Our Clinical Administrator, Timika, guides us to ‘Partying with Care’ this Festive season.

Media is going crazy, deals are now on and the festive period is nigh. We all love the holidays and what better way to celebrate Christmas cheer and a very bright new year, other than a good old knee’s up!

We all like a bit of bubbly, eggnog, brandy pudding, Irish coffee, a lovely glass of mulled wine and the list goes on, well for me anyways! A nice and well deserved break full of celebrations but do we often tend to count the calories or think on a deeper level in terms of over consumption and alcohol units through this period. This is where I pose the notion ‘Party with Care’.

Not one to be an old bore but do you ever think of how certain aspects of a good old party might affect your health or the potential lasting affects. I know I like to party, I party often and I party hard. However, alcohol consumption can have a large affect on your health.

If you are someone who drinks alcohol it’s likely you’ve experienced first-hand at least some of its short-term health effects, be it a hangover or a bad night’s sleep. It’s the longer term health effects of alcohol that people often only experience once it’s too late. But it really doesn’t have to be like that.

What I’ll start off with to get us all thinking is what I call the “shamemometer” in my case! I have done this test myself and was stunned to see what the results were. Why not try the unit calculator and see how much you are consuming alcohol wise. Keeping in mind the specified daily units for females are 2-3 units per day and for males 3-4 units per day:

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/understand-your-drinking/unit-calculator

You’d be surprised that even a pint of beer calculates to 3 shots of spirit!

Another thing to think about is that alcohol is a diuretic, so those of you that have a weak bladder – something to think about! Not cute on any level I think it’s safe to say.

Also, your liver and kidneys are highly affected by drinking, you need these for the cleaning of toxins within the body, and they are working over time, pumping harder than ever. This can result in very worst cases as liver disease and kidney failure. All in all your ENTIRE body can be affected. Please watch the following clip, just to get an actual idea as to how this can happen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kxg5MEq8EQ&src_vid=PA1gDo4OXp4&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_3090252303

For the prince’s and princesses out there, remember – Alcohol dehydrates your body generally, including the skin; your body’s largest organ. So for the beauties, something to think about!

For the skinny minnies – Alcohol can also cause your face to look bloated and puffy. You might find it bloats your stomach too. So unless you are going for the pregnant look, maybe think twice before you have that third pint…

Sorry, there’s more. Hungover people don’t smell too good either; the liver processes most of the alcohol you drink, but some of it leaves the body straight through your breath, sweat and urine.

This brings me to my next topic on how to ‘Party with Care’; I find that when we drink, we lose inhibition. My list of what not to do is as follows as illustrated below:

1. Do not dance on table tops (especially with heels for the women out there!)
2. Do not drink and drive!!
3. Don’t get into unmarked vehicles
4. Don’t mix your drinks

Alcohol has a profound affect on the brain. It can affect the choices and decisions that you make as well as the results. Most common signs of having drunken too much are difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory.  Clearly, alcohol affects the brain!!

So I think the best things to bear in mind when partying with care is to

• Take regular days off from drinking
• Eat Well before drinking and during intervals of drinking (preferably carbohydrate-rich food
• Keep track of what you are drinking

Other wise party hard folks, what could be worse than going through Christmas and News years and not even remembering it bar the hangover, sore kidneys/liver, smelly breath and bloated stomach and face!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 🙂