(Published 4 October 2021)

If you have decided to join my #soberoctober challenge, a very warm welcome, it’s amazing to have you join us and I am so proud of you!

I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you that its National Vodka Day today (4 Oct) well in the States it is, so at least we don’t need to celebrate…Phew! I’m more of a whiskey girl anyway.

As a believer in knowledge is power, I’d like to share with you one of the main reasons why alcohol consumption is not a great idea: one word, and that is malabsorption. Read on to find out why holding off on the booze can benefit you.

So what is malabsorption, and why does it matter?

The definition from Johns Hopkins Medicine is: “malabsorption is difficulty in the digestion or absorption of nutrients from food. It can affect growth and development, or it can lead to specific illnesses.”

Simply put, your gut can’t break down food properly and absorb the nutrients from the food we eat. This means overtime we cannot reap the benefits from the macronutrients we consume, resulting in micronutrient deficiencies.

Figure 1 Interaction of alcohol’s direct toxic effects with malnutrition. In alcoholics, alcohol often replaces other nutrients (e.g., carbohydrates or proteins), resulting in insufficient intake of those nutrients (i.e., primary malnutrition), particularly because, under certain conditions, the calories provided by alcohol cannot be used effectively by the body—that is, they are “empty” calories. In addition, alcohol has direct toxic effects on the gastrointestinal tract and liver, leading to impaired digestion, reduced absorption of nutrients into the blood, and impaired utilization or increased degradation of those nutrients. These effects are referred to as secondary malnutrition and can contribute to the progression of liver damage.

SOURCE: Lieber 1991b.

Some say Alcohol is good for you?

Yes and no / It’s all about moderation. At the end of the day, it is up to you and how you feel and how you regulate your moderation. We need understand the risks and benefits of alcohol in moderation, but how do we do this when the studies for moderate alcohol consumption are not certain or extensive enough?

Researchers know little about the pros and cons to moderate alcohol consumption in healthy adults. This is due to the studies of lifestyle (which include diet, exercise, caffeine & alcohol) relying on patient recalling and one's truthfulness of reporting one's habits over many years. Alcohol consumption health pros and cons are said to be:

• Reduces risk of heart disease
• Reduces risks of strokes
• Risk of diabetes

Eating a nutritious well-balanced diet, in conjunction with exercise, will have greater health benefits and this has been more extensively studied. Moderate drinkers still run the small risk of some cancers and diabetes and of course drinking and driving is never a good idea! Even if you eat healthy food, having that glass of wine with your salad can cause malabsorption. So the necessary nutrients your body should absorb, will be affected.

You should always try consuming nutritious food before you indulge in a beverage. Perhaps try eat that healthy meal with a glass of water first and let your stomach have some time to digest before you have that glass of wine?

So how do we tackle this dry month?

Simply not consuming alcohol may be easy for some. The choice might not be difficult at all, but some of us may get home from a long day at work, and are used to pouring a glass of red. Some may need a stronger drink after a stressful day. Social activities may also dictate whether or not you indulge, I do enjoy having beers with friends over a braai, or some wine with a hearty meal.

Whether you go cold turkey, or are still contemplating how #soberoctober will work for you, here are 5 tips on how you can alter your habit or simply avoid consuming alcohol:

1. Don’t keep alcohol in your house, if it’s not available you can make a healthier choice easily.
2. Try a LITE or lighter alternative to your drink of choice. You could also try watering it down. You could also drink a glass of water in-between beverages.
3. Responsible social gatherings should not be avoided due to you not drinking, so try pack non-alcoholic drinks in your cooler instead of hard tack? Non-alcoholic beers, wines and spirits are easy to come by these days and are worth a try.
4. Embrace the challenge and own it. Decide that a sparkling water mocktail is the new you, and experiment with new flavours and combinations. A healthy low-cal-no-alc alternative that mimics the real thing.
5. Happy hour at a bar? You can opt for mocktails, or move happy hour to a setting where you can release endorphins instead.

Why not replace your usual drinking time, with an activity? Something that gets the heart pumping and endorphins coursing.

If you know me, you know my passions: fitness and nutrition. I whole-heartedly believe that if I impart all the knowledge I can onto my clients and friends, to help them make the right food choices, then I have done a good job.

Giving up alcohol might seem like a bizarre idea to some, but even if you hadn’t considered it yet, you still can. October isn’t the only month.

Perhaps try one month without any alcohol and see how you feel? I'd love to know.

Cheers (or not)

Candice

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-...