Most of us like to enjoy a glass of wine or beer (yes me included) at functions, going out for dinner or at a friends bbq. However it is wise to educate yourself on the effects of alcohol on the body, we all know from experience the positives (i.e. dutch courage for example) and the negatives of too much (hangover) but read on to know what else it can do, this should hopefuly give you a reason to drink in moderation and especially avoiding binge drinking.

Alcohol is a toxin to the body- it interferes with the nutritional process by affecting digestion, storage, utilization, and excretion of nutrients (NIAAA Director Enoch Gordis, M.D.). We all need 50+ nutrients per day to enable normal bodily function; unfortunately alcohol inhibits the breakdown of nutrients into usable molecules by decreasing secretion of digestive enzymes from the pancreas. Furthermore, alcohol impairs nutrient absorption by damaging the cells lining the stomach and intestines and disabling transport of some nutrients into the blood. Even if nutrients are digested and absorbed, alcohol can prevent them from being fully utilized by altering their transport, storage, and excretion (NIAAA Director Enoch Gordis, M.D.).

Your body can process 1 standard drink per hour- aim to keep it to that otherwise you will overload your system and your budget if buying drinks! Drink water in between each alcoholic drink and count the number of drinks- just be aware! Alcohol is especially a killer if you are trying to lose weight, added calories with no benefit. A glass of wine or two per night may increase your weight by 1kg per month if you don’t burn those extra calories off. 1x standard 140ml glass of wine is approximately 130 calories which is a 20min brisk walk!

Alcohol is a toxin for the body

What do I mean by this? We have far too many products in the supermarket that tantalise our taste buds by offering new flavours or enhancing flavours with added sugar and salt. We have products that have taken whole foods like oats or grains and processed them so that they have been popped, baked or fried in hot temperatures and although their texture and flavour is still satisfying on the tongue, many have no nutrient benefit to the body at all (other than the products that add back in the vitamins and minerals lost during manufacturing like breakfast cereals- read the ingredients list on your cereal at home… does it have listed thiamine, riboflavin, folate etc on it?).

If it wasn’t for the specially added fibre in some snack bars e.g. the muffin type bars, the food wouldn’t get to the bowel fast enough and when it does is highly likely to sit there longer than it should, giving the bad bacteria in the gut an opportunity to feed off this, multiplying their numbers and can cause gas/ wind for us.

When you are seeking great energy, go for foods that provide nutrients for the body to use. For example fruit and vegetables carry an abundance of essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals. So why don’t we eat more of them?

Why do we continually go for packaged goods when it is just as easy to pick up a bag of carrots from the supermarket and use that as snack as food. Our poor taste buds and brain are so acquainted to salty/ sweet things that we have gone off our most precious vitamin containing foods and lost the taste for these. Even nuts are now covered with salt or sugar. What happened to leaving raw nuts as is in their natural state?

So instead of wasting a lot of money on commercial made items, shop around the outside of the supermarket and keep the trolley simple with fruit, vegetables, complex carbohydrates like wholemeal wraps, breads, pastas, beans, crackers, rolled oats, quinoa, brown rice, quality meats (avoid salami, luncheon, sandwich meatloaf, precooked sausages), raw nuts, seeds, dried fruit, plain dairy products (non sweetened), honey. Then take the time to make your own breakfast cereals or snacks eg. muesli, muesli bars, bran muffins or bread.

Your health is in your hands, how much time are you willing to give?

Most people are pretty good with eating vegetables at night so here are a few tips to getting them during the day. If you want to avoid the 3:30 downfall a great way is to have vegetables at lunch and fruit in afternoon. The enzymes and vitamins they contain can really give the body a boost (along with water!)

1.       Take leftovers for lunch. If you made a lovely stirfry the night before keep some for lunch. Or make a large enough salad at night to take for the next day aswell. That way you cut your time down with preparing lunch.

2.       If you are more a vegetable person than fruit, add fruit to your lunch-time salads like mandarin pieces or grapes.

3.       Make vegetable snacks interesting. Instead of taking carrot sticks, grate them up and add raisins and lemon juice or even orange pieces for a lovely grated carrot salad. Otherwise try grated carrot and cucumber mixed with plain yoghurt. If that doesn’t take your fancy just dip the carrots/ celery with hummus or salsa.

4.       Leave some baby spinach or mesculin in fridge at work so you always have some extra greens to add to a home made sandwich or filled roll. Wraps are the best to get a lot of veges in instead of sandwich- more space to fill (fill with veges though not too much of cheese or meat).

5.       Add tomatoes and mushrooms to your fry up in the morning.

6.       Add frozen berries and yoghurt together- great to take on a trip as the frozen berries keep the yoghurt cold.

7.       Always keep tinned fruit in the cupboard incase you run out of fresh. Tinned fruit is great to add to smoothies, cereal or use in baking.

8.       Instead of using crackers for a base for toppings, use carrots or cucumber to put hummus and cheese on top.

9.       Use large leafy green vegetables like spinach, silverbeet or bok choy to wrap goodies in like ham, smoked chicken or even mince. They make great little bundles.

10.   Blend fruits into smoothies and pour into an old milk container to keep in fridge as a refreshing snack.