 Wine is considered a lifestyle drink and generally good for health when imbibed in moderation-about 2 glasses a day as a rule of thumb. But when one drinks more than that, it is considered harmful because of the negative effect of alcohol on the body. It’s binge drinking, certainly when more than 5 glasses a day are consumed (this being subjective of course). But several journalists and doctors insist that it is not practical or a common practice to stop at merely 2 or 3 drinks and at times people finish a bottle at a time or even more, in which case it has all the negatives of alcohol on the body and any form of alcohol is harmful.
But when it is 14 bottles a day!! It would be considered suicidal- perhaps the person might be arrested in India for wilfully causing bodily damage to oneself with the intent of committing suicide and possibly ensuring a tidy sum of insurance for the beneficiary of a life policy. It is shocking when a celebrity star having his own vineyards in Bordeaux is hitting the bottle (oops- bottles-and 14 a day!) as Gerard Depardieu reportedly claims in an interview with a magazine.
Depardieu who underwent a heart surgery in 2000 and reportedly has had several incidents of DUI during the last few years, says he often starts his day with champagne at 10 in the morning and insists he can swallow more than 10 bottles of wine in a day. There is a distinct possibility that the actor might have been projecting a macho image for the magazine or the magazine might have misquoted him but a binge drinking session of these many bottles is positively harmful-a fact that perhaps shows on his 65-year of frame and face.
"When I'm bored, I drink," the 65- year old reportedly tells the UK film magazine So Film via the Daily Mirror. "Apart from compulsory moments of abstinence (by which he means hopefully –no alcohol) after bypass surgery, and also because of cholesterol and stuff, I have to be careful. Anyway, I’m not going to die. Not now. I still have energy,” he says while boasting that he “can’t drink like a normal person". He also claims he has lunch with two bottles of wine. ‘But I'm never totally drunk, just a little pissed. All you need is a 10-minute nap and voila, a slurp of rose wine and I feel as fresh as a daisy.’ I wonder if this is something to brag about!
There is a latent hope for him when he says, ‘but if ever I start drinking I can't drink like a normal person. I can absorb 12, 13, 14 bottles per day.’ Presumably, Gerard is currently off booze and undoubtedly he is an abstaining alcoholic-I’d categorise him as a Vino or Winoholic- I’d prefer to think of the latter, because of his undoubtable and admitted passion for wine. Ask anyone who has been to a meeting of Alcoholic Anonymous and he would tell you that one sip of wine or any alcohol is enough to start an alcoholic off and make him fall off the bandwagon. ‘But if ever I start drinking’ does imply that he is off booze, is an abstaining alcoholic and one hopes he would stay sober for the rest of his life to possibly save the scarred liver.
In any case, it is shameful for the actor or any celebrity to brag about his or her wine guzzling capacity. Movie stars are role models and for him to give an impression that it is macho to drink unlimited amount of wine, is irresponsible, to say the least. He should have perhaps come across as remorseful but the media reports indicate he has been proud of his drinking prowess!
No Cheers for him but a message of Good Luck and wishing him a long life from delWine! Stay sober and abstain, Monsieur Gerard Depardieu- for your own sake! Fortunately, there is no such thing as passive drinking! You are causing damage to your own body.
As usual I recommend only two glasses of wine a day-preferably red wine of good quality-life is too short to waste on cheap plonk. But each to his own!
Subhash Arora
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