It’s National Alcohol Awareness Week, organised by Alcohol Concern. At Crawley Chiropractic Centre we support this initiative.
It’s a chance to look at your drinking habits, what alcohol you drink and whether you could cut down on your alcohol intake.
It can be hard to know how much you should or shouldn’t be drinking each week. Every day there seems to be a survey or study that shows certain alcoholic drinks are good for you, others terrible then another survey or study contradicts it.
As Chiropractors in Crawley, we regularly offer Health workshops at where we cover how to eat, move and think to create optimal health in your life. Optimum nutrition, mindset and exercise are 3 core pillars of health that are covered.
There is one rock solid fact with regard to alcohol intake, your daily allowance. 2-3 units per day for women and 3-4 daily for men. Anymore is detrimental to your health.
But how much is a unit? Just one pint of 4% beer is 2.3 units. A small glass of white wine is also 2.3 units, so you can see how your daily allowance shoots up fast.
Stroke, High Blood Pressure, Heart failure can all be attributed to excess drinking of alcohol.
If a man drinks five units each day then, on average, he doubles his risk of developing liver disease and raised blood pressure
Women increase their risk of breast cancer by 20% by drinking just a little over the guideline amounts
But there are some simple ways to help your wallet and your health.
You can set a limit on how much you’re going to drink, cut back a little each day, cut down the alcohol by swapping strong beers or wines for ones with a lower strength and one of the biggest ways is to stay hydrated. Use water to quench your thirst rather than alcohol.
The positive effects are instant:
You’ll feel better in the morning, less tired in the day time, your skin will look better, you’ll start to feel fitter, you will lose weight too.
Over time, there’s a strong link between heavy drinking and depression and anxiety so even cutting down slowly could help. Sleep, behaviour, your heart and immune system – all these will improve by making some small changes in your drinking behaviour.
There is alot of help if you’re willing to make a change.
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/make-a-change
