Facts about Alcohol

For the last 6000 years of recorded history, human beings have drinking alcohol. Today it plays a major part in our economy, with many millions of Euro spent every week on alcoholic drinks. But with plenty of conflicting stories floating about in the media, many people are rightly mystified; is alcohol good for you, or does it harm you?

There is no doubt; the effects of long term heavy or chronic use of alcohol on the body are serious. Alcohol affects the brain and nervous system, which control behaviour and body functions, as well as the pancreas and liver. No body system is left untouched by the effects of chronic alcohol use. Alcohol is detoxified by the liver, which involves a liver enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase. When alcohol intake exceeds this enzymatic pathway, the liver turns alcohol into Acetaldehyde, a very acidic and toxic metabolite. The end result is a sick feeling called the hangover.

There is little question that alcohol acts as an anti-nutrient. Although some forms of alcohol (such as Stout or Red Wine) do deliver a few nutrients, alcohol itself is a potent destroyer of these same nutrients. Chronic alcohol intake leads to multiple deficiencies of nutrients, including B vitamins, vitamin C, Zinc and Magnesium.

Craving for alcohol increases with poor nutrition and inadequate nutrients. Alcohol can often be used as a substitute for food in heavy or chronic alcohol drinkers. Alcohol is very high in sugar and causes reactive hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels) and food cravings, especially for sweets. Poor nutrition further disables the body’s ability to protect itself from the toxic effects of alcohol.

Alcohol irritates your gut, making it more permeable to undigested food particles, and increasing the chances of an allergic reaction to substances in both, the food and the alcohol. This is why many beer and wine drinkers become allergic to yeast. Wine drinkers may also become sensitive to sulphates, which are added to grapes to control Fermentation. And according to the World Health Organization, the more alcohol you drink, the higher your cancer risk especially if you also smoke.

Drinking alcohol makes you feel good at first due to the release of dopamine, which stimulates you, followed by endorphins, which make you feel high, and then gamma amino butyric acid, which makes you relax. The sugar in the alcohol also gives your blood sugars a boost. This pleasant effect usually lasts for an hour or so. Several drinks later, however, you (or others) might notice you are feeling irritable, depressed or even hostile. People who consume high levels of alcohol have reduced intellectual performance on testing.

What of the positive effects of alcohol? One plus for alcohol in moderation is the well-established finding that it increases High-density lipoprotein (HDL) Cholesterol, also known as “good cholesterol”. Red Wine may also confer additional cardiovascular benefits by virtue of being high in proanthocyanidins the antioxidants found in grapes and berries. Alcohol itself is an oxidant. Eating grapes or drinking grape juice will give the same benefits, without the negative effects of alcohol.

It seems that moderation is the key to drinking and maintaining good health. A glass of wine or beer, one to three times a week is unlikely to impact on your health.

David Foley

MRCHM, MNIMH

Medical Herbalist

Holiday Essentials

Today, many Irish will holiday up to three times a year, with many traveling abroad to the sun. With the growing number of budget airlines offering and ever increasing choice of cheap flights it’s becoming even easier to take a holiday abroad.

    Along with kitting ourselves out with new summer clothes, we maybe need to kit ourselves out with essential travel first aid items to avoid the problems associated with travel. Visiting another country means a variation in the kind of foods we eat, not to mention the differing hygiene standards and health of the water we drink.

All this means that tummy troubles are the most common causes of complaint for holiday makers abroad. One of the best preventive measures to take if traveling abroad is to take probiotics before you travel and during our trip aboard. Certain types of probiotics are stable without refrigeration. Probiotics will help the digestive system to withstand the change in the bacteria found while on holidays, thus preventing diarrhea and constipation.

Other supplements to be considered include garlic capsules. Garlic has a strong antibacterial effect on the digestive system while protecting the good bacteria. The combination of a good probiotics and garlic is excellent to prevent ‘Delhi tummy’.

Traveling itself can also lead to problems. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) poses a very real risk to travelers on long haul journeys. As many as 100,000 airline passengers are estimated to suffer fatal complications associated with DVT each year, but apart from exercising regularly on board and wearing flight socks, there are other measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of a blood clot.

Certain herbs have been shown to be particularly effective for combating circulatory problems and varicose veins, Horse Chestnut, which has the ability to reduce swelling of ankles due to leakage of fluid into them. Garlic again has the ability to be an effective blood thinner which may reduce the incidence of blood clotting – another reason to include garlic in your travel iterny. Ginger also has the ability to thin blood and is also very useful for nausea or travel sickness. Take 500mg to 1 gram every couple of hours to prevent travel sickness and it will also reduce the incidence of DVTs by thinning the blood.

Despite the well reported fact that sun bathing is the primary cause of premature skin ageing, and a leading cause of skin cancer, the vast majority of holiday makers still regard getting a sun kissed tan as their number on goal. But expose to UV rays is not a complete no-no; it just needs to be in moderation. While exposure to UV rays for a long period of time can be damaging, low dose UV exposure has beneficial effects, mainly the synthesis of vitamin D.

But, we Irish will typically spend too much time in the sun within the first few days of their holiday and then spend the rest of the holiday applying after sun.

To soothe sunburn the best choice is Aloe Vera, it not only helps with inflammation and pain, as well as being cooling but can encourage the production of new skin cells as well as being antibacterial, anti fungal and antiseptic. As sunburn causes free radicals to occur, which can damage the skin, Aloe Vera is excellent since it acts as an anti-oxidant to reduce skin damage, and helps protect skin elasticity and strength.

Use sun protection creams from the start of your holiday, there are many natural sun care ranges available today. So be prepared!! And have a great holiday.

David Foley

MRCHM, MNIMH

Medical Herbalist