There was a period in my life where alcohol played a significant role and was almost always associated with the word FUN.
In my late teens and early 20’s I enjoyed more that your standard few drinks – one, often three times per week. I’m not sure I would have called myself a ‘binge drinker’ but there was rarely a night out that I didn’t drink, let alone the amount of times I was sick from it. Yes, they were some classy moments I assure you.
I don’t have any massive regrets about that period of my life, but like most of my friends, that was our version of normal. Looking back now, I do recall a handful of times that my judgement was impaired and had I not been drinking, I probably would have thought twice about that guy or getting into that car.
Slowly but surely as the years went on a gradual wave of change occurred…
After finishing university and starting full-time work I suffered from reoccurring allergy attacks. Thankfully, my curious mind chose to look beyond the steroid sprays and antibiotics and examine the relationship between my diet and my immune system.
During your ‘invincible’ 20’s, you never think what impact your party habits could have on your health down the track. For me, my university days were a combination of intense periods of study (cue sleep deprivation) coupled with a not so great diet and alcohol. As I found out, these three all put significant strain on your immune system.
OK, I am not here to tell you to stop enjoying the fun altogether, but if you respect your body like the GODDESS you are, then it might be worth listening to my story…
In the gradual process of reducing my alcohol consumption, many aspects of life and my body got dramatically better in addition to my immunity. The first being my mental health.
The hangover, yes, it’s like the yang to the yin of a night out. We all fear it but we keep knocking back the drinks anyway. It took me a lot of crappy (and did I mention sickly) hangovers and wasting away many a Sunday or two to realise how much of an effect the alcohol was having on my level of anxiety. I recall many a mornings as the sparkly feeling from the night before began to tarnish, my level of confidence would also suffer – leaving me feeling pretty average. Sure enough, as those bad boys became a thing of the past, I regained the sparkle in my crown!
I took control over my weekends.
All I wanted to do was THINK and DREAM BIG.
No feeling down, lonely or sorry for myself anymore!
Secondly, you guessed it! My skin dramatically improved.
The primary reason is that our detoxifying organ the liver is under far less stress when alcohol is not part of the equation. Bye bye acne. Secondly, my skin tone became more even, because the alcohol is not robbing you of essential collagen-producing vitamins and minerals like Vitamin A. We all know of the ‘dry horrors’ that alcohol can induce, so with that gone so too was the dry skin!
Hormones and alcohol are also closely connected and the lovely Dr Nat Kringoudis recommends keeping your alcohol consumption to a minimum to look after your cycle and protect your fertility. She suggests around 2 glasses of wine per week on average is a good rule of thumb.
I still love a good glass of wine or white spirits now and again especially around celebrations, but it is no longer a necessity for a night out. When I do have a drink or two, I tend to opt for white spirits with lime and soda (lower sugar) or Organic/low preservative wine varieties as my allergies can be triggered by the sulphites.
Now I’m curious to know, what role does alcohol play in your life? Do you have a good relationship with it? How does it make your body feel? There is no right or wrong with these questions, and we respect that everyone has had their own experience or opinion.
As always, we would love you to share your thoughts below or send this to a friend if you think they might enjoy it!
