Alcohol Consumption
How has alcohol consumption been impacting you?
Alcohol is often viewed as a social lubricant. However, when is it too much of a good thing? Nicole Gregory in her article for Forbes, “16 Expert Tips for Reducing Your Alcohol Consumption”, recommends asking yourself the following: “In the past year, have you…
Had times when you ended up drinking more or longer than you intended?
More than once wanted to cut down or stop drinking, or tried to, but couldn’t?
Spent a lot of time drinking or being sick or getting over the aftereffects?
Wanted a drink so badly you couldn’t think of anything else?
Found that drinking or being sick from drinking often interfered with taking care of your home and family or caused job or other problems?
Continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?
Given up or cut back on activities that were important or interesting to you or gave you pleasure in order to drink?
More than once gotten into situations while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt, such as driving or having unsafe sex?
Continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious, or you had a memory blackout?
Had to drink much more than you once did to get the effect you want? Or found your usual number of drinks had much less effect than before?
Found that when the effects of alcohol were wearing off, you had withdrawal symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, shakiness, irritability, anxiety, depression, restlessness, nausea or sweating? Or sensed things that were not there?”
Where are you at?
Did you answer yes to any of the above? Fulton T. Crews, Ph.D., a pharmacology and psychiatry professor and director of the Bowles Centre for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Medicine says that “If people think they need to cut back, then they probably do.”
Alcohol Use Impact
Alcohol can impact the body in multiple ways but just how it impacts the individual will depend on a multitude of factors. These include how much one drinks, one’s pattern of drinking, the quality of the alcohol consumed, one’s body size and composition, age, drinking experience, genetics, mental and physical health, medication regime, use of other drugs, nutritional status, metabolism, and social factors.
The less you drink, the lower your risk of harm from alcohol.
Short-Term Effects
These include:
Lowered inhibitions
Interpersonal conflict
Accidents
Falls
Hangover
Altered behaviour, including risky and/or
violent behaviour
Alcohol poisoning
Long-Term Effects
These include:
Vehicular and other accidents
Domestic Violence
Public Violence
Family Breakdown
Crime
Social Dysfunction
Cardiovascular Disease
Stroke, Dementia
High blood pressure, heart damage
Long-term cognitive impairment
Cancer including the oral cavity,
pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver colorectum
Diabetes
Nutrition related including folate deficiency
Risk to unborn babies
Overweight and obesity
Liver Diseases
Mental health Conditions, interference with
antidepressant medication; anxiety and depression
Alcohol dependence
Impotence
What are the Australian Recommendations for Alcohol Consumption?
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released revised Australian guidelines, on 8 December 2020, to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol (the Guidelines).
The Guidelines aim to provide advice about the health risks so that Australians can make informed decisions on alcohol consumption.
Reducing the risk of alcohol-related harm for adults
To reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, healthy men and women should drink no more than 10 standard drinks a week and no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day. The less you drink, the lower your risk of harm from alcohol.
Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
To prevent harm from alcohol to their unborn child, women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy should not drink alcohol. For women who are breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest for their baby.
What is a Standard Drink?
It can be difficult to keep track of how much alcohol you’re consuming because different types of drinks contain different amounts of alcohol and come in different sizes.
A standard drink might be less than you think. For example, a bottle of beer or a glass of wine is often more than a 'standard drink'.
An Australian standard drink contains 10g of alcohol (12.5ml of pure alcohol). One standard drink is 285ml of full-strength beer, a 100ml glass of wine, or 30ml of spirits.
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation has an excellent graphic demonstrating standard drinks:
Alcohol guidelines Australia - Alcohol and Drug Foundation
Some Strategies to Address Alcohol Usage
Identify your WHY? Why do you want to cease or cut back your consumption. Be clear about your WHY and write it down. Keep it somewhere where you can see it.
Identify your triggers. What are they? How do you want to manage them? Consider practicing a breathing exercise, going for a walk, calling a friend. Create some distance between the triggering event so that you can choose how you wish to respond.
Understand what constitutes a standard drink. Measure and count your drinks.
Track your daily/weekly consumption. You could consider using an app, a journal or your calendar. See Apps and websites to help you cut back on alcohol | FARE Australia
Decide upon and commit to a drinking plan. If you are unable to be completely abstinent consider daily consumption reduction and/or days that are completely free from consumption. You could also consider getting involved in structured campaigns like “Go Dry this July”: Go Dry this July; Dry July - Bowel Cancer Australia; Dry July: What it is and the Best Non-Drinking Activities in Australia - Insider Guides. Research suggests that when we do this, we tend to consumer less alcohol post the exercise.
Remove alcohol from your home and/or office.
Engage support and accountability. Let family and friends know that you are committing to healthier behaviours. You may wish to bundle consuming less alcohol with eating healthier and increasing physical fitness.
If pressured to drink, consider simply saying “No thank you”. Have and hold a non-alcoholic drink instead. If the pressure continues, consider simply leaving.
Hydrate – drink more water. Try this before drinking or intersperse between drinks. Overall, this may assist with reducing alcohol consumption.
Drink slowly. If you are going to drink alcohol, sip/drink slowly.
Eat healthily before or during consumption of alcohol. This aids with alcohol absorption.
Exercise. If alcohol is being used to manage anxiety, a better alternative is exercise, particularly outdoors in a green and/or blue space. These spaces are known to calm us down and allow us to better problem solve. The benefits of exercise are numerous.
Make a plan for cravings. Recognise that they will come and acknowledge them when they do but, remind yourself of all the reasons you want to cut back or cease altogether. What is your WHY? Distract yourself with a hobby or call a friend or go for a walk.
Get plenty of rest. Practice good sleep hygiene and build in a wind down routine.
Address loneliness. Identify those activities that you actually have an interest in or have been curious about and have not yet tried that will bring you into closer connection with others. Step outside your comfort zone.
If you slip. It’s not so much what happens to us but how we seek to handle it. If you slip, simply acknowledge this, consider what you learned, remind yourself of your WHY and resume your plan (tweak if necessary). Reset your intention, commitment and determination.
************************************************
References
Australian Alcohol Guidelines revised | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care;
What are the effects of alcohol? | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
Alcohol guidelines Australia - Alcohol and Drug Foundation
16 Ways To Stop Drinking Alcohol – Forbes Health
How alcohol affects your body | Better Health Channel