Trying to limit your alcohol intake is tougher when you're drinking in a bar with loud music, according to a new study.
Researchers have already shown that listening to fast music can speed up the rate of drinking. But now they say loud music has the same effect. Both fast and loud music can heighten arousal, causing people to drink faster and order more drinks, say the authors of the study, published online today in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. And there's another reason why people drink more when the band is blasting: They can't converse.
"...loud music may have had a negative effect on social interaction in the bar, so that patrons drank more because they talked less."
The authors of the study suggest that bar owners tone it down a little so that people won't overindulge. Since we know that won't happen, you may have to monitor yourself. If your ears are ringing, slow down before the room starts spinning.
The standard size for alcoholic drinks is 5 ounces for wine, 12 ounces for beer and 1.5 ounces for spirits. Using those formulas, consumers should be able to monitor their alcoholic intake, right? Fat chance.
A new study shows that alcoholic drinks served in bars and restaurants are often larger than the standard size and contain more alcohol. The study, published online this week in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, examined 480 drinks poured in 80 establishments in 10 Northern California counties. The average glass of wine was 43% larger than standard, and the average mixed drink was 42% larger. The average draft beer was 22% larger. The authors, from the Alcohol Research Group at the Public Health Institute, also found that the alcohol content varied widely in drinks. Those who think they have had four drinks may, in fact, have had six, they noted.
Nationwide, there is a big effort to take the mystery out of alcoholic drinks. Health groups have been battling the federal government over a proposal to label packaged alcohol products with information on nutrition and alcohol content, similar to the labels that are affixed to packaged foods. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has proposed a rule that would require "Serving Facts" on the labels of wine, beer and distilled spirits but would leave out information about alcohol content. A coalition of 30 health groups opposes the rule, saying that alcohol content per standard serving should also be included on labels.
"Today, even the most basic information about alcohol beverages is not provided on the labels of most alcohol beverage products," said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League, in a recent statement.
For a look at what constitutes "standard" in alcoholic drinks, click here.
The debate goes something like this: If men and women are old enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan at age 18, shouldn't they be allowed to drink alcohol legally?
Several states are considering lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. According to a report in USA Today, legislation has been introduced in three states (Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Carolina) to lower the drinking age for military personnel only. In Missouri, a planned ballot initiative would lower the age to 18 for everyone. South Dakota is debating allowing 19- and 20-year-olds to buy low-alcohol beer. Minnesota is considering allowing people ages 18 to 20 to buy alcohol in restaurants and bars not in stores until they are 21.
These proposals have drug dependency treatment and traffic officials more than a little worried. Congress voted in 1984 to reduce federal highway funds to any state that sets the drinking age below 21 (causing most states that had lowered the legal drinking age to 18 in the 1970s to return to the age-21 law). That led to a decrease in traffic fatalities involving drivers ages 18 to 20 by 13%, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Meanwhile, some pretty solid evidence is accumulating that waiting until age 21 to drink dramatically cuts the risk of developing alcoholism. A study released this week online from the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research shows that women born after 1944 began drinking, on average, at age 17 and had a 50% to 80% greater chance of developing alcohol dependence than women born before 1944, who began drinking at age 20 on average. Says study author Richard A. Grucza of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis:
"About one in three individuals who start drinking at age 17 or younger become alcohol dependent. For those who wait until age 21 or older, that number is one in 10."
The ingredient thujone, credited (or blamed, depending on your point of view) with giving absinthe its psychedelic reputation, was apparently overrated. We suspected it, now we have proof. (Get it?) An analysis of old bottles of the stuff has found that they contained relatively small concentrations of thujone, a chemical found in various plants, most notably wormwood.
The drink, a favorite of the late-19th-century bohemian crowd in Paris, was believed to expand the mind, making it a favorite of artists such as Van Gogh, Degas and Picasso. Alas, it was also blamed for violent episodes, illness and "absinthe madness," which was not nearly as much fun as you might think. Symptoms included facial spasms and dementia.
The new analysis, to be published in the May 14 issue of the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, concluded that the likely culprit in all this was ethanol. Some of the old absinthe was 70% alcohol, making it 140 proof. Gin, vodka and whiskey, by comparison, are usually 80 to 100 proof.
The stuff obviously packed a wallop. Banned for many years in France and elsewhere (including the U.S.), the beverage is making a comeback -- and a couple of brands can even be legally obtained at fine outlets near you. Of course, with a nickname like the Green Fairy and with an entire ritual as part of its preparation, how could it not be popular?
But beware: Though thujone may amount to little more than an exotic-sounding herb, the alcohol itself isn't to be trifled with -- as anyone who has ever had one too many whiskeys can attest.
Tami Dennis, who takes the word "skeptic" to previously uncharted territory, is editor of The Times' Health section. She's adamant that pitches promoting awareness days, weeks or months are, by their nature, non-stories. And, because she's an adult, she refuses to use words like "veggies," "tummy" and "yummy."
Rosie Mestel, Health section deputy editor, studied genetics before abandoning flies, fungi and DNA for health/medical writing. Her hero is the biologist Ernst Haeckel, whose jellyfish paintings inspired snazzy chandeliers. Her favorite toast-spread is Marmite, a British delicacy made of yeast extract. Her least-favorite word is "millenniums."
Susan Brink has made health and medicine her beat for 26 of her 28 years in the business. She’s covered a wide range of disease and health policy stories, and is always on the lookout for fresh angles. Few things make her happier than busting through preconceived notions to give readers an accurate view of people behaving as…well, real people.
Melissa Healy is a staff writer for the Health section reporting from Washington D.C. Healy's a veteran of The Times' National staff, having covered the Pentagon, Congress, poverty and social welfare, the environment, and the White House before shifting to Health in 2003. She writes frequently about mental health and human behavior, about federal health policy, prescription medication and ethics in medicine. More wonk than wellness freak, Healy chooses to believe in the health benefits of coffee and wine, and considers water a better work-out medium than beverage.
After a brief stint as a sports writer, Shari Roan turned to health journalism and has covered the topic for The Times for 18 years. She is the author of three books and the mother of two daughters, both teenagers who refer to her as a "health freak." She likes to jog, watch baseball and is very happy that dark chocolate contains some health benefit.
Jeannine Stein writes about fitness, sports medicine and obesity for the Health section. She’s a gym rat from way back and never met an elliptical trainer she didn’t like. Well, maybe one or two. She tempers exercise with a steady diet of reality television because she believes it’s all about balance.
Trying to limit your alcohol intake is tougher when you're drinking in a bar with loud music, according to a new study.
The debate goes something like this: If men and women are old enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan at age 18, shouldn't they be allowed to drink alcohol legally?
