EP.326/ REPLAY: How to minimise alcohol impact this festive season
Today I want to talk about alcohol and the holiday season. I think most of us listening will be increasing alcohol intake over the new few weeks, and the reality is, alcohol does have an impact on our hormones and inflammation levels, setting the stage for lower progesterone levels, increased oestrogen levels and more inflammation. These can all result in more PMS, more oestrogen dominant symptoms like heavy and clotty periods and sore breasts, and lastly, higher inflammation levels equals more pain.
Now, I am not a big drinker – I did a lot of binge drinking in my late teens and early twenties and it massively affected my hormones and my endo, so now, I stick to a couple of glasses across the year, and for me, I find that quite easy to do. But I appreciate that I don’t work in an office so I don’t have Christmas parties to attend to, I don’t come from a family who drink a lot at gatherings and I don’t see my friends regularly, so it’s a lot easier for me to do this and I appreciate that.
So, for those of us who feel social pressure or simply enjoy having a drink with friends or family, I wanted to share some tips that can help lessen the impact of alcohol.
Remember, these are just tips and tricks and if you just want to have a drink and not worry about it, you absolutely can – that’s totally your choice!
So, let’s get to it:
Number one is to eat with alcohol – especially fats and proteins. Alcohol affects blood sugar, which can result in the hormonal imbalances l listed earlier – and unfortunately, it doesn’t take a lot for this impact to start kicking in.
So, here are two options: Try to keep your alcohol intake to meals out, as eating with alcohol reduces some of the blood sugar reactions and also can slow down alcohol uptake. If you’re meeting up with friends for a Christmas or New Year’s celebration, try suggesting you go for a meal, rather than to a pub or bar, and enjoy your drink with food.
If it can’t be helped and you’re going to be drinking in a bar or pub, pairing your drinks with fats and protein like nuts and olives, is a great way to help lessen that blood sugar crash and burn.
Following along those lines, number two is to try, if you can, to minimise the cocktails and stick to wine or clear spirits like vodka. Cocktails are often laden with added sugar from syrups, juices and sodas, so they can worsen inflammation levels and blood sugar spikes quickly, especially if you’re having several.
You could try mixing your drinks with sparkling water, herbs and extracts and whole fruits like citrus slices or berries, if you want to make something special. Again, this is just a tip – if you love your cocktail and it’ll make you miserable to skip it, have your cocktail!
If you’re choosing wine, red wine typically has the least sugar, with white wine typically having the highest levels.
My next tip is to stay hydrated. Alcohol consumption causes dehydration and depletes certain minerals, which can lead to heightened cramping with our periods. One way to counteract that is to always have mineral water alongside your alcoholic drink to sip on. Mineral water is rich in minerals that are going to be getting depleted as you drink, and if you want to go the extra mile, pure coconut water is also high in hydrating minerals like potassium, however, keep to 100ml to 200ml as it contains naturally occurring sugars that can spike blood sugar levels.
Whilst we’re on the subject of hydration, you could dilute your drinks with sparkling mineral water, to help lessen the amount of alcohol you need and add extra hydration. So, for example, you could mix vodka, coconut water and sparkling mineral water with lime and mint.
And I know you’ve probably heard this a million times, but make sure you drink lots of water before bed after drinking, to help rehydrate you over night. Again, mineral would be preferable over tap water, due to its ability to replenish lost nutrients.
My last tip is to give your liver some extra love this holiday season. Your liver is the key organ involved in the detoxification of oestrogen, and when it has to prioritise other waste products that are more toxic to the body, like alcohol, oestrogen can get put on the back burner and can actually be reabsorbed by the blood stream, creating elevated oestrogen levels.
Green tea, dandelion tea or coffee and nettle tea can all help support the liver and can be great additions to have the morning after a few drinks.
Foods that help the liver include cruciferous veggies, broccoli sprouts (which are literally the tiny shoots of broccoli seeds), and other sulphur containing foods like eggs, chicken, garlic and onions. Colourful fruits and vegetables also provide the liver with a wide range of antioxidants that are required for the detoxication process.
You can also try castor oil packs. Castor oil packs may help to improve lymph and liver function, and whilst more research needs to be done to prove the efficacy of them, clinically, we see them work very well. In my training, we use castor oil packs 3-4 times a week, in a row, but not on your period. So, for example, you would use a castor oil pack on Monday, Tuesday, Weds and Thursday, every week, except on your period. I’ve linked to my tutor’s guide on making your own castor oil packs in the show notes, which you can download for free.
Lastly, there are a number of supplements which can support liver detoxification during this period. However, most of them are strong and shouldn’t be used without working with a practitioner, so some more user-friendly ones to start with that can generally support the liver are a B vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, milk thistle and quercetin.
Okay, that’s it for this week! I hope you find these tips helpful.
Show Notes
https://www.fixyourperiod.com/castor-oil-packs/
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This episode is sponsored by BeYou Cramp Relief Patches. Soothe period cramps the natural way with these 100% natural and discreet menthol and eucalyptus oil stick on patches. Click here to find out more and to shop: https://beyouonline.co.uk/pages/how-it-works
Produced by Chris Robson