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.