Think before you drink
NOTHING beats a cheeky vino at the end of a long, hard #iso day. But although a couple of glasses of wine (or the whole bottle) makes you feel better momentarily, it’s not the best thing for your health long-term – and I’m not just talking about a nasty hangover the next day.
Here’s what you need to know about booze.
Liquid kilojoules
Alcohol is packed with kilojoules. To give you some perspective, alcohol contains 30 kilojoules per gram. By comparison, protein and carbohydrates contain just 17kJ per gram and fat contains 38.
One standard drink contains 10g of alcohol, which means you’re in for 300kJ a pop – and that’s without factoring in any other components of your alcoholic beverage (soft drink, juice, etc). Makes it easy to see how drinking a lot can lead to weight gain, right?
Alcohol and health
I’m sure you’re already savvy to most of the short-term effects of drinking alcohol – reduced inhibitions, impaired judgment and slowed reflexes.
Alcohol also irritates the lining of your stomach and its breakdown produces a toxic substance called acetaldehyde. So, if you drink a lot, you’ll probably feel nauseous and might even vomit, which is never fun.
What’s more, alcohol is a diuretic, so you’re likely to wake to visit the bathroom multiple times throughout the night once you’ve gone to bed. This and the fact that alcohol reduces the amount of time you spend in the rapid eye movement phase of sleep, means you wake up feeling pretty awful after a big night on booze.
As a result, you’re more likely to reach for energydense, nutrient-poor foods when you’re sleep deprived (hello weight gain).
And that’s not all. Your risk of conflict and injury increases with every extra alcoholic drink, too.
While most of this is pretty well known, what might surprise you is the range of longterm health concerns linked to alcohol.
For one, a range of cancers are linked to regular alcohol consumption, including bowel cancer, breast cancer and liver cancer.
Two, alcohol can impact your ticker and contribute to high blood pressure.
Three, drinking too much alcohol increases your risk of diabetes.
And four, alcohol consumption can cause issues with fertility.
Alcohol and mood
One other very important factor to consider is that excessive alcohol consumption is linked with mental health issues, including anxiety and depression. Ongoing poor sleeping patterns and not eating well as a result of regular and excessive drinking can exacerbate poor mood.
Classed as a depressant, alcohol dampens down your nervous system – and that has a direct impact on mood. While some people can feel happier when they drink, the opposite can also occur and people may actually feel sadder or more anxious.
The verdict
I’m sorry to sound like a party pooper – but there really is no safe level of drinking. If you choose to drink, you should consume no more than two standard drinks a day, and include several alcohol-free days each week.
If you’re turning to alcohol to cope with stress at the moment, it’ll pay to implement other strategies to help you get through. That could be something like a relaxing bath, a walk along the beach or some time curled up on the couch reading your favourite book.
Whatever it is, your health will thank you for it if you turn away from booze – at least a few nights a week.
bodyandsoul.com.au