A yoga retreat at a vineyard might sound like bliss to some, but purists aren't so sure that wine and yoga belong together.

Imagine feeling the positive sensations of a couple of cocktails—you know, increased joviality, decreased inhibitions and so on—without the consequential hangover the next day. Scientists are currently developing a cocktail of drugs that will elicit the pleasurable effects of drinking without the slurred speech and spinning head that usually accompany imbibing. Drugs are a poor substitution for a full-bodied glass of cabernet or a cold beer, but the idea is still intriguing the scientific community. Psychopharmacologist David Nutt of the University of Bristol will publish the idea in next month's Journal of Psychopharmacology.

I live in a pro-beer household. It's not really a choice. As a member of an extremely enthusiastic Irish family, my fiance was raised on tall glasses of dark Guinness — beer is just a way of life.

As St. Patty's approaches I am pleased to push aside red wine and examine the health benefits of the other alcoholic treat. Like wine, beer also has antioxidants. Several studies have found that the antioxidants in beer may protect organs from carcinogenic agents and new research has isolated xanthohumol, one of the primary antioxidants found in beer, as a compound that can slow the proliferation of breast-cancer cells.