Now I’m not suggesting we return corporate America to Mad Men levels of excessive alcohol consumption, but I’m also not so naive as to believe that we are a nation ruled by teetotalers.

That would be truly horrible.

What I am saying is this: science & facts back up the assertion I’m making. Men, particularly, seem to be better equipped for innovation and problem-solving if they imbibe/partake/slake their thirst regularly.

Per Researchers at The University of Illinois in Chicago:

“We found at 0.07 blood alcohol, people were worse at working memory tasks, but they were better at creative problem-solving tasks,” psychologist Jennifer Wiley reported on the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (FABBS) site.

Wiley conceded that her findings run counter to popular belief that alcohol hinders analytical thinking and muddies the mind.

“We have this assumption, that being able to focus on one part of a problem or having a lot of expertise is better for problem solving,” says Wiley. “But that’s not necessarily true. Innovation may happen when people are not so focused. Sometimes it’s good to be distracted.”

And per an opinion piece of U.S. Presidential drinking habits in the New York Times:

I’ve always thought the beer buddy threshold was nonsense. Still, it’s worth considering what a White House without a tippling tenant would be like. Sobriety, laudable in many respects, does imply rigidity of thought. The best presidents were open-minded, and generally open to a drink. The nondrinkers, at least over the last century or so, were terrible presidents.

Neither article advocates drunkenness or drinking to excess, but a little bit of social lubricant can be a good thing: for easing a tense meeting, a terse negotiation or helping connect the dots of a stubborn problem.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go make myself a drink. ;-)

“To Alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems!” – Homer J. Simpson

People can get wound up in how or what they eat affects them. All this crap about Vegan or Paleo or whatever the new Paleo is. Interesting, for sure, but it’s only one facet of wellness.

I’m just as guilty as anyone else about this. I tend to focus too much on my running (or lack thereof, because of injury). I also tend to cheat on snacks, sweets & secret eating late at night which spoils an otherwise healthy day and leaves me with guilt and a belly ache.

What I really like about thinking about wellness is it incorporates my thoughts and my feelings, not just some empirical data about how fast, how long or how much.

That’s the hidden secret – in my mind (double meaning!) – about quantified self: I can (and should) record my thoughts & my feelings along with my statistics. Over time my mood should be trackable and sustainable just as much as running speed, distance or pounds lifted and pound lost.

Both RunKeeper & DailyMile have integrated this kind of “feeling” data point and that’s a good feature, but it’s not the whole picture.

It sounds simple, but it definitely takes the same kind of discipline to watch your thoughts as it takes to watch your form or watch what you eat.

Enter: Wellness Watchers

Maybe we meet at the gym.
Maybe it’s this blog.
Maybe it’s for a pint after work.

And why not?

A little drink is good for your mental health and wellness ought to be about enjoyment and fulfillment and everything else and not about attaining some kind of ideal where you’re never tempted to enjoy the things that surely warrant enjoyment.

Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called everybody, and they meet at the bar.”

~Drew Carey

Fries and ice cream and all the rest are equally OK, but it’s the moderation we seem to forget.

Anyhow, it just struck me this morning that no one talks about overall wellness. They mention a diet or an exercise regimen – and those things can certainly make you feel better – but shouldn’t the focus be on wellness first and then on the activities that support wellness and not on the activities first and *hopefully* you’ll be well after that?

The reason I started this post is because I’ve been feeling low recently. Not working out & not eating right have taken their toll or maybe they’re the result of feeling bad first. Hard to tell the chicken from the egg.

Then, last week, I ran a ton and I’m continuing to work out this week, but my results have been mixed.

I’m thinking I need to focus on the emotional/mental first and then the physical will come. Who knows.

Just a thought (or three).

What’s healthy?
What’s well?

Leave a comment.

Jenn & I have been working on a killer stretch of lack of sleep, work-related obligations and some non-minor family drama that have left us pretty raw of late.

So Saturday night I let my hair down a bit. I went to my local liquor store and made two purchases I thought would ensure an enjoyable evening: a four pack of Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron and a dram of The Balvenie DoubleWood.

Both beverage brewed (or distilled) of malted barley and achieving their unique flavor/taste profiles from the use of wooden barrels. Not so unique for the Scotch, pretty special for the beer.

Here’s what the wood imparts to the beer (per the label, emphasis mine):

An unfiltered, unfettered, unprecedented, brown ale aged in handmade wooden brewing vessels. The caramel and vanilla complexity unique to this ale comes from the exotic Paraguayan Palo Santo wood from which these tanks were crafted. At 10,000 gallons each, these are the largest wooden brewing vessels built in America since before Prohibition. It’s all very exciting. We have wood. Now you do too.

Palo Santo Marron

The Scotch takes its wood no less seriously, they just talk about it differently:

The Balvenie DoubleWood is a 12 year old single malt which gains its distinctive character from being matured in two woods. Over its period of maturation it is transferred from a traditional oak whisky cask to a first fill European oak sherry cask. Each stage lends different qualities to the resulting single malt ~ the traditional casks soften and add character, whilst the sherry wood brings depth and fullness of flavour.

The Balvenie DoubleWood

I’m an accomplished beer snob, but I’ve only recently succumbed to the siren song of Scotch. I must have spent a full half hour in the liquor store aisle consulting my brother over the phone and the sales guy at the store. In contrast the beer took me all of 30 seconds to pick once I realized it was in stock.

Comparisons are crass (apples & oranges?) but the Palo Santo Marron is easily one of the deepest, most complex beers I’ve ever had while I’ve been told that The Balvenie (even the DoubleWood) is one of the sweetest and most honeyed Single Malt Scotches.

If I wasn’t a Scotch convert before, I am now. I must’ve sat with the empty glass in my lap for an hour while we watched a movie, keeping it handy so I could continue to smell the residue left in the glass. The nose and the experience were almost better than the drinking. Almost.

I’ll never give up beer, but having something new to geek out on is always fun. It’s that much better knowing that it’s just a different expression of a fermented malt beverage aged in wood.

Cheers!

Got a favorite beer or Scotch? Let me know in the comments.

UPDATE: Here’s a great Scotch pronunciation video guide from Esquire magazine as hosted/narrated by the Scottish actor Brian Cox.

Also, in the comments, Russell points out a New Yorker article on Dogfish Head & Sam Calgione that talks about the Palo Santo wood. I must’ve shared that here or Twitter at some point. If not, it’s new to you.

UPDATE II: This video may or may not be applicable.