Alcohol…  protect your health and still have fun

by Maureen HoustonNutritional  Therapist

The festive season is upon us, and no one wants to be a party pooper. But just how damaging is that festive drink (or three, or five…) to your health?

For a start, what about the calories in your favourite tipple? For those already struggling to keep to a healthy weight, it’s worth bearing in mind that one glass of wine can have as many calories as four biscuits or a slice of cake, a pint of lager the equivalent of a slice of pizza, and a pint of cider the same as a sugar doughnut. And worse, drinking alcohol reduces the amount of calories you are able to burn through exercise. Furthermore, alcohol provides ’empty calories’: they have no nutritional value (other than red wine, which contains some beneficial antioxidants). Because of the high sugar content in alcoholic drinks, blood sugar is rapidly unbalanced and many other normal body functions disrupted, not to mention a diminishing mental capacity.

Alcohol has an adverse effect on your immune system: if you’ve drunk enough to become intoxicated, it depresses white cell mobilisation, and significantly inhibits the action of neutrophils, your infection-fighting cells. Alcohol consumption compromises fertility, too: studies have shown that women who have just one alcoholic drink every day have a 30% increased risk of infertility, as well as a 50% increased risk of endometriosis; those drinking two or more alcoholic drinks daily have a 60% increased risk of infertility.

Another potential hazard posed by alcohol is allergies. The alcohol itself isn’t necessarily harmful (in moderation); it is the added chemicals people react to, thousands of which are permitted in the manufacture, particularly of wines (inexplicably, ingredients are not required to be printed on the labels, unlike every other sector of the food industry). In particular, sulphites, a group of sulphur-based chemicals used to preserve foods, are present in the largest quantities in wine, cider and some beers. (German bottled beer, made according to ancient law, has no added sulphites; and champagne has low amounts because it’s fermented in the bottle). Sulphites can trigger allergy-like symptoms, particularly in those with a tendency to asthma.

You can certainly make good alcohol choices, without limiting your fun or increasing your waistline. Avoid creamy or sweet drinks, such as Baileys or egg nog; and keep beer to a minimum. Choose champagne, dry wine, spirits, and non-sugary mixers. (A gin or vodka and tonic, for example, has just 108 calories and represents 0.9 units of alcohol, compared with a 250ml glass of red wine which provides 200 calories and 3.3 units of alcohol.) Always drink alcohol with food, as this will reduce the impact of the sugars on your bloodstream. And always drink copious amounts of water throughout the evening, interspersed with your wine or cocktails. This will limit your total overall alcohol intake, and also serves to dilute its harmful effect.

REFERENCES
Annual Reviews website, Alcohol: Its Metabolism and Interaction With Nutrients. Available at: http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.nutr.20.1.395
Pizzorno J (1998) Total Wellness. Prima Publishing: Rocklin, California, USA
Photo from to Talk to Frank see here

For more information or to book an appointment with Maureen Houston please email her, or give our friendly receptionists a ring on 01865 558561 and they will be able to help you further.

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