Re: Continental vs British toilets

Zeborah schrieb:
>
> nyra <nyra@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > What i was driving at is that alcohol's _natural_ effect in the human
> > body is that of a toxin, even in minimal doses. If it's non-toxic, why
> > are there such things as fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol-induced
> > psychoses etc. ad nauseam?
>
> If it's toxic, why is it said that a glass of red wine a day can be good
> for you? --Though that's probably something in the wine other than the
> ethanol, come to think of it.

I think you're right: i've never heard it suggested that you might
substitute white wine or gin, so it's likely not the alcohol itself.

> Can fetal alcohol syndrome be caused by "minimal doses"? Can "minimal
> doses" cause alcohol-induced psychoses (in a way distinct from how corn
> or egg or any other generally non-toxic substance can cause severe
> eczema in those with allergies)?

Allergies are a whole 'nother matter. Drink enough alcohol, and you
_will_ go daft, at least assuming you've got a halfway typical human
metabolism.

Alcohol generally trips up nervous cells and whenever there's any in
the blood, the body will try to get rid of it. I'm afraid i have
rather a severe attitude towards alcohol and don't think there's a
'harmless' dose outside of stuff like yeast dough.

> I don't think there can be a black-and-white "either toxic or not
> toxic"; it's got to be a sliding scale.

I think there's a risk of going too relativistic here. If a chemical
substance alters the workings of the brain, that's a good indicator
for its being toxic in my view. One might look at what sort of
alteration it is (may well be beneficial), but e.g. caffeine, which
isn't considered to make the brain work less well, has a lethal dose
of about 10g, so i guess it's somewhat toxic, too. By my standards, as
soon as i notice _any_ effect from alcohol, i'm intoxicated; which
gives me a 'threshold' dose of 5-10g ethanol.

All this started with gasoline vs. ethanol as fuel, and i did and do
agree that by comparison ethanol is _relatively_ harmless; and as long
as people don't drink it, it's not much more toxic than water - you'd
have to sniff a lot of ethanol fumes to get pissed.

--
Een koe is een merkwaardig beest; wat er ook in haar geest moge zijn,
haar laatste woord is altijd boe.
.

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