Alcohol Is Bad For You

July 2008

Reasons You're Losing Snoozes

newser | Forbes | Jul 24, 08 12:01 PM CDT

The health benefits of sleep are well-documented, but catching Zs isn't so easy in a society all about hard work and an active lifestyle. Forbes runs down some reasons Americans aren't getting enough quality time with their pillows. Marital problems: A bad marriage makes for poor shut-eye. Happy wives fell asleep easier and have a more restful slumber, according to one study. More »
Khloe Spends 173 Minutes in Slammer

newser | Us Magazine | Jul 19, 08 12:52 PM CDT

Reality TV starlet Khloe Kardashian is free today after spending 173 minutes in a California jail for a parole violation, Us Weekly reports. For those keeping track, her stay was more than twice as long as Nicole Richie’s last year at the same detention facility. More »

June 2008

Raise a Glass to the Joys (and Pains) of Happy Hour

newser | Reuters | Jun 24, 08 8:02 PM CDT

Is it happy hour yet? About 20% of Americans regularly go out for drinks with colleagues after work, says a survey from careerbuilder.com. Reuters runs down the highlights: Most go out just to be social, but about 30% say they do so to gossip or only because they feel obligated. Only 4% dared admit to breaking out in karaoke with co-workers. 5% said they shared company secrets while under the influence. More »
Happiest Night of His Life: Drunk in a Ditch

newser | Der Spiegel | Jun 24, 08 9:28 AM CDT

Cops found a German man drunk on the side of the autobahn early Sunday after he was abandoned there—by his new bride. The newlywed was taken to the hospital and later reunited with his wife of several hours, Der Spiegel reports. "It is not known whether the doctors succeeded in making the groom fit for his wedding night," the police report reads. More »
Snoop's Wife Busted on DUI Charge

newser | Los Angeles Times | Jun 15, 08 11:13 AM CDT

Snoop Dogg’s wife was arrested early yesterday on suspicion of drunk driving, the Los Angeles Times reports. Shante Broadus, 32, was issued a citation and is scheduled to appear in court next month. Police would not comment on whether other people were in the vehicle. Broadus and Snoop Dogg have been married since 1997 and have three children. More »
Cops: Kids Fled Murray's 'Boozy' Ex

newser | New York Post | Jun 10, 08 9:45 AM CDT

Bill Murray's wife, who claims in their divorce that the actor is a violent alcoholic with cheating and sexual compulsions, had the police knocking on her door to investigate neighbors' complaints that she'd gotten “physical” with her children while drinking, the New York Post reports. Two of the couple’s children ran to a neighbor during the bizarre March incident. More »
Bourbon a Day Keeps the Arthritis Away

newser | BBC | Jun 5, 08 1:19 PM CDT

Swedish scientists have found another perk for regular drinkers, the BBC reports, with imbibers up to 50% less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis. In two studies involving several thousand participants, those who downed 5 glasses of wine a week saw their risk cut in half. The study reiterated that smoking is the greatest risk factor for the onset of arthritis. More »

May 2008

Guidelines for Solo Boozing

newser | Esquire | May 30, 08 7:05 PM CDT

Being a lone drinker in a place as socially teeming as your local watering hole is a tough business. The trick is to treat the activity as a sacred art form, not as the last refuge of the social pariah, says Esquire . Its rules: Start early. No small talk. People-watch. Drink whiskey. No mixing. More »
The Scourge of Morning After

newser | New Yorker | May 20, 08 2:13 PM CDT

Hangovers have afflicted the recently drunk since the Stone Age, yet a dependable remedy remains elusive. A hangover takes hold just as the body succeeds in eliminating the alcohol from the blood stream, Joan Acocella notes in the New Yorker . It results from a pileup of insults the system sustains in getting the job done, she explains, deconstructing the telltale symptoms in vivid detail. More »
Sex Please, We're Drunk

newser | BBC | May 11, 08 9:09 AM CDT

Young people intentionally binge on booze and drugs to improve their sex lives, according to new research. A third of European men under the age of 36 and a quarter of women said they drank to increase their chance of sex—and were more likely to engage in unsafe sex when they were high, reports the BBC. Cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana were used to enhance arousal or prolong sex, according to the study published in BMC Public Health. More »
World's Best Whiskey Comes From... Japan?

newser | Times (UK) | May 2, 08 8:56 PM CDT

For years, Japanese whiskey has struggled for respect and praise; now, it’s on top of the world. A brand called "Yoichi 20 years old" has been voted the best whiskey in the world by Whiskey Magazine , the industry’s main publication. No non-Scottish spirit has ever won before, the Times of London reports, but judges fell for Yoichi’s “explosive aroma” and “amazing mix of big smoke and sweet blackcurrant.” More »

April 2008

Absinthe's Secret Revealed

newser | LiveScience | Apr 30, 08 3:11 PM CDT

Absinthe's "Green Fairy,” which spurred the likes of van Gogh and Picasso to creative heights, may have been more of a drunken sprite than psychedelic pixie. A study of century-old bottles of the green liqueur revealed that its potency most likely stems from its 70% alcohol content—making it 140-proof booze—not any mind-altering ingredients, reports LiveScience. More »
Winehouse Faces Jail After Violent Bender

newser | Sun (UK) | Apr 24, 08 11:49 AM CDT

Amy Winehouse will be arrested, sources tell the Sun , after assaulting two men during a booze- and drug-induced rampage last night in London. The 24-year-old singer allegedly headbutted a man who was trying to hail a cab for her, and earlier punched a man for refusing to give up his pool table. More »
1 in 6 Drink and Drive: Survey

newser | Reuters | Apr 23, 08 12:48 PM CDT

About 15% of Americans drove under the influence of alcohol in the past year, and another 4.7% drove while on drugs, according to a new government survey. Wisconsinites were particularly hammered, with 26.4% driving drunk, followed closely by North Dakota (24.9%) and Minnesota (23.4%). Utah had the national low at 9.5%, Reuters reports. More »
Wines Tainted With Pesticides

newser | Daily Telegraph (UK) | Apr 4, 08 1:51 PM CDT

A large majority of European wines are tainted with pesticides and other toxic substances, a study by a consortium of environmental groups has found. Thirty-four of 40 bottles sampled, including grands crus from some of Bordeaux's most prestigious vineyards, contained hazardous pesticides, the Telegraph reports. But of the six organic bottles tested, five were clean. More »

March 2008

A Dad Debates Introducing Wine

newser | New York Times | Mar 28, 08 4:14 PM CDT

Will letting your kids sip wine decrease chances of binges later, Eric Asimov wonders in the New York Times . “I can’t help hoping that my sons might share my taste in ball teams and politics. Why should wine be any different?” writes Asimov, who imagined raising his children European-style to teach them “wine is a wonderful part of a meal.” More »
Beer Family Scion Busted for Underage Drinking

newser | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Mar 27, 08 7:29 PM CDT

A 17-year-old member of the Anheuser-Busch beer family was busted yesterday and charged with underage drinking, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Hardly shocking, perhaps, except for what Adolphus August Busch V was drinking: Natural Light. Though the frat house favorite is one of the company's products, it's surely a far cry from the company's flagship brands—and gets a D- from Beer Advocate . More »
Docs Not Toasting Ladies' Vodka

newser | Reuters | Mar 20, 08 4:56 PM CDT

A made-for-women vodka touted as the perfect salad accompaniment has sobered Russian doctors, who fear high-end spirits like "Ladies" will only worsen already-high rates of alcoholism, Reuters reports. Estimates peg 10 percent of Russia's 142 million citizens as alcoholics, and the chief of one rehab center says 60% of his clients are women. More »
Drunkorexia On Rise in Women

newser | New York Times | Mar 2, 08 11:57 AM CST

Drunkorexia isn't an official medical term, reports the New York Times, but the disorder is on a growing list of afflictions that combine societal acceptance of substance abuse and pressure to be thin. Drunkorexics, who are typically college-age women, shun food to prevent weight gain and to offset the calories they consume in alcohol. More »
Making Mead Creates a Buzz Among Foodies

newser | Slate | Mar 1, 08 6:34 AM CST

Mead, that honey-based alcoholic drink last popular around King Arthur’s Round Table, is making a comeback—well, sort of, Nicholas Day reports in Slate. Meaderies are springing up around the US, publishers have printed a spate of how-to books, and the Internet is rife with mead-making sites that include step-by-step instructions, illustrations and links galore. More »