Alcohol in moderation may indeed enhance the creativity of some people, particularly those said to possess the so-called “Churchill gene”.

The creative effect of alcohol, then, seems to involve a delicate counterpoint between stimulation and relaxation. Unlike some side-effects of drink, such as its tendency to make some people morose or violent, this endorphin release is positive and pleasant to behold. People with this gene variant also seem more prone to alcoholism, perhaps engaging in an increasingly vain pursuit of the highs they used to experience after the first drink or two.

Moderation appears to be the operative word though, Irish born British artist Francis Bacon once said he “worked well after a few drinks, but not when drunk”.

I seem to hear a lot of talk about doing things in moderation. Eat in moderation. Drink in moderation. Sleep in moderation, even.

It’s only lately though I’ve started to give consideration to what degree you can be doing something for it to be considered moderation.

To me moderation is the opposite of excess.

Lets look at this way. Three or four beers is moderation. Ten or more is starting to get excessive. And while I may have nailed the example of excess, it seems my definition of moderation is slightly well, excessive.

An article in the local paper on an unrelated subject caught my eye last weekend, where according to Dr Parikh of Sydney, one standard drink per day is deemed to be drinking in moderation.

Alcohol in moderation of, say, one standard drink per day with two alcohol-free days per week has some health benefit. The trouble is to discipline yourself to the recommendation.

So should moderation be redefined to mean just barely doing something, or something close to nothing?