Don't Be Dumb About Drinking

Alcohol is part of most fun-loving girls' social scene. But to make sure you don't hurt your rep or your health, follow these tips.

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Partying is most likely a big aspect
of your social life, although it's not fun
Some of the best among us, however,
have been there: The night starts with
promise and ends with a vow whispered
into the toilet to never, ever get
that smashed again.

Yet, despite that never-again oath uttered
by so many, excessive drinking
among women is prevalent. According
to a study by Harvard's School of Public
Health, 41 percent of college women
admit to binge drinking, defined as
downing more than four
drinks in a row.

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While light drinking can actually be beneficial —
healthwise and as a social lubricant — overindulging
regularly can lead to a plethora of problems, from mildly
embarrassing to seriously dangerous.
The trick to avoid going overboard is
knowing how much your body can handle
and how to put the brakes on the
alcohol. Consider this your guide to
cocktail consumption done right.

Booze Bummers

Alcohol makes you feel good because it
releases the chemical dopamine, which
boosts activity in the pleasure-seeking
area of the brain. That's why it's so
tempting to keep drinking. Your brain
associates that mild euphoria with having
some liquor, so one drink leads to
another and another and so on.

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But alcohol can do more to your brain
than just reward it with a rush. "Drinking
in excess impairs your motor skills,
reaction time, and speech, not to mention
your thinking," says Jeff Wiese,
MD, associate professor of medicine at
Tulane University Health Sciences Center.
"It affects the part of the brain that
controls inhibitions. That's why when
you drink too much, you say and do
things that you regret the next day."

It can also wreak havoc on your diet.
Ever notice how you get the munchies
when you've tossed back one too many?
"That's because consuming lots of alcohol
depletes the salt in your body, causing
you to crave food," says Dr. Wiese.
So at the end of the night, you're primed
to pig out. And since your ability to exert
willpower is, shall we say, compromised,
you're more likely to fill up on junk foods
that you'd normally forgo.

Besides blowing your diet or drunk-dialing
your ex-boyfriend, alcohol's effect
on your judgment can pose more
serious risks. As many as 70 percent of
college students say they've had unplanned
sex because they were drinking,
and scarier still, 90 percent of campus
rapes occur when alcohol has been used
by either the victim or the assailant, according
to the American Council for
Drug Education. In addition, too much
boozing can lead to a slew of alcohol-related
health problems like osteoporosis,
high blood pressure, and cirrhosis.

How to Score the Benefits of the Sauce

It's a no-brainer that drinking, like any
other pleasurable pursuit, is best done
women, according to the National
Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA). In fact, according to
Chuck Roper, PhD, coordinator of
Alcohol and Drug Education at the
University of Texas at Austin: "Most
people agree that the mildly relaxing
state produced by one or two drinks is
the most enjoyable," he says. That
much alcohol should make you feel
mellow and a little less inhibited than
normal, but it shouldn't impair your
judgment or self-control.

But as we all know, cutting yourself off
after one or two drinks every time you
imbibe is a pretty unrealistic goal. Plus,
alcohol affects everyone differently. Certain
factors determine how much booze
you can handle, including your rate of
metabolism, how fast you're drinking,
and how much food you've consumed.
Contrary to popular belief, your weight
doesn't affect your tolerance.
Eating before, and even while, you're
drinking can slow down your inebriation
rate — and lessen your potential
hangover — by binding some of the
impurities in the alcohol, called congeners,
to keep them from being absorbed
into your body. "Starchy foods like
bread, pretzels, and pasta are generally
best to help slow the absorption of alcohol,"
says Dr. Wiese. But that doesn't
give you a free pass to drink like a frat
boy. "Ultimately, the alcohol will make
its way into your system."

To determine your personal cutoff
point, try to be aware of how many
drinks you've had before you start exhibiting
the signals that you're on your way
to lush land. When you start to feel happier,
a bit more talkative and outgoing
than usual, and maybe even a little more
affectionate (putting your arm around
your friend's shoulder while chatting her
up, for example), stop drinking, suggests
Roper. "Any more booze after that and
you'll have crossed, or wobbled, over the
line, leaving you with slurred speech, a
loss of balance and coordination, and
impaired thinking."

How to Drink Without Getting Wasted

As we've pointed out, the problem with
maintaining that moderate-drinking
MO is the cognitive urge to stay in the
pleasure zone, which your brain associates
with having more to drink. Once
you know how much you can handle,
you can employ some tricks to keep
from getting totally trashed.

Pacing is key. If you drink too much
too fast, your self-control will be shot
before you know it. So try to linger over
your drink. One ploy to cut back your
consumption is to begin imbibing later
in the evening. Start your night with a
glass or two of sparkling water and you'll
have less time to toss back the hard stuff.
If you have trouble remembering how
many drinks you've had, save the bottle
caps from your beer or straws from your
cocktails to keep track.

Another trick is to use "spacers" — alternating
a glass of water or seltzer for
every alcoholic beverage you have. "I
believe in two-fisted drinking," says
Marc Siegel, MD, associate professor
of medicine at New York University.
"Have a glass of alcohol in one hand
and a glass of water in the other." Besides
helping to keep you sober, downing
nonalcoholic drinks, particularly
water, can lessen your morning-after
pain since dehydration is one of the
major causes of hangovers.

It's also best to steer clear of drinks
with mystery ingredients. They could
have more-potent grain alcohol, like
Everclear, which at 190 proof (versus
typical 80 proof) will knock you on your
ass before you know what hit you. Or
they could even be spiked with date-rape
drugs, like roofies (Rohypnol).

While it might seem like a little too
much concentration to make sure
you're a "good drinker," consider this:
Would you rather go easy on the hooch
and avoid humiliation, a killer hangover,
or getting yourself into a bad
situation or drink like there's no tomorrow
and pay the price? That's what we
thought. Cheers!