The world’s oldest cricketer Eileen Ash, recently passed on at the age of 110. Her life was full of zest right from playing International cricket for England to working as a spy for M16 during world war 11. Her secret, she revealed, “being happy and drinking a lot of red wine,” they say, a glass of red wine is heart healthy, although not proven, but if that’s what brings on the happiness, then be our guest, get spirited.
Interesting facts about alcohol —
- Alcohol affects men and women differently.
- Alcohol can lower blood sugar levels.
- Moderate alcohol consumption could help protect against heart disease.
- Many factors influence how people react to alcohol.
- Drinking does not actually warm you up.
- Data shows that the tendency to drink to excess usually begins in the late forties.
- Alcohol does not affect all livers equally.
- The antioxidant Polyphenols found in grapes have the same benefit on heart health, so non-alcoholic wine is as beneficial.
What really is alcohol?
An alcoholic drink is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar that acts as a drug. There are basically four types of alcohol ethyl, denatured, isopropyl and rubbing. The one that we know and love the best is ethyl alcohol, also called ethanol or grain alcohol, which is the fermentation of sugar and yeast.
Do you find yourself reaching for alcohol at the end of a long workday?
Do you find yourself reaching for alcohol when you socialize?
Pros —
- A glass of beer or red wine may be beneficial for cardiovascular disease.
- Giving up alcohol will make you feel fresher, have a greater sense of wellbeing and an opportunity to lead a happier and more productive life.
- Switch to mindful drinking by replacing your daily alcohol with adult non-alcohol drinks.
- Alcohol has sedative qualities, it gives you an illusion of calmness, but alas its only temporary
Cons —
- Excess alcohol on a daily basis can cause liver damage.
- Alcohol does not really relieve stress, it usually brings on more problems than it solves.
- Alcohol and anxiety fuel each other, so after the initial calm, it increases your anxiety
- Heavy drinking is also known to cause imbalances in the chemicals in your blood.
- Long-term use of alcohol carries risk of breast cancer, heart disease and liver disease.
Drinking Song — Thomas Hardy
Fill full your cups: feel no distress
That thoughts so great should now be less!
Earth mid the sky stood firm and flat,
He held, till came
A sage by name
Copernicus, and righted that.
We trod, he told,
A globe that rolled
Around a sun it warmed it at …
Lets understand what alcohol does to your brain and body —
For whatever the reason you choose to indulge in your daily alcohol be it to relax you after work, combat social anxiety, forget loneliness, or pass an evening. This is what excess alcohol really does to you —
Your breathing will increase, your heart rate and pulse will speed up, this in turn will send a message to the brain to increase the blood flow to the brain, catapulting in to excess oxygen in the brain, the end result is nausea, dizziness and even palpitations and chest pain.
If you suffer from social anxiety, know that anxiety impacts your digestive system and alcohol may force you to binge eat or starve, it’s a fight or flight situation to ward of stress but again the long run effects are huge, your mental health conditions could worsen as your levels of serotonin are compromised, your sleep is impacted and your anxiety will worsen using alcohol as a crutch that will give way.
Alcohol makes you emotionally deficient and not emotionally resilient.
Some healthier ways to unwind without alcohol —
They say that at sunset , most humans experience a low mood swing, become aware of this and initiate some activity around that time everyday, exercise, meet a friend, watch a racy movie, get out of your home for some fresh air, water your garden and talk to your plants.
Practice deep breathing and meditation twice a day, it works wonders on your mental health, it promotes well-being and health passively and continuously to your organic body.
Nothing like music playing in the back ground while you prepping for dinner, shake a leg or two while you are at it, it pumps you up for sure.
Don’t get bogged down with listening to the news more than once a day, media focuses on negative stuff, don’t blame them, but it is what gets them their viewership. Get out of the tech rut, look at your phone a few times a day and enjoy life the rest of the time. Just go incommunicado.
You no longer need to make sugary soda your evening drink. Fashionable Non- Alcoholic drinks are listing up —
Diageo -Seedlip
Pernod Ricard – Alt-Gin Ceder
Heineken – Pale Ale
Jacob’s Creek – Unvined Rose
Bilpin – Non-alcoholic Cider, flavours include – apple-raspberry, apple-ginger, apple-lemon-blood orange.
Gordon’s Alcohol free 0.0 Gin
Naked life Mocktails – a sugar-free range of spritz Negroni include flavours- apple, lemon, orange, bitter.
So as the pandemic is calming down, people are showing signs of getting back to socialising, alcohol intake on the increase, booze on hand, even if you don’t suffer from anxiety, a drink or two for ‘dutch courage’ or to calm your nerves can end up in a vicious cycle of hangovers.
HANGOVER TIPS —
– Always eat a solid meal before you get into the party zone, while the Indian custom is to drink, drink then dine, make the switch to the healthier option of dine with wine and then some more.
– Alcohol is dehydrating, sip on a lot of water while drinking and a big glass before going to bed, the electrolytes in your body will be replenished with water.
– A good old saying of dousing the hangover with a drink the next morning is a myth, what it really does is convert the methanol into toxic formaldehyde, to cause further hangover symptoms.
– Natural supplements recommended —
Ginger for nausea and vomiting,
Electrolyte drinks to replenish electrolytes.
Red ginseng to reduce alcohol levels in your blood.
A Drinking Song —Yeats,
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die …
Final note — attitudes are changing; we are becoming more accepting of peoples choices of diet and drinks be it for health, ethical or just slowing down. Stabilise, eat and drink mindfully.
