I think decision of avoiding certain or all drugs makes total sense, if the person has no interest in their effects and is not ready to suffer inevitable side effects of doing things that our body is not meant to do normally. Hacking one's body often has its costs.
"doing things that our body is not meant to do normally."
The reason it doesn't outright kill you is an enormous amount of evolution to occasionally consume "somewhat overripe fruit". That doesn't mean you're evolved to chug grain alcohol like water, or get drunk every night like the goof in the article, it just means your body is quite very well used to handling a bit of fermented grapes once in awhile.
Hacking one's body, is like eating non-human food like grains or potatoes or beans or artificial sweeteners / colors / flavors.
> get drunk every night like the goof in the article
The author didn't say he gets drunk every night, he said he drinks every night.
I have a beer or a glass of wine with dinner most nights. I get drunk (i.e. have more than one drink, feel drunk, feel worse the next morning) with a much lower frequency.
Then I missed the point of the author's amazing experiment. If he's not "feeling it" buzzed or whatever, what is the point of all that expensive drinking he's doing and why all the health changes once he stopped drinking? Author is having a lot more than a glass or two, to get that kind of long term habit and those effects, I think.
I also have a glass of wine that goes with some meals, but I don't cook "chicken in wine" every single day. Wine doesn't go well with everything. When I'm eating something unhealthy like pizza, well, you gotta have beer with pizza, but I don't eat bad food every day, so... Or even stuff in between good and bad, I had saki and sushi last weekend, close enough to natural human food to not bother me occasionally, but not eating/drinking that every day.
Human body is a very resilient thing, so it can withstand some abuse for a prolonged time (and some bodies are extremely resilient, read this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Malloy). But it all takes its toll at the end...
Well in fairness the article wasn't joking about there being studies that indicate there may be health benefits to drinking in moderation (as opposed to complete alcohol abstinence). So if you're teetotaling only to be "healthy" then you may not be making the right choice.
