{"id":18117,"date":"2014-07-04T18:43:19","date_gmt":"2014-07-04T10:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=18117"},"modified":"2014-07-04T18:43:20","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T10:43:20","slug":"spending-time-in-margaritaville-online-alcohol-calculator-shows-just-how-much-youre-drinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/07\/04\/spending-time-in-margaritaville-online-alcohol-calculator-shows-just-how-much-youre-drinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Spending time in Margaritaville? Online alcohol calculator shows just how much you\u2019re drinking"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Various<\/a>
Various alcoholic beverages. Photo by Or17 \/ Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON\u2014How strong is that pina colada? Depending on how it\u2019s made, it could contain as much alcohol as two glasses of wine.<\/p>\n

The National Institutes of Health is trying to spread the word: Take a look at its online alcohol calculator to see how much you\u2019re really drinking with those summer cocktails.<\/p>\n

A \u201cstandard drink\u201d is the amount of alcohol in a 12-ounce beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. It\u2019s a useful way to track alcohol consumption. But the multiple ingredients of mixed drinks make for a harder count.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people don\u2019t realize how much alcohol is actually in a drink,\u201d said Dr. George Koob, director of the NIH\u2019s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it depends on the bartender and who\u2019s mixing the drinks,\u201d Koob adds.<\/p>\n

Recipes matter: The calculator\u2019s pina colada example, for instance, assumes it contains 3 ounces of rum. Plan on using 2 ounces instead? The calculator adjusts to show it\u2019s like 1.3 standard drinks.<\/p>\n

What about a margarita? The calculator concludes it\u2019s the equivalent of 1.7 standard drinks, if made with 1.5 ounces of tequila, an ounce of orange liqueur and half an ounce of lime juice.<\/p>\n

A mojito? 1.3 standard drinks. A martini, extra dry? 1.4 standard drinks.<\/p>\n

Other favourites? Type them in: http:\/\/rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov\/ToolsResources\/CocktailCalcu
\nlator.asp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beyond beverage choice, Koob, who specializes in the neurobiology of alcohol, has some tips:<\/p>\n

Summer heat<\/h6>\n

Heat increases thirst but alcohol is a diuretic, Koob notes. So in addition to the usual advice to pace yourself\u2014no more than one standard drink an hour\u2014Koob says to stay hydrated by alternating some water or club soda with the alcohol.<\/p>\n

Gender differences<\/h6>\n

Women\u2019s bodies react differently to alcohol, and not just because they tend to weigh less than men. They don\u2019t metabolize alcohol as quickly, and their bodies contain less water. On average, it takes one less drink for a woman to become intoxicated than a man of the same weight, Koob said. The NIAAA\u2019s definition of low-risk drinking for women is no more than seven drinks a week and no more than three drinks on any single day, while for men the limit is no more than 14 drinks a week and no more than four drinks on any single day.<\/p>\n

Beyond drinking and driving<\/h6>\n

The July Fourth holiday weekend historically is dangerous on the highways: 38 per cent of fatalities involved alcohol-impaired driving in 2011, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.<\/p>\n

But alcohol also doesn\u2019t mix with boating, or swimming and diving, Koob warns. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol use is involved in up to 70 per cent of adult and adolescent deaths associated with water recreation.<\/p>\n

Holding your alcohol<\/h6>\n

What determines why one drink is plenty for one person while another routinely downs two or three? Genes play a big role. So do environmental factors, such as getting used to drinking a certain amount. That tolerance is a balancing act, Koob says. He cites research showing the person who can drink others under the table is at higher risk for alcohol problems later in life than is someone more sensitive to its effects.<\/p>\n

When alcohol is a problem<\/h6>\n

Alcohol use disorders affect an estimated 17 million Americans. There are two medications that can help, targeting different steps in the addiction cycle, Koob said. More medications that work in different ways are needed, but changing lifestyle, cognitive therapy and support groups all play a role, he said.<\/p>\n

Medications \u201care never going to cure the disease,\u201d Koob said. \u201cWhat they will do is help you on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON\u2014How strong is that pina colada? Depending on how it\u2019s made, it could contain as much alcohol as two glasses …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":18118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food","mauthors-lauran-neergaard","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}