servingalcohol.com

by Markham Heid

Hoping to bounce back quickly after your next big race? Stock your fridge, not your medicine cabinet.

Wheat beer reduces post-marathon muscle inflammation and respiratory illness, according to a new study from a group of German and American researchers. And no, we’re not messing with you.

Researchers recruited 277 marathoners, and asked each to drink 34 to 50 ounces of either non-alcoholic wheat beer or a specially designed placebo drink with the same amount of calories and carbs. The participants drank the test liquids every day for 3 weeks leading up to last year’s Munich Marathon (where else would scientists perform beer tests?), and for two weeks following the race.

After the marathon, the researchers measured the participants’ levels of muscle inflammation. They also kept track of whether the marathoners were experiencing signs of respiratory illness, a common post-race condition.

The results: The beer drinkers were more than three times less likely to experience upper-respiratory infection, and their markers for inflammation were 20 to 32 percent lower than the placebo group’s.

So what’s the explanation for this sudsy miracle? “Polyphenols,” according to David Nieman, Dr.P.H., a professor at Appalachian State University and one of the Munich Marathon researchers.

Polyphenols are an antioxidant chemical found in many plants and fruits. “Polyphenols have antiviral properties, they help regulate the immune system, and they help to down-regulate genes that are related to turning on inflammation and stress,” Nieman explains. “And beer has a lot of polyphenols.”

There’s a growing body of research that shows polyphenols can act as a more-effective substitute for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen, which Nieman says is many marathoner’s post-race “drug of choice.”

Nieman says polyphenols are most effective when ingested in combinations. That’s why wheat beer, which contains many different types of polyphenols, was perfect for the study.

And here’s the best news: Regular, alcoholic wheat beer includes double the polyphenols of non-alcoholic wheat beer. So, Nieman explains, you could theoretically get the same benefit from drinking half the amount prescribed by the study—or about one pint per day for three weeks leading up to your next race. Cheers!

Not a beer guy? Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole wheat, and legumes are also good sources of polyphenols

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Friday announced misdemeanor citations for 40 purchasers of fake IDs shipped from China.

The charges follow a months-long investigation into counterfeit driver’s licenses purchased online from China, Dart said during a Friday news conference.

“These are incredibly high-quality fakes,” Dart said Friday. “Even for the experts, they’re unnerved by it as well.”

More than 1,700 fake licenses have been intercepted locally this year. The licenses apparently were being ordered online from China and arrived in packages of anywhere from two IDs to 48.

Those charged are between 17 and 20 years old and live in the northwest suburbs, Dart said. Some attend a local high school, though most are in college.

They could have faced felony charges, but the sheriff’s office chose to intercept the IDs and give misdemeanor citations, which come with 25 hours of community service and fines.

Dart on Friday warned other young adults thinking of ordering IDs that exposing their personal information “is sort of a financial manipulator’s dream come true.”

It can easily lead to identity theft, he said.

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/40-Charged–126018473.html#ixzz1qk47AQV2

An early morning last June at a Lauderdale Lakes lounge: Caribbean music pulsates, patrons preen, liquor flows.

And fingers twitch on triggers.

A gunman and armed guard unleash a barrage of bullets among up to 75 panicked clubgoers. When the pistols fall silent, two men are dead and 10 revelers are wounded.

About 20 minutes later, at a strip club outside Riviera Beach, an ejected customer squeezes off numerous angry rounds into the business. Two men are shot, two women injured.

That bloody morning illustrates what experts are saying. Besides booze, sex and sounds, nightclubs are stirring a new thrill into the mix: the possibility of instant, often fatal, violence. And it usually explodes out of a minor provocation.

Last year there were at least nine instances of gunfire in or around South Florida nightclubs, more than twice the number of the year before. In the past decade, 20 lives, nearly all young people, were snuffed out by nightclub-generated gunplay. During that period,Broward County experienced the highest number of gun fatalities: 13, including one suicide.

At least 42 people in South Florida were injured by stray bullets since 2002, some seriously.

“The violence in nightclubs and bars across the country has increased dramatically,” said Robert Smith, a San Diego consultant who specializes in nightclub crime. “This is not just in your town, it’s nationwide.”

The shootout last June at the South Rock Lounge Bar & Grill in Lauderdale Lakes, sparked by a fight between two men, was the bloodiest.

“In my career, that was the most outrageous shooting I’ve ever seen in 34 years,” said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti. “These things are going on, and they’re on the increase.”

Knives too have accounted for their share of corpses, but not as many as handguns. Since 2002, only five people — four in Broward, one in Palm Beach County — have been killed in nightclub stabbings. The most notorious was a blood-soaked melee last April when a man who police said was enraged over a bar tab killed one man and slashed four others at Fishtales in Fort Lauderdale.

But guns are the preferred means of settling club disputes. “Now people, instead of solving problems with their fists, they’re bringing a gun,” said Smith.

Virtually all the shooters, and nearly all their victims, have been male. In June 2010, however, a 17-year-old girl was killed when a carful of men sprayed bullets into a crowd outside a West Palm Beach bar.

“In general, crime is down but gun violence is up,” Lamberti said. When it comes to nightclub shootings, “It usually revolves around romantic emotions, too much to drink, and access to firearms.”

Tammy Anderson, sociology professor at the University of Delaware, arrived at a similar, if more detailed, conclusion after extensive studies of nightclub violence. Some high-end clubs with DJs, bottle service and VIP rooms can serve as prestigious playgrounds for criminals, she found. Violence over drugs or gang turf may ensue.

But one element common to nightspot violence, she found, was “macho posturing” on the part of the offender. Nightclubs are venues for mating rituals, often with what Anderson called a strong sexual vibe. “They feature that sort of culture of sex,” she said.

Men seeking potential hookups display attributes they feel are attractive to women, including toughness and physical prowess. An innocent bump, teasing words or undue attention to one’s romantic interest — actions that might have little consequence under different circumstances — may trigger a violent response in a nightclub.

“Those personal affronts become catalysts for violent offending and victimization,” the professor said.

“When the social climate of the club has a heightened sexual element, has a heightened masculinity, violence is definitely more likely to happen,” she continued. “It’s a combination of individual and environmental factors.”

Law enforcement and industry experts said one safeguard against gunplay is metal detectors. Marcel Grant, manager of the Sea Breeze Club in West Palm Beach, where three were shot when a man fired into a crowd last year, has guards with metal-detecting wands at his door. “We don’t normally have them coming in armed,” he said.

J.C. Diaz, chief operating officer of the National Club Industry Association of America, advocates training security personnel in techniques to spot and deal with potential troublemakers. And metal detectors are a must.

“That’s definitely an industry standard,” he said.