s er e h C
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to JANUARY Thinking of giving up alcohol for January? You could be on to a health winner!
Giving up alcohol is a popular New Year’s Resolution, and one that many people look forward to after the often over-indulgent festive period. If you like the idea of going alcoholfree, you’ll love the health benefits that arise as a result even more. From losing weight, to purifying the mind, ditching alcohol for one month is a great idea. Below are some of the main rewards we can expect to reap on the back of Dry January. WEIGHT LOSS! The calories in alcohol are astronomical. The key to losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume – and drinking alcohol, especially multiple times a week, makes this much more of a challenge. On average, you start to see visible weight loss within a fortnight. Drinking a large glass of wine (250ml) can add roughly 228 calories to your dinner which is the equivalent of a ham and cheese sandwich covered in mayonnaise on top of your dinner! Let’s not forget, these are empty calories as well – they carry NO nutritional value unlike certain other calories. If you stop drinking alcohol and combine this with a healthy month of eating, then even better! BETTER SLEEP It may seem strange, as something associated with a night full of alcohol is the drowsiness that comes with it (i.e. like falling asleep on the sofa and waking
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Health Magazine January 2018
up in the morning still wearing last night’s clothes.) But, whilst alcohol might send you to sleep – it doesn’t improve the quality. The sedative effect alcohol has wears off later into the night and your body comes out of deep sleep and into something called a REM sleep, which is much easier to wake from. An alcoholfree sleep is deeper, longer and above all more restful – it leaves you waking up with a smile and a clear head! BETTER SKIN Naturally, your skin will always benefit when you remove toxins from daily consumption – and alcohol is extremely toxic. Alcohol can make the skin feel less elastic and can cause you to age well before your years. Ditching the alcohol for a month will give your skin a chance to breath, clear and rejuvinate. GIVE YOUR LIVER A BREAK! Excessive drinking causes your liver to work overtime. Whilst it can handle small quantities, larger measures will cause it to become inflamed – which is often a silent disease. You may not notice it at first, but it can lead to cirrhosis which is a permanent condition. Drinking just two glasses of wine a day can cause you to develop a fatty liver. The glucose is converted into fatty substances that will fill your liver cells and potentially cause it to clog up – with disastrous consequences. Of course, this is in extreme cases, and not every alcoholic drink is going to give you liver disease – but it’s worth taking your liver’s workload into consideration before you open
that next bottle of wine. An alcohol free month will give your liver some time off, allowing it to repair and cleanse, which will in turn leave you feeling purer and healthier. MORE ENERGY Heavy drinking causes blood cells to become larger and that makes you more tired and lethargic as it hampers the transportation of oxygen around the body. Once the cells begin to renew, you will feel so much more energetic and healthier all round. Although this can take up to 3 months to have an effect, your body starts to repair itself immediately. SAY GOODBYE TO THE SORE HEAD This one doesn’t require much of an explanation. It’s common knowledge that excessive drinking, especially of red wine and beer can leave you waking up to a pounding headache. Needless to say, an alcohol free month is a hangover free month – start enjoying your Sunday mornings! MONEY SAVER Aside from feeling more clear-headed, fresh and energetic – is there any better feeling than having a few extra quid in your back pocket? Say you spend £50 a week on an accumilation of after work drinks, bottles of wine from the shops etc. you will be saving £200 a month and £2400 a year (should you wish to take it forward!). Put it away for a treat? www.noshdetox.com
www.health-magazine.co.uk