Now that the holiday season is upon us, I wanted to take a moment to discuss healthy ways to indulge in a time-honored tradition: holiday drinking. The holiday season means parties and celebrations, and parties and celebrations often mean wine or other forms of alcohol. There are simple steps you can take in order to avoid making your drinking problematic.
My first recommendation is to avoid mixers. Drink liquor neat or on the rocks. Mixers are often chock-full of sugars and calories.
Beer is full of calories and carbs, and so it isn’t the best choice for the health-conscious. For beer-lovers, light beers are a great way to go. If light beer is out of the question (it is for me), stouts like Guinness are typically lower in calories than other forms of beer. They also contain antioxidants, which lagers do not.
Wine lovers, rejoice! Wine is a healthier alternative to hard liquor. Red wine in particular appears to offer some health benefits for your heart, due to higher antioxidants content, although any links between red wine and heart health are poorly understood. There is no clear evidence that red wine provides more heart health benefits than other kinds of alcohol.
Alcohol seems to increase HDL (the “good cholesterol”) but it has to be limited to 1 drink per day, which is equivalent to one of the following:
- 5 oz of wine
- 12 oz of beer
- 1 oz of hard liquor
Exceeding this amount on a regular basis or in binges may increase triglycerides (this is unfavorable for heart disease), increase blood pressure, and cause arrhythmias such as atrial flutter or fibrillation (irregular heart rhythms which can lead to strokes.) Excessive drinking in binges is also responsible for acute pancreatitis, serious inflammation of the pancreas.
Moderation is the key to healthy drinking. Don’t indulge too much, and make sure to eat and drink plenty of water. Having food in your stomach helps slow your body’s absorption of alcohol. Dehydration is frequently responsible for some hangover symptoms, so drinking water or juice can help prevent or lessen the hangover.
It goes without saying, but another important element of healthy drinking is not getting behind the wheel while impaired. Drink in your own home, have a designated driver, or hail a ride-sharing service. With so many ways for people to get home safely, there is no reason why anyone should still be getting behind the wheel drunk.
Be safe, be healthy, and have a great end to 2018.
