, alcohol was an easy, legal, and socially acceptable method of choice to numb what I felt I couldn’t deal with. I did eventually stop drinking; I accidentally poisoned myself at work cleaning my hands with a solvent that caused some liver damage. The result was I had too much iron in my blood and became allergic to the sun and would get painful blisters where exposed to the sun. The first thing the doctor did was to have me quit drinking for six months, because what I had was rare, but it was normally a side affect of alcoholism. I quit for six months, went back to the doctor and was asked if I had noticed any changes – I replied ‘Yes, I have saved a shed full of cash from not drinking… but I still have the condition’. The condition was corrected in the end by making me anaemic… and it took months to get un-anaemic! I never started drinking again after that. It’s ironic that people once drank alcohol because it was ‘safer’ than the water – now we put a little water with our alcohol to make it ‘palatable’!

169. Such is the profound, deep-rooted and age-old nature of alcohol culture, that the way we view alcohol – in this case something that is seen as being good for your blood and bones – is handed down from one generation to another in an unbroken cycle of misinformation.

170. Alcohol made up a big part of my life for a long time and I used it for all manner of occasions, either to celebrate an occasion or to make an occasion if none existed. Alcohol for me was a support mechanism, a comforter, except it didn’t really support anything other than an illusion of feeling good. Giving up for me came about from the loss of control drinking alcohol created, for me it wasn’t a nice feeling to act in a way that wasn’t truly how I wanted to be.

171. As someone who has abused my body by drinking alcohol in the past, the thing that eventually made me stop was the horrible feeling that I was no longer in control, as it got to the point where I could never drink enough to numb myself and not deal with my emotional issues. Those days are over, with the sincere appreciation to Serge Benhayon for revealing the evils of alcohol use. As you stated Loretta, alcohol is a poison, pure and simple.

172. Thank you Loretta, your article has highlighted how acceptance of alcohol into our lives doesn’t really make sense when we look at the medical evidence. We seem to somehow overlook the ‘unseen’ damage done to our children when we make alcohol part of our home life, why do we do this?

173. When I was very young the thing was that if you drank it meant you had grown up, you were a man now. I remember after helping dad on the farm he gave me my first beer, even though it had lots of lemon aid in it I was so proud. It had begun… the substance I was about to abuse for the next twenty five years or so had started with that first shandy. The first couple of times I was so ill from drinking alcohol that you would think anyone in their right mind would never want to even sniff the stuff again let alone consume it.
     I feel the attitude towards alcohol is slowly changing but definitely not fast enough.Just like over the last twenty years we have seen cigarettes become more and more frowned upon till you can’t smoke in public places.Just as you get the die hards who will brave the bitter cold of the English winter and rain to stand outside to get their dose of nicotine, you will still get the die hards with cirrhosis of the liver and throat cancer still with a ciggie in one hand and a bevy in the other.

174. That is an amazing article. I have heard many 12 and 13 year olds getting wasted and on hangovers. These are the ones in school who fall asleep in lessons and do little work cause they can’t concentrate. Is alcohol being used as a way to become ‘cool’ in school but they are not thinking of the consequences. Thank you for your honesty.

175. Thank you Loretta, great article.

     It is certainly true that alcohol has been a huge part of my family’s lives and still is. I grew up in an army environment and there was thirteen pubs on the way home from work and my father visited all of them. The sad part is my parents were proud of the fact that he never drank the food or rent money – crazy but true. Army life in my father’s day, consisted of finding somewhere quiet around midday and having a drink with your mates, parties and a lot of fighting, fuelled by drinking.

     What is equally as sad, is the fact that my sisters and I grew up believing this was the norm and continued the cycle by finding partners who drank and we had our fair share of parties over the years.

     Having also been inspired by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, our house and our bodies have been alcohol free for over eight years. Now that’s something worth celebrating.

176. Thank you Loretta for writing so clearly about the effects alcohol has on the body, it seems crazy that alcohol is so accepted in society as normal, when there is so much research to say that it is harmful to our bodies.

     As a teenage I got very sick from drinking alcohol, ending up with pancreatitis, gastro-enteritis and fluid on my lung, spending 10 days in hospital abroad. I was told by doctors not to drink for 3 months but after this period it was fine to drink again. So I carried on drinking and there was no mention from anyone that it might not be good for my health to start drinking again, not from myself, doctors, family or friends. So very ignorantly I carried on for years.

     I stopped drinking after being inspired by the work of Universal Medicine and feel so much more healthy, confident and vital from not having alcohol in my life.

     1. It is so true Rebecca. The damage that alcohol causes to people’s life and those around them is rarely discussed. I know many people who suffer from the effects of alcohol. It is rare for someone to commit to giving up as the pull of alcohol is so strong and normalised in society.

177. Hi Loretta, I was one of those people who would have pressurised you to have a drink when you were young, I remember friends in our group when we were 16-20 didn’t like drinking and we hassled them and hassled them until they went away to university and came back talking about pelicans — where you drink until you vomit in someone else’s mouth. Sorry if that is too much information but it’s a fact no matter how grim it is!. How awful for them that they were under so much peer pressure that they ended up, in less than a term at uni, thinking this was funny.

     I also remember meeting a girl when I was at uni who didn’t drink at the pub and went to the theatre, I remember really liking her and wanting to be more like her – not having to be part of the pub drinking scene but – it seemed so foreign and strange it was merely a passing thought.

     Having stopped drinking 8 years ago I now can’t imagine drinking! It took me a long time to acknowledge the reasons I drank and let go of the trimmings of socialising – we are naturally social creatures but we have managed to make that about abuse and not being our selves naturally! I feel the tide is turning and like smoking drinking will be seen for the harm it does and people will need to look at what is going on and why we are SOOOO resistant to the facts of its harm. I totally relate as I was so resistant myself.

     I can only thank Universal Medicine and especially Serge Benhayon for presenting the truth about drinking alcohol energetically as it made a lot of sense, and most of all I was NEVER judged or persuaded to stop drinking, the facts were presented and I was loved the same as if I had come from a night on the town or as I have been for the last 8 years, clear headed. That is one of the many remarkable facts of Serge he is unwavering in his love for everyone equally and I have witnessed that first hand for the past 11 years.

178. Thank you loretta for your clear expression on the damage and harm that alcohol causes to us personally and as a society. I have grown up like you surrounded by alcohol. The deep harm it causes to families and relationships is so obvious yet it is still championed as a fun and acceptable choice to make. There is no safe amount to consume and your article leads the way in expressing this truth. Thank you.

179. And Susie, that pressure you mention, what is amazing is that it is also applied by adults all through life who wish us to fit in to their lifestyle. When I used to drink I would pressure others to do so also, this was because I felt the power of their choice and how drinking made me less than who I am.

180. Thank you Loretta for sharing what I too have felt. I used to drink quite a bit for all the reasons you mentioned and also saw what the affects did (and are still doing) to my family and friends. I no longer drink and now consider myself normal for not doing so.

     A long time ago someone said to me that “alcohol creates more problems than it solves”. How true this is and we could add that it causes much more harm than society is open to admit. In the city near to me the cost of policing drunken behaviour has rocketed with the longer and longer night club opening hours. The toll this takes on the National Health Service is ever increasing, not only with the day to day affects but also the more long term affects such as the cancers you mentioned.
     Crazy to think harming yourself is a great way to live, for that is what we are saying if we champion the consumption of alcohol.

181. Wow amazing Loretta! I have begun to experience the pressure to drink from people at school, and it is now (at the shocking age of 13/14) seen as a social event and is unusual in certain ‘groups’ to not drink – even though it is still far from legal and does great damage to the body as you said.

182. Well written article Loretta, what will it take before it is accepted by all the price the body pays when alcohol is consumed…

183. It’s always struck me how odd it is that given the known damage to our health, as well as the impacts that drunkenness and alcoholism have on our society that it is legal.

     And for what? I remember when I gave up drinking in my 30’s waking up in the morning and remembering that this how it felt to be me (no hangover, no regrets from the night before) and how aged up to 13 I had never needed this ‘prop’ in my life.

184. I can remember lying in bed after going out the night before and my body felt so ill from drinking, and I used to drink a lot the whole time and I knew it wasn’t good for me but would go “oh I’m young I will get it together one day!”… crazy we do know this, we just don’t want to take the responsibility or be responsible, but what I have learnt and am learning from Serge Benhayon and Universal Medcine is that it’s awesome taking responsibilty for your health. Now my body feels so lovely. I feel so much more me and have so much more fun and joy in my life.

185. I was shocked the other day when I heard that road traffic accidents involving alcohol have gone up by 25% in Britain since last year. It is so obvious to me what a harmful toxic substance this is, not just to our divine bodies but to society and humanity at large. How many more deaths, suicides, traffic accidents, emotional abuse, physical violence and rape need to be linked to the consumption of alcohol before we start to change our perception of what this drink actually does?

186. What I do not understand is how two opposing sets of information can be formed, when they are both formed from the scientific evidence available. The scientific evidence is clear that alcohol is poison to the body. Is this information just ignored while studies are conducted to prove the opposite? If this is true where is the responsibility in this? If a product such as alcohol has been proven to be detrimental to the body would this not outweigh any studies that suggest the opposite? It is a no brainer to me.

     1. Hi Toni, what it clearly shows is that scientific evidence can be influenced when the researcher has an agenda. We cannot ever give away our power to science or scientists. Our role, our responsibility is to always feel for ourselves, until scientists step up their level of responsibility, drop their agendas and get that they are here to serve humanity, not their own needs.

     2. Just wanted to add: Australia is in the top 30 highest alcohol consuming nations out of 180 countries on a per capita basis- very alarming!

        How important is it then that the harmful effects of alcohol is made more aware publicly! What is the role of the GP? The cancer council of Australia stated that
        “85% of Australia’s population visit their GP every year, making primary care important healthcare for chronic disease prevention.”

        Warning labels on alcohol could raise awareness of alcohol-related harm, and help to encourage cultural change.

        1. It is time to cut the ‘wowser’ mentality, and say it like it is. How much have we held back to not be seen as boring and dull? Or to avoid being questioned for how weird we are? Just because everyone is doing it does not make it OK, normal or ‘fun’. How much is it the opposite of boring – to enjoy life, clear minded, and free of this awful substance?

187. Clearly expressed Loretta, reflecting how harmful alcohol is any amount. Thank you for sharing this amazing blog.

188. Thanks Loretta, this is amazing reading and just goes to show that there are no safe levels of drinking despite of what some lobbies are trying to have us believe.

189. Even alcohol in mouthwash has been implicated for causing cancer.

     Alcohol is a poison, it kills liver and brain cells, damages DNA and makes you feel downright out of yourself. And yes so much abusive behaviour and violence is alcohol fuelled. Thank you for expressing that even though alcohol is damaging peoples lives and adding to illness and disease, it is still considered acceptable by society and even championed as good for you when so clearly it is not.

190. Thank you Loretta for what you have presented so clearly. Isn’t it crazy that for most of us we have to wait for a doctor or for science to catch up with what we already know to be true in our own body. Thank you Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for presenting the truth even if it may not suit us to hear it.

191. Loretta, this is such a great simple way to share what I have always felt about alcohol. I never liked the taste or how it made me feel but I just did it because if I didn’t I was the weird one, and it was easier to drink with others than to deal with the pressure from them. Those days are now gone and I feel great in myself and and would never drink again no matter what.

     1. I agree Rosie. I hated the taste of alcohol, but drank to avoid being seen as weird and strange. What I now understand is that the clarity and stillness presented by not drinking makes the drinkers very uncomfortable. Not drinking feels great, and like you, I can say from my heart ‘never ever again’.

        1. In response to comments about peer pressure drinking – The other rational for drinking:
           I used to drink because I hated how I felt; was climbing out of my skin and could not be myself. I couldn’t even feel myself, only pain, because I had give up/lost touch with ME & as all too many people know, it feels REALLY bad to exist in this way…and alcohol made me different and outgoing; uninhibited…but none of it was ME…so I still felt empty after AND further, ashamed for choosing not to be me.

           I feel alcohol is a very destructive passifier and as long as one is sucking on it, even that little protected glass of red wine, they wont be looking for the cause of the emptiness or re-connecting to that which they lost; the REAL thing.

           Now that Universal Medicine has reminded me how to come back to me, I have re-discovered how good it feels to be with myself; it was not-being-with-myself that hurt!
           I don’t want to be altered or dis-connected from who I am!…There is enough around me that challenges my ability to BE ME; I certainly don’t go looking for anything extra to take me OUT anymore! Never.

     2. Me too, Rosie. I felt so much pressure to drink when working out bush, I used to buy a certain brand of sparkling apple juice that looked like a stubby and pretend it was beer just to have my friends release the pressure on me to have a drink. Another way was to buy pomegranate or cranberry juice and put that in a wineglass. How ludicrous – all in the name of releasing the pressure to be seen consuming alcohol and hence to be socially acceptable.

192. Loretta, you have grabbed the tiger’s tail with this one. The use (and misuse) of alcohol is so tightly defended across many sectors of society that people choose to stay blind to its harm/cost both personally and as a society. Thanks for opening up this thread.

193. This is an awesome presentation of the true facts about alcohol and its appalling effects on the wellbeing and quality of life ‘enjoyed’ by a large section of humanity, Loretta.

     Neither of my parents drank or smoked, so I was blessed that way, yet I too played, for a very small time, trying to fit in to what was the norm in my younger years. I distinctly remember the time my body gave me such a clear message that I honestly thought I was dying, so strong were the palpitations, breathlessness and full body prickling I experienced at my first sip of wine that evening. Never again was I going to do that to myself….Thank you body for making the message that ‘ALCOHOL IS A POISON’ so unequivocally clear to me.

     It’s most definitely ‘time for us all to take responsibility for the choice to consume alcohol; to be honest and feel what is really going on when that choice to drink is made.’

     Our very lives depend on it.

     1. Hi Judith, I remember my first sip of my father’s wine – it felt like it was burning my throat, my chest felt tight, I too felt heart palpitations and I felt strange in my body-out of body experience. I hated not feeling me.

        1. Judith and Loretta’s experiences seem to show how clearly we can FEEL if something is good for us or not, when we are with ourselves; I feel this is the missing link…

           If we have lost touch with ourselves how can we know our own truth?

           I know that the more I re-connect to my body & my true essence within, the easier it is to be honest about what is harmful for me or what takes me away from myself. I am learning that the bodies messages are extremely accurate and I marvel at what a resource I have had all along.

        2. It is quite amazing how we over ride these reactions to alcohol and force the body to consume a poison. I know that I had to force myself to drink alcohol and the same went for smoking. I was so full of self loathing it was the only way I knew to drown out the feelings that I didn’t know how to handle. Attending Universal Medicine presentations supported me to re-connect to my inner love, I have been able to heal the self loathing and support my body instead of poisoning it.

194. Thank you Loretta. Words that we all know deep down to be true. A very powerful blog!

     1. Yes, despite society professing that ‘alcohol in moderation’ is OK or that ‘red wine is beneficial’ we all know what the truth is, we just do not want to face it.

195. Loretta, thank you so much for this clear, understandable and awesome blog about alcohol. And thanks for letting us know the facts from alcohol research. I always so appreciate it when someone who works in medicine or science lets us know.

     It is incredible how ubiquitous alcohol is in all our lives. For quite a while I have been aware of the energetic harm done by alcohol but hadn’t fully realised that science has always been clear about what it did to the body.

     I have been, in the last two years, studying Anatomy and Physiology for the first time (I was an ‘Arts’ person!) and was astounded to read how clearly it says in those text books that alcohol is harming to the body. If you were a doctor, how could you ever recommend it as being good for a patient? Yes, we know the answer to that, but it is still worth asking.

     1. When my father was diagnosed with liver cancer, he hid the truth from us. He said he had a liver problem. I suggested he avoid alcohol as the liver is damaged, and this is the organ that detoxifies poisons. He said his Doctor told him he could still drink wine with his meals!

        What is more astounding is the fact that many doctors, nurses & other health practitioners who are exposed to the harmful effects of alcohol still drink themselves.

        1. That is amazing Loretta and I know that I did that too, drank alcohol even though I had witnessed first hand the horrors of this socially accepted poison. I managed to stop not only by becoming aware of the energetic damage, but also by being able to feel why I was choosing to consume it. Neither of these would have been possible for me prior to meeting Serge Benhayon, as he is the first person I have come across who shares exactly what occurs energetically when we drink (which does explain a lot of hideous behaviour) and how to address the root cause behind the need to consume alcohol. Asking “why do we do what we do?” rather than saying “don’t do it because …” is very powerful.

196. Thank you Loretta – absolutely, alcohol is a poison and not only have I personally experienced the damage it can do, but am now watching a gentle and bright father dwindle away due to excessive alcohol consumption. There is NO SAFE LIMIT and I can also personally vouch for the massive improvement in my health, well being and in my relationship since going completely T Total 7 years ago, thanks to heeding the wise words of Serge Benhayon.

197. Thank you Loretta for presenting this with such simple clarity. We have normalised the consumption of alcohol to such a ridiculous extent, that people fight and kick against the simple truth. It is a poison. It cannot be consumed safely.

     The pressure to “join in” and drink is enormous, so it is important that more and more voices are heard expressing the same truth; alcohol is devastating to the human being. Thank you for bringing your voice, with this desperately needed truth, to all of humanity.

     1. I agree Rachel- the pressure to drink is enormous, especially with early teens today. Binge drinking is really damaging to the body especially the brain cells as they are still developing at puberty.

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