Living Well

The more you drink, the less you hear

It's now been proven (in at least one study,) the more alcohol you drink, the worse your hearing gets.  This may help explain why parties get so loud ... or rather why drunk people get so loud.

How much alcohol should you drink?

Most people know that a drink or two makes you feel good and five or six makes you feel bad.  A recent study found that the optimum blood alcohol level for feeling good is .03-.12.  I read a blog post on calwineries that helps you figure out how much to drink to stay in that optimum level. 

Two quick comments:

• A drink an hour should keep most people in that level and might push some over.  (But watch people drink - they usually drink at a much fast rate than one an hour.)
• The optimum level for happiness is also lower than the DUI rate in most states.  (Although not necessarily lower than the DWI rate!)

So I don't want to encourage drinking but rather point out that if you are drinking socially, it takes a lot less than you might think to keep you in that optimum feeling good range!