Do YOU need a drink coach this party season?

Tired of waking up with a stonking headache? A new advice service promises to banish hangovers, so...

SHOUlD the Ghost of Christmas Past pay me a visit, he’d have something to say about my festive alcohol consumption over the years.

Perched on my bed, he’d talk me through the daily Baileys, the Proseccosoaked parties, the late-night cabs and kebabs. And I’d long to hide under the covers, haunted by distant hangovers.

luckily, for the past two years, not a drop has passed my lips at this, or any other time of year.

Not because I’m religious, smug or a health nut (far from it). simply because my hangovers shifted from ‘mild headache’ to ‘writing my will’.

Waves of nausea, exhaustion and migraines that made me feel like a horseshoe on an anvil were good enough reasons to quit — and I so enjoyed not drinking, I recently wrote a book, How To Be sober And Keep Your Friends (Quadrille). As a result, I realised there are plenty of mid-lifers like me: regular social drinkers, who down a little more than they should.

Despite Government advice — no more than 14 units of alcohol a week for women (a bottle of wine contains about ten) — during the Christmas break, booze is everywhere. According to a new survey by non- alcoholic drinks company Boomerang, the average Brit would have consumed 26 units of alcohol yesterday — with their first drink before midday.

No wonder the aftermath can be profound regret and a stonking hangover — particularly if you’re drinking sherry or port which, according to Dr Hal sosabowski, professor of public understanding of science at Brighton University, can get you drunk faster due to their high alcohol volume per measure and ability to get through the stomach wall quickly.

WHISKY, on the other hand, can ‘ overpower’ the cells, making it harder to absorb quickly. You’ll also drink sherry or port faster, as they’re served in smaller measures.

Perhaps that’s why a 2019 survey from YouGov found that almost a quarter of us would like to drink less, with 60 per cent now interested in low- alcohol alternatives. But while attempting ‘dry January’ is pretty common, drinking less over the festive period is more of a challenge. The pressure is on to ‘have fun’ — and willpower falls by the wayside.

But it’s not too late to turn your drinking habits around before the end of 2019, and save yourself one last embarrassing morning, waking on New Year’s Day wondering what happened last night. Enter DrinkCoach, ( drinkcoach.org.uk) a charity that offers oneto-one advice on drinking less via online coaching sessions and an app. The Drink Coaches are medical professionals, trained to support people who want to drink less but are struggling.

Users can take a test based on World Health Organisation guidelines and get immediate feedback. The website also offers advice on mindfulness, goal- setting and even a hangover diary. But it’s the personal coaching that makes the biggest difference.

Coaching sessions can be anything between 20 and 40 minutes, and users can have up to six. And for those worried they’ll be psychologically dismantled and judged, its head of innovation and coach Mark Holmes says, ‘it’s not delving into your darkest secrets — it’s looking at the behavioural aspects of drinking — why you drink, what you get from it, and why you’d like to cut down.’

Here Mark gives his top tips for cutting down before New Year.

SEEING YOUR FUTURE CLEARLY

I AlWAYs encourage people to visualise the night ahead in advance. say it’s a New Year’s Eve do and you’re worried about sticking to a limit.

look at the venue you’re going to, read the online menu, and decide exactly what you’re going to order. set yourself clear ground rules — ‘ I’ll only have three drinks,’ or ‘I’m leaving at 9pm.’

Clearly visualise every aspect of the evening beforehand — you’re at the bar and a friend is saying, ‘go on, have a large glass’ — what are you going to say in reply?

Practise saying: ‘Actually I’m getting up early,’ or ‘I have to meet someone first thing.’

You can even be completely honest. low mood is a direct result of excess alcohol consumption, so why not say, ‘I have to be careful because drinking too much makes me feel anxious the next day’? How can someone persuade you to drink more, once they know the negative consequences for you?

I’d also suggest a ‘drinking buddy’ — someone who will drink at your pace, rather than a ‘ringleader’ who eggs everyone on.

ADJUST YOUR EXPECTATIONS

THErE are common beliefs about the effects of different types of alcohol — tequila makes you volatile, gin makes you sad.

A recent study suggested that people believe wine affects them differently from spirits or beer — but alcohol is alcohol.

This misapprehension is due to ‘alcohol expectancies’ — what you assume you’re going to feel when you have a certain drink, based on its associations for you — that champagne means fun, or beer means rowdiness. Different drinks give different hangovers. Congeners are toxic products of the brewing process — darker drinks contain more and are more likely to give you a hangover.

(In one study, 33 per cent of bourbon drinkers reported a severe hangover, compared to 3 per cent who drank the equivalent in vodka.) There’s also the effect of dehydration and lack of sleep. When you drink, your liver converts alcohol into a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde. An enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, then metabolises this into harmless acetic acid.

But alcohol dehydrogenase deteriorates as you get older, and the process becomes more challenging, which is why hangovers get worse with age.

DRINK G&T — WITH ICE!

PEOPlE tend to sigh when you talk about units of alcohol — but it is important. A large glass of wine is 3 units (a unit is 8 grams of alcohol) — a gin and tonic with ice and lemon is just one, if you ask for a single. Even if someone buys you a double, you still drink less.

I always tell people, ‘have ice in your drink, and every time it taps your lip, that’s me saying “be careful!” ’

It works if you think of it as a reminder not to drink too fast.

With wine, even if you say no to a bottle and drink by the glass, within three rounds, if they’re large (250ml), you’ve had a bottle. It’s the same if you ‘pace yourself’ with water — you’re still drinking large glasses of wine.

If possible, avoid wine altogether, as it’s so strong — red wine is often 14.5 per cent alcohol nowadays. It’s also a good idea to drink from bottles of beer or lager. A glass has a wide opening and you neck it faster. Drink from a bottle, and you will naturally sip.

FIND YOUR TIPPING POINT

IT’s helpful to know the point at which you will carry on drinking. We call it the ‘tipping point’. It’s the moment you find it harder to put the brakes on, when you automatically say ‘yes’ to another, even if you meant to stop.

After one glass, you can say no to a second; at two it’s harder; at three, the resolve has probably gone. Everyone is different, but cutting back is all about knowing your own limit, and planning ahead to avert disaster.

People often have a mistaken idea about the effect alcohol has on them. They say ‘oh, but I’m much more fun drunk!’ whereas you might feel sad after a full bottle, or argumentative.

It’s a good idea to ask your partner, or friends, where they think your tipping point is. Once you know, it’s easier to think ‘OK, I’ve had two drinks now, and if I carry on, I won’t stop,’ and switch to a soft drink.

AVOID TOO MANY BUBBLES

THIs is very relevant at this time of year, when everyone is cracking open the bubbly because though alcohol is alcohol, it’s true that fizzy drinks can make you tipsy faster, especially on an empty stomach.

If you drink on a full stomach, the food absorbs it, and it can be broken down more slowly.

But when you’re drinking on an empty stomach, there’s a peak in blood ethanol, as bubbles go into the bloodstream faster due to the carbon dioxide increasing the pressure in your stomach, so you’re getting drunk faster, and will probably have a worse hangover.

The pyloric sphincter acts as a valve to control the flow of food and drink from the stomach to the small intestine. It closes when there is food in your stomach, slowing down your body’s absorption of alcohol.

I strongly advise eating something before you drink.

remember, Prosecco is about 12 per cent proof and is served in large flutes. They’re long and thin but hold a lot. After one, try switching to a spirit and mixer.

THINK ABOUT THE HANGOVER

A HANGOVER can be a useful time to focus on what you want to do differently next time. It isn’t just physical, it often manifests as the reverse of being happily drunk; feeling more anxious and low, as well as tired. My daughters call it ‘hang-xiety.’

You might write down how you feel in your diary, or compile a list of goals for the next night out; setting plans such as ‘I won’t drink wine, I’ll have a beer’ or ‘I won’t do rounds this time’ is proven to be very effective.

Most people do cut down once they set the intention to do so and notice their drinking triggers. And if you are struggling to do that, a period of not drinking at all can be a good way to reset your approach to drinking.

In other words, if you don’t fancy dry Christmas, dry January is just around the corner.