St Patrick’s Day Safety….Today's post:  Tuesday, 3-13-2018

One immigrant to the United States on arriving on the East Coast years ago with poor clothing and almost no money, found himself near a bar.

Someone inside who was celebrating and having a good time invited him inside. 

He then was given food and alcoholic drinks and the company of people who were glad he was there and who were having a good time themselves.

He still had to make a strong and repeated effort to build a new life here.  But from that day he believed that America was a magical place where he could thrive no matter how tough things got.

It worked!  He thrived and built a great life he enjoyed.

At its best, St Patrick’s Day and Pubs where that kind of social life goes on all year round can be like that.

But, when people drink that much, they can kill themselves and innocent bystanders!

Unfortunately they often do.

How can you protect yourself from others who drink too much on Saint Patrick’s Day?

How can you enjoy Saint Patrick’s Day if you celebrate it yourself but stay safe?

Let’s cover the first one first:

1.  How can you protect yourself from others who drink too much on Saint Patrick’s Day?

If you can, stay home on March 17^th.  Have things delivered or already at home.  If you do go out stay away from areas with bars and work to arrive home before dark or as early in the evening as possible.

If you go out to eat, eat out for lunch or eat at 5 pm instead of 7:30.

One study found that after 10 pm the percentage of drivers on the road significantly impaired by alcohol keeps going up.  So it becomes less and less safe to share the road with them.

Between 10 PM and 3 am on the evening of St Patrick’s Day is a good time NOT to be driving!

2.  How can you enjoy Saint Patrick’s Day if you celebrate it yourself but stay safe?

Do it at home where you don’t go anywhere outside.

Do it at a hotel where your room and the bar are in the same building.

Do it at a friend’s home where it’s safe to spend the night.

All of these keep you away from traveling at the time many drunk people are driving AND they keep you from being one of them!

Go to a location where it’s safe to leave your car until the next day.  You can take Uber or Lyft to get home and go back the next day to get your car.  In some cities there are even free services that will take you home or tow you and your car home that can work.

Attend with someone who does NOT drink at all who will drive you home.

Do things to avoid drinking too much and recovering successfully.

I found out that drinking one or two drinks before dinner with a salad or other appetizer works well.  My doctor said to do this to sleep better that night.  It does work for that. 

But it also works well another two ways I found when I did it. 

Having a drink or two right away helps you have something enjoyable to do instead of waiting for your main course to arrive and you are hungry.  That also helps enable you to eat none of the traditional hybrid wheat rolls and breads that tend to harm your health while you are waiting.

And, to the extent that drink or two soothes your stress and enables you to be sociable, you get that effect right away

A Medical News Today article had some useful information on that also.

Your liver can process alcohol; but it takes time, about an hour per drink.  By the time you are done with dinner, by having your drink or drinks first, you will have somewhat recovered by later in the evening.

With rare exceptions, I drink red wine.  That’s because the flavonoids and other grape phytonutrients in red wines have proven health benefits.  Drinking alcohol is carcinogenic; but this is far less true or not true of drinking red wine because these nutrients are protective enough against cancers to cancel out those effects. 

Then too red wine tends to be drunk at dinner and not as a standalone drink which gives your liver longer to detoxify and process the alcohol.

I even saw a study that probiotic bacteria are boosted by the flavonoids and other grape phytonutrients in red wines!

That’s my main post.

But if you want more information on why alcohol can prevent you from driving safely here are some points from me and from that article.

When you are drunk but wide awake, detailed studies found that when something unexpected happens your first reaction is sometimes very nearly as quick as it would be if you were sober.

But in driving after you make that first move, you often have to counter it quickly and accurately enough to keep control or recover control.  When you are drunk you tend to overcorrect and are slow to stop doing so.  THAT can cause you to lose control and get you into serious trouble!

Drinking late at night or when you were a bit sleep deprived to start with is far worse.  If you are still awake, your awareness shrinks and you can begin to miss things you need to notice and react to.  Unfortunately this can be a pedestrian who steps in front of you at an intersection or another car that suddenly stopped in front of you on the freeway.

THAT is dangerous and proven harmful.

But the biggest danger of the three is falling asleep at the wheel.  That often results in a bad accident or a very bad accident.  Combining a high blood alcohol level with sleepiness makes this far too likely.

Here are some other points from the Medical News Today article,

“What is the best way to sober up?  By Lana Barhum   Sat 3 March 2018”

“Coffee

Caffeine may help a person feel alert, but it does not break down alcohol in the body. And just because a person feels aware and alert does not mean they are not impaired and intoxicated by the alcohol in their system.”

[If they are drunk -- with coffee – they may feel better; but the impairments listed above are still there other studies have found.

And, as it gets later and your blood alcohol level goes up it often overrides the coffee and puts you to sleep.  That’s why to not drive or have a sober person do it is so important!]

[This article says cold showers don’t work at all. And, if someone falls asleep standing in a bathtub and hits their head it can kill them. My take is to have them take a 15 minute nap instead of spending that time having you force them into a shower and drying off.  Then have them jump up and down while holding onto you for balance to get them restarted.  That sleep and detox time for their liver might help.  The cold shower is a bad choice by contrast!]

[They point out the food and water CAN help:  “Eating before, during, and after drinking can help slow the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream.

Drinking plenty of water can assist with dehydration and flushing toxins from the body.”

[Eating a banana can deliver slow release fructose and electrolytes and vitamin C.  And taking a B complex supplement and some extra vitamin C can also help.  This is NOT fast after the fact but it does help some right away and more as your body processes it.]

They also recommend sleep:  “Sleep is the best way for a person to sober up. Sleep allows the body to rest and recover. It also helps to restore the body's ability to get alcohol out of someone's system.

Even taking a quick nap can help. But the more sleep a person gets, the soberer they will feel, and that time gives the liver the chance to do its job and metabolize the alcohol.”  [See my comment above.]

"Even taking a quick nap can help. But the more sleep a person gets, the soberer they will feel, and that time gives the liver the chance to do its job and metabolize the alcohol.”

[Compare one or two drinks before dinner and none or one or two early after dinner with 8 to 10 drinks nonstop after dinner!  A fifteen minute nap or an hour of sleep can help in the first case.  An overnight sleep of 8 hours may not quite be enough in the second case!]

They say what exercise can and cannot do:  “Exercise can help wake up the body and make a person more alert.”  They also make the point that:  “after doing some exercise, a person might be aware, but they are still impaired.” 

They do not think well of charcoal capsules!

“Charcoal capsules

Evidence on charcoal capsules finds they do not bind alcohol well. In fact, one very old study in the journal, Human Toxicology, finds blood alcohol levels remain the same, with and without the capsules….”

*They also recommend a paper or smart phone log of drinks to help you avoid too many after the first one or two.

*And, they also suggest water for hydration instead of another alcoholic drink after the first one to three. 

They also point out that water every other time can cut the total and speed the recovery if people drink more than that.

Personally, I like chilled water better than room temperature or ice water.  You can even add a twist of lemon or orange to make it look like an alcoholic drink or more festive.

I agree with them in saying that it is best if you avoid driving after drinking by using one of the ways listed above.

Also note that this is more important the older you are.  When I was normally staying up late and in my twenties or thirties, I could drink two or three drinks and not have it put me to sleep.

Now that I’m over 60 and since I became so, if I drink more than ONE drink I find I have to fight to stay awake, particularly if I have two or more.

My wife doesn’t drink.  So now when I do, she drives!