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

We drink it, celebrate with it, and barely question it―but what is alcohol really doing to us?

Drinking alcohol can be fun; its chemical effects on our brain are fundamentally pleasurable, and it can have social benefits. Alcohol may also help us forget the worries in our lives and temporarily overcome psychological barriers to human interaction.

But there are downsides. We now know that alcohol, even in quite modest amounts, is not good for our long-term health. So why do we, as humans, consume alcohol at all, and why does our tendency to drink “too much” vary from person to person?

Pairing scientific expertise with his personal experiences, Dr. Charles Knowles offers us an accessible window into what really happens in our brains and bodies when we drink, and why we do it. People vary greatly in the amount of reward they derive from alcohol, both physically and mentally. It’s in the genes that we were born with and the environment in which we grew up. For some of us, alcohol is greatly enhancing; for others, it is not much fun at all.

For the sober curious, those who may need help, and also readers just interested in a popular science book on what happens when we sip a glass of wine, Why We Drink Too Much teaches readers the science behind drinking and invites us to examine our relationship with alcohol.

Dr. Charles Knowles, MA, PhD, FRCS, FASCRS, is Professor of Surgery at Queen Mary University of London and Chief Academic Officer at the Cleveland Clinic London. Qualifying as a doctor from the University of Cambridge, he continues to practice as a consultant colorectal surgeon. Knowles has authored more than three hundred peer-reviewed publications and contributed to several major international surgical textbooks. Why We Drink Too Much is his first popular science book with his own journey providing the impetus to explore a subject that almost cost him his life. He now champions the idea that problematic drinking is not a problem of weak will or low moral integrity and believes that the term alcoholic should no longer be seen as a dirty word that can be revealed only anonymously.