“Why We Drink Too Much: The Impact of Alcohol on Our Bodies and Culture”

It seemed like a good idea at the time. You had a drink. And another.

Someone ordered a round and it’s always polite to reciprocate, right? You toasted to the future, to friendship, your families, and to your health — but you didn’t feel so healthy the next morning, ugh. In the new book “Why We Drink Too Much” by Dr. Charles Knowles, you’ll see why you can’t wait to do it again.

So you had a few drinks on New Year’s Eve. Or more than a few, and you’re not alone: In 2018, the average adult on the planet drank more than 1.5 gallons of ethanol, which is “an ingredient in drinks.” That’s equal to more than 206 cans of beer per year, per person.

Monkeys drink alcohol. Elephants do it, insects do it, and tree shrews do it. Humans have been drinking alcohol for tens of thousands of years. But why?

Somehow or other, you had to “learn to drink,” Knowles says, and once you did, alcohol was reinforcing because drinking was fun. Your brain was rewarded with a rush of dopamine. Pure alcohol tastes awful but the drink’s mix made it taste good. The behavior motivated you in one of two ways: If you drank to celebrate or because everyone else was drinking, your “externally generated motivations” were triggered. If you were drinking to relax, to self-soothe, to forget or feel better, your “internally generated motivations” were working overtime.

Inside your body, your organs are toiling hard, too. Alcohol goes to your stomach, then to the liver, which processes as much as it can. What it can’t process leaks into your circulatory system, to your heart and your brain, and you get drunk.

Maybe you want to stop, but you’re not sure how. Knowles, a surgeon, offers some advice, including “Twelve Guiding Principles” for those who drink too much. And he ought to know: some 10 years ago, his “thirty-year relationship with alcohol” nearly made him take his own life … New Year’s Eve was fun. New Year’s Day, not so much. You knew that was going to happen, but you drank anyhow and “Why We Drink Too Much” explains why.

The first thing you’ll want to know about it, though, is that it’s not the breezy book you might want. Author Dr. Charles Knowles dives deep into science, neurology, biology and ancient history, taking the facts slowly so they’re well-parsed and relatively easy to understand. He doesn’t scold or belittle anyone, but he’s quite firm when he tells readers what alcohol can do, long-term. Throughout his narrative, Knowles answers questions that readers want to know about biology, cravings and why some people can be “social drinkers.” This is all wrapped in a stunning biography that will resonate with readers who need it, and with those they love.

Before you head to your after-holiday party or that next-celebration celebration, check out “Why We Drink Too Much.” If you’re worried about yourself or a loved one, reading it might be a good idea now.

— The Bookworm Sez