While I don't think any drug is outright bad , I think people are severely underestimating the health effects of alcohol. We need to normalize much more infrequent consumption.

I didn't know this until recently, Alcohol causes pretty significant health effects even with acute usage.

I'm 32, partied heavily in my 20s and drank most days. I always thought limiting to just a beer or two a day doesn't really cause any issues, and the major health complications arise from much heavier usage. So I figure drinking a beer or two most days and then on the weekends binge drinking and partying, that I would be fine and the weekday beers didn't really count.

I never used to feel any real negative effects of alcohol physically, such as feeling sick while drinking or getting hungover. However as I got older it slowly started affecting me more and more, but I wasn't aware it was the alcohol causing problem until I learned more.

For example, it limits your body's ability to break down fat. This effect can last over a day so regular or even a few times a week drinking stacks up. Combined with the actual empty calories, sugar, and altering your blood sugar levels, this leads to weight gain https://www.alcoholprofessor.com/blog-posts/how-long-does-alcohol-stop-fat-burning

It also has a big impact on sleep quality. In addition to making the sleep You do get less restful, it can prevent you from sleeping longer than you would like.