This week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a report stating that binge drinking is a bigger problem than they thought. According to their statistics, “More than 38 million US adults binge drink, about 4 times a month.”

So what are we going to do about it? Apparently, all the blanket recommendations, measurements and equations are falling on deaf ears. No wonder, when we’re all so different.

Rebecca Johnson, a writer, was recently interviewed in Time magazine about her unconventional approach to drinking. At one point, she went to Hazelden, a popular rehab facility, for counseling, but she felt they were pushing an “either-or model.” They suggested that she go away to rehab for a month, telling her she should never drink again. The all-or-nothing approach didn’t work for her, so she tried regulating her drinking with the help of a program called Moderate Drinking.

In my own experience, drinking habits that worked for others just didn’t work for me. I used to be jealous of my friends who could have a glass or two of wine a night, no problem. I tried that, tried to have a carefree attitude, but instead felt wracked with guilt and fear that I would become an alcoholic like my mom. Instead, over the years, I’ve learned to set my own guidelines.

For instance: I only drink wine. Not by myself. Mostly when I go out or have dinner with my husband or friends. Usually no more than 2 glasses, because I know that when I have 3 I get tired, and the next day, I have a hangover.

Occasionally, I break the rules, but these rules work for me. I can have my wine and have my fun when I go out, minus the panic and fear that I’m going to become an alcoholic.

I’m not suggesting that we do away with guidance. Most of us need mentoring, and appreciate all the information that scientists, researchers and others share. Guidance is fine. Strict, all-or-nothing, one-size-fits-all rules are not.

Ultimately, we each have to find our own balance. It may take years. For some people, abstention is the only way.  For others, a looser approach is fine.

This week, a government committee in the UK came up with a great, workable idea to help combat their binge drinking problem. They’re admitting, actually admitting, that the current drinking recommendations, with their talk of units per day, are conflicting and hard to understand. Think about it: Who’s going to bring a measuring cup to a bar, or tell the bartender to pour the extra wine out?

Instead of setting rigid standards, the committee recommends that people have at least two drink-free days out of the week.

For those who like to drink, and who aren’t struggling with addiction, this is a great idea, a jumpstart to becoming more conscious so they can start to set their own guidelines.

The day or two of not drinking helps people create lives that don’t center around drinking. Instead of resenting Big Brother, people can feel like they’re in control of their own lives.

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When I go to the supermarket, I’m one of those shoppers that actually reads the labels. I typically peruse the list of ingredients first, and then move on to check out the number of grams of fat and fiber.

I’ve never given much thought to the notion of labels on alcoholic beverages, but the gift of information would be nice. For the time being, however, the federal government continues to delay a proposal to provide consumers with basic nutrition and alcohol facts on containers of beer, wine and spirits.

“Alcoholic beverages can contribute a significant amount of calories to the diet,” said Chris Waldrop, director of the Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America (CFA). “Unfortunately for consumers wanting to watch their weight, they aren’t able to turn to the label to get the information they need, like they can with other food products.”

Alcoholic beverages are the only major category of consumable products not required to be labeled with information about even their basic characteristics. According to the CFA, labeling information can serve as a tool to help reduce alcohol abuse, drunk driving, obesity, and the many diseases attributable to excessive alcohol intake.

Because there hasn’t been any government action on labeling of alcoholic beverages, the CFA released a useful chart in 2008, comparing the calorie and alcohol content of several major brands of beer, wine and distilled spirits.

“Consumers need basic information about alcohol content to help them drink in moderation as recommended by the federal government and numerous health groups,” Waldrop said. “For example, consumers need to know that a 12 ounce bottle of beer has generally the same amount of alcohol as a 5 ounce glass of wine and 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.”

In 2007, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) proposed a rule to require a standardized “Alcohol Facts” panel on all beer, wine and distilled spirits products. Four years later, TTB has yet to finalize that proposal. CFA and other public interest groups have called on TTB to mandate alcohol information on a standardized label, including the serving size, number of servings per container, percentage alcohol by volume and the amount of alcohol (in fl oz) per serving, as well as calorie information. CFA has also urged TTB to require that alcoholic beverage labels contain a statement defining “moderate” drinking, derived from the U.S. Government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the definition of a standard drink.

The CFA advises consumers to remember the following:

1. It’s not what you drink, it’s how much that counts. Don’t be fooled into thinking that beer or wine is safer or less potent than the “hard stuff.” Remember, 12 ounces of beer has the same amount of alcohol as 5 ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.

2. Don’t drink on an empty stomach. Eat food while you drink and alternate water or other nonalcoholic drinks with your alcoholic beverage.

3. In many cases, alcohol and medications don’t mix. Always read the label to determine if the prescription medicine or over-the-counter drug carries a specific warning about consuming alcohol.

4. If you’re going to be drinking when you go out, plan ahead of time how you will get home. Designate a driver, have a taxi number, and money ready to pay the taxi. Whatever you do, don’t drink and drive.

5. If you are hosting a party, keep an eye out for those who may have had too much to drink and planning to drive home. If necessary, take their keys and call a taxi.

6. Whether you are a parent, family member or a friend, don’t serve to or buy alcohol for people under 21.

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A new study by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation found that drunk driving arrests for women have increased 36 percent over the last decade. The impetus for the study was the infamous Diane Schuler crash, when the mother of two—drunk and high–drove her minivan down the wrong side of the highway, killing herself, her daughter, her three nieces and three men in another car.

It’s easy for people to distance themselves from Diane Schuler—she was a drunk. She had problems. She was high. She swilled vodka in secret. I’m nothing like her.  I’m just drinking a few civilized glasses of wine with a friend.

Still—the drunk driving statistics speak for themselves, and call attention to the gray areas. Such as: Is it okay to drive home after having a few glasses of wine with dinner? The answer is: It depends. On how big the glass, and how generous the pour. On your body weight, and tolerance. On the timing of the drinks. On how much you ate.

What’s interesting to note is that the study also found that the average female drunk driver is older and better educated than her male counterparts, holds a lower-paying job, and is the primary caregiver to her children.

Maybe those cocktail-hour mom playdates are more popular than we think, even post Diane Schuler, when everyone’s awareness (and paranoia) rose. And maybe we need to talk more openly about the stress caregivers feel, and be more respectful towards what they do.

The study also pinpoints this fact: when it comes to drinking and driving, especially when children are involved, you can never be too careful.

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In another example of sometimes, life just isn’t fair, Swedish researchers have found that alcohol screws up women’s happiness faster than it does men’s. In other words, drinking damages the serotonin system in women’s brains faster than in men’s brains.

Serotonin is key, because it regulates mood, emotion, impulse control, sleep and appetite. Decreased levels of serotonin are associated with depression.

The team of researchers, from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, saw a marked decline in the function of the serotonin system in the brains of women who were drinking alcohol for only four years. The men’s brains took 12 years of alcohol consumption to show the same result. (They were studying the brains of women and men with “alcohol dependence,” but I’d be curious to know exactly how the researchers defined problem drinking—two glasses a day? Five?)

Speaking about the findings on newstonight, one of the researchers, Kristina Berglund said, “It is important to note that the damage is just as serious in men and women, but the time courses are different.”

She also noted that it’s important to determine whether or not the serotonin system can repair itself, or not.

The findings will be published in the January 2012 edition of the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

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On November 1, the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA) released a new study, “Alcohol Consumption Over a Woman’s Lifetime Associated with Risk of Breast Cancer.” The study looked at the cumulative effect of low to moderate alcohol consumption among more than 100,000 women, ages 30 to 55, who were followed for 28 years.

In its aftermath, the study results were all over the press with headlines causing a frenzy among women who consume only a couple of glasses of a wine a week. They read:

“Women who drink three to six glasses of alcohol per week have a 15 percent higher risk of getting breast cancer than women who do not drink”

“A Few Drinks a Week Raises Breast Cancer Risk”

“Women: Even a Little Alcohol Ups Breast Cancer Risk, Research Finds”

“Even Small Amount of Alcohol Increases Risk of Breast Cancer”

Although the headlines are not inaccurate, they may be provoking unnecessary alarm. Ten days after the study results were released, the AARP posted an article titled: “Alcohol and Breast Cancer Link: Is Wine Really Bad for Women?” With a subtitle that reads, “The Risk May Not Be As Bad As You Think–or Fear,” the article calls on readers to take a closer look at the study’s statistics before adopting a lifestyle akin to the days of Prohibition.

Taking a different angle than prior research, this new AMA study looked at the cumulative effect of consuming low to moderate amounts of alcohol. Previous studies linking alcohol and breast cancer risk focused mainly on binge or heavy drinking.

The researchers found that those who drank as few as three to six alcoholic drinks a week during those years had a 15 percent increased risk of breast cancer, compared with those who didn’t drink. And women who regularly drank two or more drinks a day had a 51 percent higher risk than women who never drank.

As the AARP piece explains, “Those numbers — 15 percent increase and 51 percent increase — sound high until you do the math. The average woman’s risk of getting breast cancer in her lifetime is one in eight, or 12 percent. A 15 percent increase over that means her lifetime risk rises to 13.8 percent. For a woman age 50 to 59, whose risk of getting breast cancer while in her 50s is one in 42 or 2.4 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute, her risk rises to 2.76 percent,” the article continues.

So in other words, as Steven A. Narod, M.D., director of familial breast cancer research at the Women’s College Research Institute in Toronto, further clarified in an editorial accompanying the study, for women who had one drink per day, “their 10-year risk increased by 0.7 percent (from 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent).”

Although the risk is real and women need to weigh the risks and benefits of drinking, the ensuing panic may be premature. As reported by the AARP, the study’s authors pointed out in their conclusion: “We did find increased risk at low levels of [alcohol consumption], but the risk was quite small.”

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Quick question: Do you think women will drink more beer if it’s pink instead of amber?

Three female food technologists at the Durban University of Technology in South Africa are betting that the answer is yes! To test their theory, they’ve brewed up a strawberry-flavored beer called—wait for it—Pink Fantasy.

The women–Simone Beeharie, 20, Mishal Pillay, 20 and Sarisha Devnath, 19—used a home brewing system to create the beer, as part of a food product launch for the university.

Sarisha Devnath explained to Times Live that, “Beer is mainly drunk by men, so we decided to make something for women that has a less bitter flavor. Our beer has a strawberry aroma and is pink. It is more feminine.”

Tasters have been receptive, according to the women, though men have been apprehensive to drink the pink beer (or admit to liking it, perhaps).

For those of you who aren’t repulsed by the prospect of a sweet beer, the women hope to have their product on the market soon.

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It always annoyed me when a woman I know claimed to be tipsy after half a glass of champagne or wine. She’d start getting all loopy and giggly, and when she stumbled to the bathroom, I thought it was all an act. Lightweight, I’d mutter to myself as I finished my glass, still waiting for that magical buzz to take hold.

Turns out maybe the woman wasn’t fudging. According to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, some of us have a low brain response to alcohol, while others have a high level of response. It’s genetic, and a low level of response carries significant risk for the later development of alcoholism.

When low level of response (LR) people drink modest amounts of alcohol, they may not perceive much change in how their brain is working. Tasks aren’t much harder than they were before. High level of response people (HR), on the other hand, find that even modest doses of alcohol impair their thinking. So perhaps the woman who annoyed me was a high responder, and perceived herself to be tipsy after only a small amount of alcohol.  I, on the other hand, must be a low responder. Uh oh.

If alcohol doesn’t seem to affect your performance and your abilities, you may be apt to drink more, and to find drinking rewarding. If you feel impaired after one drink, you’re more likely to stop.

The study, which will be published in the January 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, could help identify people who are at risk for developing problems with alcohol. At the very least, if you’re aware that you have a low response to alcohol (as I may have), then you can moderate or curtail your drinking accordingly. If you start stumbling after a few sips of champagne, you’re probably in the clear.

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Think Temperance movements went out the window with Prohibition? Not so fast.

This summer, Maine’s local chapters of the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement were hanging on for dear life, with four female members and three honorary male members in Portland. Eventually, they disbanded for lack of membership, leaving only a dying state chapter.

Enter the Reverend David Perkins and his wife, Janet, who hope to rebuild the volunteer organization and update its message for a new generation. The couple, who lead the Living Hope Church on Portland Street, believe the union is still needed today.

Both the Perkins have experience with addiction, as they came from alcoholic families. Rev. Perkins himself was an alcoholic. Now sober for 29 years, he is a father of four and a former chef, who has operated several Christian-based group homes for recovering addicts.

Unlike the original temperance movement, which aimed to put saloon keepers, liquor distillers and beer brewers out of business, the new movement focuses on educating people about the effects of alcohol and drugs, and on teaching the joys of a substance-free life.

Members of the temperance union pledge to “abstain from all distilled, fermented and malt liquors, including wine, beer and hard cider, and to employ all proper means to discourage the use of and traffic in the same.”

The union’s website defines temperance as “”the moderate use of all things good, and total abstinence from all things questionable or harmful.” Also according to its website, the national group opposes gambling, pornography, abortion, gay marriage and sex outside of marriage.

Given the union’s Christian (though nondenominational) roots, it’s possible that its members could view themselves as missionaries, of a sort.

I’m all for the joys of a sober life, but the part about “employing all proper means to discourage the use of [substances such as liquor]” makes me nervous. Sounds like proselytizing to me.

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One of the unintended consequences of Prohibition was that more women drank—and drank with men, keeping right up with them.

This is just one of many fascinating facts in Prohibition, a new documentary currently airing on PBS, by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick (also available on DVD).

Before Prohibition, especially throughout the 1800s, women’s relationship to alcohol was an adversarial one, as they tried to stop their stressed-out husbands from drinking so much.

Saloons were primarily for men. According to Ken Burns, “The only women inside were likely prostitutes – think Miss Kitty on ‘Gunsmoke.’”

Chronic drinking meant chronic abuse by men toward their wives and children. Eventually, women organized themselves into groups like the National Women’s Christian Temperance Union, pushing for a ban on alcohol.

On Jan. 17, 1920, the women got their wish when the 18th Amendment went into effect, banning the sale of alcoholic beverages. But as we all know, Prohibition didn’t stop people from drinking. Instead, it ushered in an even more thrilling chapter in the history of alcohol consumption–the “Roaring Twenties,” with its speakeasies and gangsters.

Not only were men drinking as much as ever, but women joined them, too. Unlike saloons, speakeasies (“an estimated 32,000 in New York city alone,” according to Burns) were coed.

The 19th Amendment, giving the vote to women, was ratified Aug. 18, 1920. Women’s newfound freedom and empowerment came with additional challenges.  Female alcoholism became a huge problem, because more women had access to drink in a way they had never had before.

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I’ve heard about offering tea, coffee, and bottled water to clients at hair salons. But a glass of wine?

Apparently, regardless of New York City liquor laws, many a salon serves booze to women spending their afternoons getting a cut and color. I’d read about “Girls Nights Out” at Dashing Divas and their complimentary Cosmos during a Thursday and Friday evening mani/pedi, but never knew about the post 3 pm coctkail offerings at hair salons.

After reading “A Blowout Made Me Blotto! The Illegal Scourge of Salon Drinking” on the New York Observer website, I’m wondering if I’ve been getting my hair cut at the wrong salon for all these years. And on the flip side, what if you’d rather not be faced with a drink offer when going to have your hair done. Do the salons keep it discreet?

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In case you weren’t certain of alcohol’s central role in cultures across the globe, a new study has concluded that declining beer consumption may be partly responsible for the European debt crisis.

Throughout Europe, more people are saving money by drinking at home instead of in pubs. With fewer people patronizing hotels, bars and restaurants, there have been layoffs in the hospitality industry. Also, governments are collecting less sales tax on beer sales, since they aren’t selling as much.

The study, by Ernst & Young, paid for by the Brewers of Europe, found that beer consumption in Europe fell 8 percent from 2008 to 2010. This is partly driven by the recession, partly driven by health concerns and tougher drunken driving laws.

But it’s not all bad news for brewers, according to an article in the New York Times. Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, secretary general of the Brewers of Europe, predicts that the high price of wine may drive consumers to drink beer with their meals instead. He also notes that “a proliferation of microbreweries means that beer drinkers are being offered some of the variety and local character that makes wine appealing, making beer more attractive to younger, more affluent consumers.”

And on a positive note for non-drinkers, brewers are also seeing big growth in nonalcoholic beer, due to improved production methods that make the beverage more tasty.

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Don't Feed The Models cocktail

In honor of Fashion Week last week, some of the bars around Manhattan created unique concoctions designed to appeal to skinny-minny Fashionistas. Here, courtesy of Nadia Arumugam at Forbes, are some of the drinks they served (which could probably be made into non-alcoholic drinks as well):

–At The Empire Hotel Lobby Bar: The Avant-garde-tini (coconut rum, pineapple juice, lemon juice and Turbinado syrup); Couture on the Catwalk (Bombay Sapphire gin, Crème de Mure, lime juice and prosecco) and Don’t Feed the Models (cucumber vodka, lime juice, syrup and cucumber juice).

–At The Hudson Hotel, Mondrian Soho and Morgans Hotel: The Pencil Skirt (Grey Goose Vodka, cucumber, lemon juice and soda) and the Little Black Dress (Milagro Silver Tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, agave nectar and diet Sprite).

Some other past and present fashion-inspired collaborations (also courtesy of Forbes):

–Jean Paul Gaultier teamed up with Piper-Heidsieck Champagne to create a Can-Can bottle dressed in fishnet stockings and red latex.

–In 2009, Christian Louboutin crafted a crystal stiletto flute to celebrate the Belle Epoque tradition of drinking Champagne from a woman’s shoe.

– Karl Lagerfeld, Creative Director of Chanel, designed a new label for the 2009 vintage of Chanel-owned Chateau Rauzan-Segla for its 350th anniversary.

–Jade Jagger, designer and daughter of rocker Mick Jagger, created a  striking gold on black label for Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou.

–The clothing company Diesel collaborated with SKYY Vodka to create a limited-edition men’s and women’s swimwear line launched during Fashion Week Swim in July.

–British designer Gareth Pugh designed a new Absolut Vodka bottle (like Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, and Jean Paul Gaultier before him).  Titled “ABSOLUT Mode Edition,” the new bottle was inspired by the stealth bomber aircraft. It features 12 facets and is wrapped in a midnight blue silk cloth embroidered band.

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In less than a week, my daughter will be off to college. Sitting on a beach chair a few weeks ago, her eyes glanced at her computer screen under the glare of the sun and the ocean only steps away. I assumed she was watching some incredibly gripping movie from which she couldn’t tear herself away. But when I inquired, she rolled her eyes and explained that she was watching an alcohol awareness video—a mandatory assignment for her university.

Despite the efforts made by educational institutions, new psychological research suggests that the pitfalls from all those jello shots and games of beer pong aren’t bad enough to make students stop drinking.

On the USA Today website, an article, “College Drinking is Liberating, and a Good Excuse,” reports on why the efforts to raise awareness are not working.

“We thought if we could demonstrate to students that their performance deteriorated under alcohol, they would be convinced that their alcohol consumption has put them at risk,” says psychologis E. Scott Geller, director of the Center for Applied Behavior Systems at Virginia Tech. But “knowing that one is impaired, physically and even emotionally, did not seem to reduce alcohol consumption.”

Geller, who’s been studying alcohol awareness since the mid-1980s, states clearly that the alcohol education hasn’t worked. “We have shown in several studies that their intentions influence their behavior. If they intend to get drunk, it’s difficult to stop that.”

Going for the effects is what it’s all about. One student, Brandie Pugh, a senior at Ohio University, says in the article: “I think everybody’s aim is to get drunk on the weekend. It’s not about the taste of the alcohol. It’s about the effects of it. It’s about the lowered inhibitions.”

In another study, researcher Laina Bay-Cheng, an associate professor of social work at the University at Buffalo-State University of New York, found that when teenagers drink, they think they can use their intoxicated state as an excuse for their actions. Students in her focus groups–there were 97 teens ranging in age from 14 to 17–described alcohol as emboldening and said it offers “liquid courage,” a phrase other researchers also have cited. Colleges, she says, need to “acknowledge and reckon with” alcohol’s appeal.

According to Bay Cheng, another result of drinking is that it can be an excuse for young women to “act out being sexually assertive, carefree, liberated,” she explains. ”If you have sex, you’re a slut, and if you don’t, you’re a prude — but drinking allows you to do both. You can go out, get drunk, have sex and the next day say, ‘I’m still a good girl.’”

In the USA Today article, Pugh goes on to say that she has seen this scenario play out on her campus repeatedly: “‘I was drunk so I hooked up with that guy.’ ‘I was drunk so I missed my class this morning.’ ‘I was drunk so I got in a fight.’ If it’s something they’re not proud of, it gives them an excuse.”

After next Wednesday, I’ll hope from afar that my daughter doesn’t ever feel that she needs to use alcohol as an excuse for anything.

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A recent study revealed that the alcohol content in wines has been purposely underestimated, a practice that has been blamed for an increase in drunkenness among young women and associated rowdy behaviour, hospital admissions and ill-health.

The study, conducted by the American Association of Wine Economists, a non-profit, educational organization dedicated to encouraging and communicating economic research and analyses in wine economics, researched the alcohol content of 129,000 wines from vineyards across Europe and North and South America over a 16-year period. The results suggested that many vintners have been “systematically” understating their wines’ strength on labels.

Much of the concerns about super-strength wines come at a time when pubs, bars and restaurants increasingly insist on using large glasses. Many routinely offer a 250ml glass, which equates to one third of a normal bottle.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a standard drink is any drink that contains about half an ounce (13.7 grams or 1.2 tablespoons) of pure alcohol. Generally, this amount of pure alcohol is found in 5 ounces of wine. To put this in perspective, since a bottle of wine is 750ml, or 25 ounces, there are around 5 glasses of wine in a bottle.

The study found producers in Chile, Argentina and the U.S. were the worst offenders for understating alcohol content. But all wine-making countries, including France, Italy and Spain, were found to include more alcohol than claimed. The researchers said it was likely that the substantial errors “are not made unconsciously.”

Michael Cox, UK director of Wines of Chile, denied there was a systematic approach to under-reporting alcohol content in Chilean wines and said there were some cases where consumers were attracted by strength. But he added: “There is a trend towards lower alcohol wines and so to some extent there is a marketing angle.”

Based on this news, it may be wise to think twice before ordering, or pouring, that next glass.

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According to a new online survey of nearly 500 college students (published in the online edition of the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors), many feel the pros of a night of heavy drinking—namely, the social lubrication alcohol offers—far outweigh the cons—even if those cons include hangovers, missed classes, lost or stolen belongings and blackouts.

Think of your college days: for you introverts out there, especially—is, or was it easier to make the endless rounds of parties drunk, or sober?  (To those of you shaking your heads, saying, not everyone spends their college years going to parties and drinking themselves silly, I say—this does not apply to you, and it’d be great to have a list of things you liked to do instead).

The researchers called the perceived positive effects of drinking, such as improved conversational ability, better joke-telling skills, more energy to stay up late partying and enhanced sexual prowess, “rose-colored beer goggles.” The key phrase is “perceived positive effects”–I, for one, get sleepy from too much booze and, if I recall correctly, a passed-out person isn’t all that sexy. With sex and binge drinking, it’s more about the come-on and the build up than the actual performance, which tends to begin or end in heavy snoring.

Colleges might use this study to inform their alcohol intervention programs, which focus on the negative consequences of too much alcohol. Yes, the statistics are grim: 1,800 deaths, 500,000 injuries and 600,000 assaults each year. And interestingly, heavy drinking rates have remained stable for men, but they’ve increased for women.

But still—focusing on the negatives may be counterproductive. Diane Logan, the lead author of the study, suggests that colleges focus on the positive. She even recommends training exercises to increase social skills in the absence of alcohol. For those of you still shaking your heads and wondering, what the he*)!! is there to do in college besides drink, try these lists: 150 things to do instead of drinking, and things for college students to do instead of drinking.

Do you have anything to add to this list, dear readers? Any ideas for college students who don’t drink?

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