So I drink alcohol its too late to change!

Alcohol is not the only drink that can damage the liver! A growing number of people have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and a major contributor to this is the amount of sugar sweetened drinks we and particularly young children drink. High fructose/sucrose drinks mean is gets to the liver too quickly to process properly. You couldn’t eat 14 apples in 2 minutes could you – YES we drink the same amount of sugar in the drinks.

If you don’t drink – or you’re able to cut down on how much you drink – you could make a real difference to your overall wellbeing. Reducing your alcohol intake is one of those steps that seem simple but actually has a lot more benefits than you might realise – these are just a few of them.

• Weight loss is an added benefit. There are lots of calories in sugar added drinks and alcohol and it’s easy to forget how much weight this can pile on if you’re drinking regularly. The reccomended amount of fruit juice a day is 115 ml. A single glass of wine is around 120 calories and a regular beer comes in at 150 calories. That can really add up if you’re spending a night in the pub. Plus, we tend to snack more recklessly when we’ve had a few – and the hangover the next day can mean we’re much less careful with the calories.
• You’re less likely to have accidents. Alcohol is a big factor in accidents and injuries so you’re likely to be safer if you’re avoiding it. For example, alcohol plays a role in at least 50% of all serious trauma injuries.
• Your heart will get healthier. There’s lots of different research into whether a glass of red every now and then might be good for your heart. But what we do know is that drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol has the opposite effect – alcohol increases the blood pressure in the heart each time it passes through! Cutting back can lower blood pressure and also minimise the potential for heart failure.
• Give your liver a chance to heal. Because it’s the role of the liver to process toxins through the body this is often where excessive alcohol consumption has some of the biggest impact. Upwards of 14 units is considered heavy drinking and this can lead to cirrhosis, fatty liver and a whole range of other problems. As soon as you start cutting down on alcohol and incorporate alcohol-free days you give your body the chance to heal.
• Alcohol is a downer. Because it’s a man-made chemical, alcohol is not your friend. In fact, it can make you feel low and depressed and that can impact social connections and relationships. We often view alcohol as something social but the reality is that you can be sociable without it – if you’re drinking alone or feel like you can’t socialise until you’ve had a few then it might be time to reevaluate the role of alcohol in your life. Connections and relationships could improve significantly as a result.
• You could lower the risk of cancer. alcohol but consuming too much of it can increase your chances of ending up with some of the nastiest cancers, from Bowel, Mouth, throat cancer and breast cancer.
• You’ll get more sleep. Although you might fall asleep quickly after drinking alcohol, the quality of sleep is low and you’re likely to wake often. So, you’ll get better shut-eye if you don’t have alcohol in your system.

Whether it’s spirits or sugar, guilty pleasures can produce fat in the liver and this is a huge danger for the country as well – using this quote from the January link may be useful!

These are just some of the reasons why it makes a lot of sense to cut down on the amount of alcohol or sugar sweetened drinks you consume – use mylife365 to help you do it.