Choose Your Friends Wisely

The old adage to choose your friends wisely has another mark in it's favor with a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that is quotes in the iVillage Health Article about the impact of heavy drinking friends on one's alcohol consumption. Of course, the premise seems obvious enough. If you hang out with heavy drinkers you are also more likely to drink heavily. Turns out there are some interesting findings that are not so obvious. For one thing, heavy female drinkers influence others to drink more than male heavy drinkers. In fact, heavy female drinkings seem to have a huge impact on the males specifically. Another interesting point from the article is that non-drinkers have less influence on their drinking friends. This probably makes sense because the culture in America today sees drinking as a requirement for having fun and who would not want to have fun?

Now, here is my take on the situation. Be a leader instead of a follower. This study was very important because it highlights how powerful the lure of alcohol can be for some people. For those of us who think it makes more sense to omit alcohol from our plans, even this study shows that we have some influence over our friends actions. By being with friends and being sober makes us an example of somebody that can have fun without the alcohol. Many, many times I have heard people tell me they will follow my lead the next time because of how bad they felt after a binge session. I almost never criticize them for silly behavior with alcohol although they my face may very well give it away. All I ever do is laugh at them when they tell me the crazy story. Usually, that is enough for them to realize how stupid they were for drinking too much.

Related articles

• Impulsive Behavior in Males Increases After Heavy Drinking (stopalcoholdeaths.com)
• iVillage Health Article 

You do have the freedom to say "No Thanks" to an alcoholic drink.

I was just reading one of my favorite bloggers who references a book by Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison called Disease to Please. You can get to the link and read the Alcohol Free Social Life blog entry here. The blogger is making the point that a lot of people feel obligated to drink recreational alcohol based on their internal need/desire to please other people. For example, a number of people will tell you that they drink only "socially". In other words, when they are out with other people who are drinking alcohol, they feel the inclination to imbibe themselves. According to the theory of the book, as I understand it, this need is essentially a psychological "disorder" that compels some people to do things they do not necessarily want to do in order to please others. "Disorder" may be a strong word but I cannot disagree with that assessment. In most instances there is not the threat of bodily harm if you decide not to drink. Most of the time, the "Disease to Please" is some perceived possibility that you could/would somehow anger or disappoint someone else. Of course, the truth is that almost nobody else will care whether or not you drink alcohol. In fact, just saying "no" to an alcoholic drink often sparks some interesting conversations.

The reality is that some people feel obligated to do things that they may not really want to do just because everybody else is doing it. The culture in a America is such that a large portion of the population is convinced that drinking recreational alcohol is a legitimate way to pass the time. You should make up your own mind and not feel compelled to follow the crowd. Make your own decision and remember that you do indeed have the freedom in this country to say "no thanks". Most people will probably respect you more for it.

Excellent Blog Resource

I stumbled across http://www.alcoholfreesociallife.com/blog/ recently and I have to say that they produce excellent content on their blog. Articles about the impacts of alcohol on the human body got me to their site but the articles about how to deal with being a non-drinker are most impressive. Their real world advise and tips about what to say to offers and how alcohol can impact you psychologically are very insightful. They offer most of their info from the perspective of somebody who is trying to stop drinking but a lot of the same principles apply to someone who never really starts.

Just to reference one tidbit from the blog post about the psychology of alcohol, it is no secret that alcohol is indeed a depressant. If you are already depressed, then why in the world would you want to ingest a substance to push you even further down that scale of emotion. Drowning your sorrows does nothing but make you feel even worse. For that matter, if you are happy, why would you feel the need to bring yourself down to a lower level. There is quite a bit more on this site that is equally relevant to someone deciding if alcohol serves any real purpose for them.

Too much alcohol really does make you stupid!!

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to a news story about a guy that managed to get himself arrested for DUI twice in the same night. Getting arrested once was apparently not good enough for this genius. While in the squad car, he managed to get to the front seat and proceeded to drive off. Fortunately, nobody was actually hurt but that is not always the case. You can find several references of DUI fatalities every single day across the country.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drunk drivers accounted for 32% of all automobile fatalities in 2008. The NHTSA also provided data that showed over 17 Million people drove within 2 hours of drinking in 2008. That means that a shocking 8% of the drivers on the road were under the influence in 2008.

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• Colo. man nabbed in his car and squad car for DUI (sfgate.com)
• Survey: 17.2 Million Drunk Drivers Last Year (abcnews.go.com)

Real World New Orleans Blackout Example

Just watched an episode of the Real World - New Orleans and was reminded of another reason why I do not bother with alcohol. There is a young blond girl named McKenzie who seems to have a significant drinking problem. She gets so wasted that the other cast members, who are also drinking, are sincerely concerned for her safety. It seems that she consistently "blacks out" after she has had a few. Seriously, if you are drinking so much that you do not remember your night then what exactly is the point. Everybody seems to feel sorry for her and just rolls their eyes even when she is sober. After a few drinks they even start calling her Mary because she has a completely different personality that she apparently does not remember.

Interestingly, the episode included McKenzie meeting a guy who noticeably drinks very little. This is the part that caught my attention. She was impacted by a young man in New Orleans only for Spring Break and he is not drinking because he too has had issues with black outs. Because of his influence, McKenzie seems to have an epiphany that maybe it is OK to not drink so much. In fact, she states a very insightful reason not to drink. What she has come to realize is that the guy is very engaging and she enjoyed talking to him. This is a tremendous point. You can have a BETTER time if you are sober and spend some time talking to an interesting person than if you are sloppy drunk and forget who you might have met. Maybe the guy she stumbled upon was meant to impact her life. For that matter, maybe that encounter is meant to impact sopme viewers and/or inspire this little post.

The bottom line here is that you can and should have a good time without the need for mind altering substances. Why bother with alcohol?

Leader or a Follower?

Are you a "Leader" or a "Follower"? Do have a deep-seeded need to fit in with everybody else or are you really your own person? To be a leader, you have to be willing to be the one in front of the crowd. You must be able to make independent decisions about what you do and how you do it. In America today, the sheep are all drinking alcohol and one has to be a true leader to buck that trend. Why would you just follow the crowd anyway? Following the crowd and being a mindless clone is BORING!! There is no reason to let other people tell you how you should enjoy yourself. If you are in a setting where everybody else is drinking alcohol, you do not have to go along with them. Because this is America, you really do have the freedom to enjoy a a safe and sober night if you choose.

Being an individual and making your own decisions is freeing and empowering. It does sometimes take strength and even character to be the only sober person in a bar or some other traditionally alcohol immersed setting. Even with that natural pressure to follow the crowd, hanging out with friends and meeting new people is fun. In fact, that is exactly what makes it fun to go out or to private parties. The coolest people are doing their own thing because they want to live their own lives. If you have made the decision to ignore the marketing ploys that have made a lot of the American people believe that alcohol is required to have fun, then boldly and proudly enjoy your sober life. Choose to be a "Leader" and seriously consider whether drinking alcohol for entertainment really makes sense.

Alcohol Free America was started to present the notion that recreational alcohol is not the only way to have a good time. Even as CNN reports that more Americans are drinking alcohol (linked below), we encourage people to be true leaders and set the tone for their own lives. If you are strong enough to make your decisions then WHY BOTHER WITH ALCOHOL?

Feel free to share this anybody you know that is bold enough to take a stand against the norm in America today.

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• More Americans drinking alcohol (cnn.com)

Beer, Wine or a Milkshake?

I have heard from several people how much they "like" the taste of alcohol. Not sure how much I really believe them but my question is always "What is better, that wine you love or a milkshake?". Pretty rare for somebody to try to convince me that a glass of wine is better than a milkshake. Of course, nobody has EVER tried to say that beer tastes better than a milkshake. The problem is that alcohol is an acquired taste whereas a milkshake is is just good from the first time you try it. Now some people prefer the fruity drinks which they say taste so good. I would say those drinks are just as good without the alcohol and probably still not as good as a smoothie.  

The next part of this conversation typically turns to the calories in a milkshake versus alcohol. To be fair, a milkshake does tend to have a lot of calories in one 12 oz serving. According to freediet.com, one milkshake typically has about 408 calories which is three times as much as a 12 oz regular beer (139 calories), four times as much as a a light beer (103 calories) and almost 6 times as much as a 3.5 oz glass of wine (70 calories). However, very few people I know will only drink one beer if they are out. It does happen on occasion but not very often. The standard definition of a moderate male drinker is 2 drinks a day. By far, most people I have ever been out with drank least 3 drinks. If you figure that one milkshake is usually enough, the caloric intake gets to be pretty close to the same if you are talking about beer. You probably come out ahead with wine since 3 or even 4 glasses of wine would still be significantly fewer calories than 1 milkshake. For the record, whiskey, gin, vodka and rum all have more calories per fluid ounce than a milkshake.

With all of that being said, a milkshake is a lot safer than any recreational alcohol consumption. It tastes a lot better with a lot fewer negative side effects.

Why bother with alcohol?

REASONS NOT TO BOTHER WITH ALCOHOL.

Not an exhaustive list by any means but some very good reasons not to drink recreational alcohol:

REASONS NOT TO BOTHER WITH ALCOHOL.


1. Alcohol is a drug - The chemicals in alcohol impact your brain in exactly the same way that other drugs do.

2. Alcohol does not taste good - Even the fruity drinks that do taste good are just as good without the alcohol.

3. Alcohol known to be addictive - AA is such a large organization because people get addicted and cannot quit without assistance.

4. Alcohol kills brain cells - You can function without a few of the brain cells but there is a cumulative impact to long term drinking.

5. Alcohol destroys your liver - You cannot live without a liver and alcoholics are usually not eligible for a transplant.

6. Makes you do stupid things - Ever heard of Beer Goggles?

7. Lose control of car, gun, boat, etc... - Drunk drivers kill people every single day who were minding their own business.

8 Drunks are not attractive - Loud obnoxious drunks are not as magnetic as they think. Most people see them as a clown.

9. Vomit is not sexy - Drinking a lot will make you sick and who wants to kiss someone who just vomited.

10. Hangovers not worth it - Flu like symptoms that can be avoided probably should be avoided.

11. Alcohol poisoning CAN kill you - Every year there is another case of some college student who actually dies from alcohol poisoning.

12. Drunk people are an easy target - Women in a bar or anybody on the street should be frightened by the idea that predators prey on the weak,

13. Expensive habit - A meal at a nice restaurant for 2 people goes from $100 to $350 very quickly once you add wine or other drinks to the bill.

14. Want to remember a good time good time? - Blacking out is not conducive to remembering the good times.

15. Lots of ways it can get you arrested - DUI is obvious but public urination or some other foolish move can also cross the lines of legality.

16. Pathetic excuse for entertainment - Surely you can think of another way to entertain yourself.

17. Makes you smell like a brewery - Why would anybody be attracted to a bum?

18. Depressed alcoholics drink at home alone - Hardly the party alcohol is advertised to be.

19. Changes many people's personality - Often someone who is perfectly nice and/or pleasant becomes a babbling idiot on alcohol.

20. Want to be like everyone else, really? - Why not be a leader rather than an unthinking sheep.

21. Many religions directly oppose the abuse of alcohol. - Yes, they drank wine in biblical times but the abuse of alcohol is prohibited by many religions.

22. Not a good excuse for poor decisions - Alcohol often seems to give people an excuse to do things they know they should not do.

You can do better.

Seriously? The only thing that you can think of for entertainment on a Friday night is getting trashed at a bar? Recreational alcohol seems to be the default form of recreation and entertainment for a large portion of the population in the United States. This has always baffled me and I think Americans can do much better. For that matter, some people do much better. Here a list of better options off the top of my head:

• Attend some sporting event ... sober. Major league, minor league, recreational league or even even watch children play ball someplace. Baseball, basketball, football, soccer or tennis are all entertaining to watch at most any level even if you do not know anything about who is playing. 
• Participate in a sports activity. My childhood and adult life has been GREATLY enhanced by playing baseball, softball, basketball, tennis, golf, volleyball etc ... 
• Go see a movie
• Rent or download a move to watch at home
• Invite your friends over for dinner or go out to dinner
• Most cities have a lot of options for live music. Whether you like country, rock, rap or classical you can probably find some friends interested and find live music within driving distance of where you live. 
• Read a book. Not my cup of tea to sit at home to read but a lot of people love it. Finding a quiet place in the park can certainly be a nice treat on a pleasant afternoon.
• As a musician, I can tell you it provides great entertainment without alcohol. Never understood the need to mix in mind altering substances.

The point is that you can do better than defaulting to the concept that recreational alcohol is the only way to have fun. Use your imagination and find something better to do this weekend.

What makes social gatherings fun is the people, NOT the alcohol.

Have you ever been the only person at a gathering or event that was not drinking? This happens to me quite often and I can honestly tell you that it does not impair my ability to enjoy myself one iota. Last week I spent a lot of time with buddies who enjoyed recreational alcohol and the nights were very entertaining. Drunk people are just funny most of the time. When I was telling another friend about my week it occurred to me that I did indeed have a really good time. He asked me if it was ever annoying to be around people drinking and I had to admit that I have never had a problem with it. Other than the occasional babysitting duties for somebody out of control, being around people drinking is not at all uncomfortable for me. The truth is that people are fun to be around if you generally like them to begin with. I enjoy the company of most people. What they are doing as we chat does not impact me very often. Of course, I think I have the upper hand in any debate and will remember the night's events better than my friend who was too drunk to figure out the tip on his bill. I write this little note to point out very directly that I hold no ill will towards drinkers but I am confident that my path of no alcohol is just as fulfilling and fun as anything they ever do. What makes bars and gatherings fun is not the alcohol but the people.

www.alcoholscreening.org

This looks like a very well intended site. From the "Learn-More" part of the http://www.alcoholscreening.org/ site where they recommend drinking in moderation:

What is Moderation?
Women: No more than one drink a day
Men: No more than two drinks a day
(This limit is based on differences between the sexes in both weight and metabolism.)

Count as a Drink ...
12 ounces of regular beer (150 calories)
5 ounces of wine (100 calories)
1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits (100 calories)

If you think there is indeed a reason to drink alcohol at all, these are probably reasonable guidelines. Of course, very few people that drink really follow anything close to these limits and starting to drink at an early tends to drive heavier drinking as one ages. The site also states the that fact that "some studies suggest that older people may become more sensitive to the effects of alcohol as they age". Given the risks and no indicatin of any real benefit, why even bother with the limits set by the US Department of Health and Human Services quoted above.

Alcohol Increases Partner Violence

A study about violence within intimate relationships, published in January 2010, has been referenced in a few different articles lately. I actually heard about it on the radio when Dr Dean Edell referenced it. They studied 436 US couples and found a direct relationship between alcohol usage and violent behavior that actually went both ways. The surprising finding was that female on male violence doubled when the women drank. Not so surprising was that the male on female violence tripled when alcohol was involved. The study, which appears online and in the April issue of the journal Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, was co-authored by Dr. Raul Caetano is jarring because of the data about the women involved. However, it should not surprise anybody that alcohol changes your personality. Just another reason to make a conscious decision to avoid recreational alcohol.

Why bother with alcohol?!?

Teen Drinking and Substance Abuse Up

Good blog entry by Michele Borba referencing the Partnership for Drug Free America study. Michele lists the highlights in her advice for parents of teens: Michele Borba Blog Entry 03/21/10.

I thought it was very interesting to see that the percentage of teens using alcohol and the teens using marijuana are so close:

"Alcohol, ecstasy, and marijuana use are increasing:


Number of teens in grades 9-12 that used alcohol in the past month has grown by 11 percent, (from 35 percent in 2008 to 39 percent in 2009)

Ecstasy use over the past year shows a 67 percent increase (from 6 percent in 2008 to 10 percent in 2009)

Marijuana use shows a 19 percent increase (from 32 percent in 2008 to 38 percent in 2009)  "
 
I have to admit that I would have thought the percentage of teens drinking alcohol to be larger. This study woudl lead me to believe that 61% of the teens surveyed did not use alcohol in the past month. I hope that is accurate.
 

Get an iced tea to save a lot of money when you go out.

For those of us who enjoy a good steak, there are a number of high end restaurants where we can get a prefect filet. The problem is that these high end places tend to be a bit pricey if you are on a tight budget. While they are relatively expensive compared to a fast food joint, it never really made sense to me that some people really went on and on about the price. I finally figured out the real pain point a few years ago. High end establishments really jack up the prices of mixed drinks and tend to maintain an extensive wine inventory with some really high end options. None of this had ever occurred to me since alcohol was not on my agenda anyway. What I noticed is that some people will quickly double, triple or otherwise increase the bill tenfold by adding a few drinks or bottles of wine to the mix. If you just get the iced tea then refills are free and you bill is usually reasonable given the location.


Along those same lines, if you go out for a “night on the town” and avoid the crazy prices of alcohol, you can really save a lot of money. A soft drink tends to be much less expensive in a bar/night club than any alcoholic beverage. As a matter of fact, a lot of places tend to just give away soft drinks for free since they want to encourage designated drivers.

So if you are in a situation where you need to save money you should avoid the alcoholic beverages. You can still have a great time with friends and atmosphere without throwing away more money than you should.

Is Red Wine better for your heart than Grapes?

You hear a lot in the media about how a few studies have shown a possible link between 1 glass of red wine a day and a healthy heart. Of course, none of the studies have been conclusive. According to the Mayo Clinic web site (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/red-wine/HB00089), Resveratrol MIGHT be a key ingredient in red wine that helps prevent damage to blood vessels, reduces "bad" cholesterol and prevents blood clots. Most of the research that backs that up has been conducted on mice, which is how most such research is conducted. Here is the interesting thing to me. The key ingredient in red wine that most researchers think produces the benefit can also be found in grapes and grape juice. There is nothing that indicates that the form of Resveratrol in red wine is more beneficial than what is in grapes. Of course, I have never heard that part in the media because the only newsworthy part is that wine is good for you. I suspect that the alcohol content probably does as much damage as the antioxidants do good. So why not just eat grapes or drink grape juice since that is where the active ingredient that produces the benefit begins. Nobody seems to be studying that very closely because they are too busy trying to show some benefit to alcohol.

Why bother with the alcohol? Grapes taste much better and do much less damage to your other systems if you eat a lot of them. By the way, to get as much benefit from the wine as the mouse does, a human would have to drink 100 to 1,000 bottles of wine in a day according to the Mayo Clinic article.

I would like to remember if I had a good time.

Another thing that baffles me about people that use alcohol as a form of recreation is the phenomena of the “black out”. You hear a lot of people that have had too much to drink asking other people what they did the night before. Seriously? You were in such a stupor that you have no idea what happened to you? Something like that seems beyond foolish to me. It just makes no sense to engage in an activity that can wipe out a block of your life from your brain. If something really good happens, although unlikely if you are stinking drunk, would you not want to remember? What if you meet the man/woman of your dreams? Aside from the fact that they are less likely to be impressed with a drunken idiot, it might be a good thing if you could remember their face. Seems like you would also probably want to remember the ball game you attended, the friends you met or the great time you had with some buddies on the golf course.

Another Tragic End from Teenage Drinking

The point of Alcohol Free America is that there is really no good reason to drink. In fact, there are numerous reasons to avoid recreational alcohol. Tragically, one of the biggest reasons to stay away from drinking is the inherent dangers that are directly associated with the activity. This story (Mom Sues Teens in Binge Drinking Case) published by CBS News online, highlights one mother's fight to get the word out by filing civil lawsuits against the kids that were with her deceased daughter the night she was out binge drinking. The mother has a unique perspective, obviously, but it does not seem that she is suing them to get any actual money. I think the idea is to point out their accountability in the events that led to her daughter's death and be a message to others to watch out for each other if they are foolish enough to waste their time drinking alcohol. Not sure I approve of her lawsuit but I definitely think that the publicity that it is getting the death of her daughter could have some impact on a few other teens in the same situation. Maybe they will call somebody of their friend it too drunk to speak as one parent relates in the story. My hope would be that they would avoid the alcohol altogether.

From NPR Online .... Teen Drinking May Cause Irreversible Brain Damage

Just wanted to repost this article from NPR. The bottom line is that research indicates that teen brains may not fully recover from the early alcohol use that often occurs.

Teen Drinking May Cause Irreversible Brain Damage

Alcohol Poisoning Can Kill You!!

This seems pretty obvious but needs to be stated more often, alcohol can actually kill you. According to numerous studies and resources, it is possible to consume so much alcohol that your breathing can stop, your heart can stop or you can choke on your own vomit. Nice visual huh? According to the National Institute on Alchohol Abuse and Alcoholism, once you get past two drinks you begin encroaching into the immediate danger zone. Of course, many people have a greater tolerance than others but every drop after the first two drinks gets you closer to the shutdown of cognitive functions and major organ shutdown. It actually makes sense given the sedative nature of alcohol and how your body responds to sedatives. You can overdose on alcohol just like you can with any other such drug. Given that fact and the fact that your reasoning becomes less reliable the more you drink, why would anybodybother with such a dangerous activity as recreational drinking?

The January 1st article on Jointogether.org linked below sites a some interesting research performed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.



http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2009/kids-see-smoking-as-riskier.html



What I find most interesting is that concept that tobacco is MORE dangerous than recreational/binge drinking. There are some readers comments that seem to somewhat support that perspective with stats about numbers of tobacco related health issues. The part that I believe is missing from the argument of posters and from the 12 to 17 year olds surveyed, is the fact that alcohol increases other risky behaviors and is more dangerous in the short run as a result. Tobacco is like the loaded gun that takes 30 years to fill you. Alcohol is what makes you forget the gun is even loaded. For that matter, of the millions that die from tobacco every year, I would bet that a large percentage of the smoking happens while a number of these victims are drinking.

Smoking a pack of cigarettes in one night will definitely not kill you. Try drinking a case of hard liquor and you could die from alcohol poisoning or a car wreck. Another thing that needs to be considered, if people drank as often as they smoked, some would die within a week. It would not take years of abuse to kill them.

The bottom line is that cigarettes are certainly bad for you, especially in the long run. However, alcohol is dangerous in the long run and the short run. So why would you bother with alcohol?