Drink Responsibly for Better Health
It is never easy for most regular drinkers to cut down on their regular doses of drinks. Many adults are finding this more difficult than exercising or improving their diet. The current trends suggest that they are drinking more than the recommended quantity. The low-risk drinking guidelines suggested by most medical officers limit alcohol intake. They say that it won’t be safe to drink more than 14 units a week. If you drink over 14 units every week on a regular basis, it is advisable to spread your drinking evenly. It must be spread over three or more days rather than drinking all on a single day.
What exactly is binge drinking
Drinking more than the recommended quantities of alcohol in a short span of time can be termed ‘binge drinking’. In other words, it is drinking for the purpose of getting drunk. Every individual’s body processes alcohol differently.
It is, therefore, difficult to say how many units count as binge drinking in one session. Some specifically define binge drinking as more than 8 units in one session for men. For women, it is more than 6 units in one session. Between 2 to 3 glasses of wine measuring 175 ml is equivalent to 6 units.
Benefits of responsible drinking
You can significantly improve your health and well-being by cutting back on alcohol. As a result, certain health benefits begin to manifest in you:
1. Weight control
Alcohol is prepared by fermenting and distilling sugar and starch. This process results in high quantities of calories in it. The amount of calories in alcohol is roughly 7 per gram. Such calories have no nutritional value. While some alcoholic drinks do have minerals and vitamins, they are not in high quantities. When you consume alcohol, lesser amount of fat is burnt in your body as energy.
As alcohol cannot be stored in a human body, it is processed as soon as possible. This disrupts the other processes, such as burning of fat and absorption of nutrients. So, if you want to manage your weight, it is essential to substitute alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic ones.
2. Good mental health
While you may feel that alcohol is relieving your stress, it only works for a brief period of time. Alcohol is known as a depressant. It slows down the processes of the central nervous system and the brain. In the long term, it can give rise to feelings of depression and anxiety. So, it is absolutely necessary to cut back on your alcohol intake.
3. Better sleep
There’s this common perception that alcohol helps you fall asleep. In reality, even a few drinks can make you feel extremely tired, leading to a disruption in sleep cycle. When you fall asleep after drinking, deep sleep happens quicker than usual. However, you end up spending less time in deep sleep later in the night.
More time would be spent in Rapid Eye Movement (REM). This is a much less restful stage of sleep. As a result, it is likely that you’ll wake up feeling tired. Having alcohol-free nights would help you sleep better. You’ll also wake up feeling fresh in the morning.
4. Improved physical health
Irresponsible drinking increases the risk of developing some serious health conditions. They include liver disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Reducing your quantities of alcohol intake would help you lower the risk of alcohol-related health hazards.