by Adam Bisby | Nov 19, 2020 | Drink Less
Let’s be honest, guys, if our true love’s got us the “magic cure” for hangovers as a gift this holiday season, we’d be stoked. All of those cups of cheer can add up, even if most of our drinking with friends will be taking place on video calls this holiday season.
The good news: it can actually be easy to avoid a hangover while still enjoying some festive cheer. Heed these five tips to help prevent a hangover, and you can get your buzz on without paying for it with a pounding headache and pukey feeling the next day.
1. Chase every drink with a glass of water.
Not a sip or two of water after every drink. Not a glass of water for every three drinks. One bottle of beer. One glass of water. One scotch on the rocks. One glass of water, you get the picture. Water helps your body process and eliminate alcohol, so removing it from your system ASAP with plenty of water will result in a milder, or even non-existent, hangover.
2. Drink plenty of water after drinking
Dehydration isn’t considered the main cause of hangovers, but it contributes to symptoms such as thirst, headache, fatigue, and dry mouth. Okay, if this is starting to sound a lot like a hangover, you get the point. Drink water during and after a few highballs.
3. Drink clear liquor on the rocks
Adding ice to drinks dilutes them, cutting the alcohol content (by volume) and reducing the frequency of refills. Many people like to mix booze with sugary things like pop or juice, which makes hangovers worse. So drinking your liquor straight up can actually help you with hangover prevention when you moderate it. It also turns out that dark-coloured liquors such as whiskey, brandy, and red wine may cause worse hangovers than vodka, gin, and other clear liquors. Unfortunately, no matter what the colour your drink is, you’re going to feel like crap the next day if you drink too much of it.
4. Wine and dine on protein, not sugar
A full stomach slows down the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream. High-protein foods such as eggs, nuts, and lean meats take longer to digest, and so they give your body more time to break down alcohol.
Booze is full of sugar, especially when mixes such as pop and juice are involved (as mentioned above), and this sugar is thought to be part of the reason we get hangovers in the first place. That’s why shortbread cookies and milk chocolate Santas are not ideal foods to eat while drinking.
5. Get your Zs
Alcohol can impair both sleep quality and duration, and staying up late while drinking can disrupt your entire sleep schedule. Although poor sleep doesn’t cause hangover symptoms, it contributes to fatigue and irritability. If possible, try to stop drinking at least 4 hours before bedtime to get a decent sleep and feel good the next day.
There you have it, folks. It’s easy enough to get your buzz on and come out of it feeling great. The key to preventing “Rudolph Nose” is simply moderation.
Do you have any hangover prevention tips that work well for you? We’d love to hear them in the comments below.
This article was originally published on December 14, 2016.
by Adam Bisby | Jan 28, 2019 | Drink Less
Let’s raise a glass (of water!) to the BIG benefits of drinking less alcohol
Animated TV icon Homer J. Simpson has uttered many famous, and hilarious, lines over the years:
“You’ll have to speak up, I’m wearing a towel.”
“Shut up, brain, or I’ll stab you with a Q-tip!”
The list goes on. However, there’s one Homer quote that speaks volumes for anyone thinking about drinking less alcohol:
“To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”
It’s no secret that drinking too much can make us forget things. And that includes our problems! Trouble is, forgetting our problems doesn’t make them go away.
The trouble with booze
Now, it may be an exaggeration to say that alcohol causes ALL of life’s problems. Stuck in traffic? Probably not alcohol’s fault. Driveway covered in ice? Again, booze isn’t to blame.
But many SERIOUS health-related problems, including some cancers and cirrhosis of the liver, are caused by drinking too much.
Then there’s erectile dysfunction and low testosterone levels, both of which are more common among heavy drinkers.
No wonder alcohol causes the second-most harm of any substance in Canada (after tobacco).
On an individual level, drinking too much can cause weight gain and detract from the things that matter much more than getting your buzz on.
The good news: cutting down on alcohol can be a great way to reverse its ill effects. So let’s flip the script on Homer’s quote — “To drinking less alcohol! The solution to so many of life’s problems!” — as we look at three big benefits of drinking less booze. Why is drinking less alcohol good for you? Keep reading to find out!
Goodbye beer gut, hello hotness
Cutting alcohol’s empty calories out of your life can make you slimmer, trimmer and better-looking. If this boosts your overall attractiveness, you may well get a boost in the bedroom. Booze is also notorious for fuelling desire but hurting performance in bed, so there’s another GREAT reason to nix it.
Drinking about a bottle of wine, a six-pack of beer, or six shots of spirits in one sitting is considered to be binge drinking and is super-unhealthy. So what are the ground rules for safe drinking? Studies show them to be a maximum of 3 drinks per day, with 2 alcohol-free days per week.
Alcohol has an uncanny ability to add inches to your waist, which turns excess drinking into a double health whammy. If your alcohol intake contributes to your waist size hanging lower than your ‘dick-do,’ you could be at a higher risk for heart attack and stroke. Plus, alcohol ages you by dehydrating your body, and especially your skin, which causes wrinkles and a pale complexion. Alcohol also robs the body of vitamin A, an essential antioxidant for cell renewal and turnover.
Save some serious coin
Every time you DON’T have a drink your wallet stays a little bit fatter. Cut your weekly drink count in half — say, from 20 to 10 — and you’ll save at least $100 if those pints are at a pub. In a year you’ll have saved more than $5,000, which could add up to millions of dollars over your lifetime! Keep cutting your drink count, and the savings will only increase.
Be better at the things that really matter
Hangovers take away from everything that makes you happy and is important to you. Spending time with family and friends, enjoying your favourite activities — fishing, listening to music, going to the movies — getting it on, you get the idea. Drink less, and you’ll enjoy everything else in life that much more!
At the same time, the foggy thinking that goes along with drinking will disappear, which will allow you to fully appreciate the extra time you have. Not only that, you’ll have a clearer idea of how to spend all that extra cash in your wallet!
What would YOU do with all the money saved by drinking less? Share your ideas in the comments below! But remember, as Homer points out, “You can have all the money in the world, but there’s one thing you can’t buy: A dinosaur.”
Download the free “Blueprint for Better: The 5 Stages for Building a Healthier Life” right now.
by Adam Bisby | Jul 4, 2018 | Get Active, Prevention
You can’t rock the beach, barbecue or dock if you overdo it
In Canada, summer is the season of giving.
Not gift-giving, of course, but giving it. You know: Playing hard on the beach, at the park, around the barbecue, on the dock, you know the drill. In summer, Canadians just like to giv’r!
Overdoing it spoils the fun
Going all out in the hot sun can easily lead to overexertion and, in turn, a range of health issues such as fatigue, low blood sugar, and dehydration. That’s why it’s so important to recognize and respect your body’s limits. After all, you can’t giv’r like a champ if you don’t take regular breaks, get enough sleep at night, eat enough food throughout the day, and drink plenty of water and other fluids.
These precautions go beyond the ability to party hearty. Studies show that injuries are the leading killer of Canadians aged 1 to 44. In B.C. alone, more than 400,000 residents are injured each year, but 90% of injuries are both predictable and preventable. You can’t giv’r at all if you’re down for the count.
Play hard, work hard, be smart
Playing hard goes hand-in-hand with working hard — as the old saying goes — and here again guys should listen to what their bodies tell them. Overexertion or strenuous movement and falls, it turns out, account for nearly half of occupational injuries reported to the Canadian Community Health Survey.
So go ahead and go for it this summer, but be smart about how you do it. After all, come fall, you may want to giv’r then, too…
by Adam Bisby | Nov 7, 2017 | Drink Less
We’ve all been there: You just spent a couple hours at the pub, and on the walk home some kind of invisible force pulls you, kicking and screaming, toward a 24-hour pizzeria, fast-food restaurant, or hot dog stand.
OK, maybe it was your late-night appetite that practically forced you to scarf that greasy pizza. When we’re buzzed, we tend to binge-eat unhealthy food. Trouble is, drinking to excess (more than three drinks in one night) makes the unhealthy food hit that much worse.
The good news: There is a way to get your drink on without all those junk-food cravings. It costs nothing, it couldn’t be easier, and get this — it will even take the edge off a hangover.
What is this miracle cure, you ask? It’s not a miracle — it’s water! One drink, one glass of water, repeat: Having a glass of H2O after each and every drink really does work wonders.
Does drinking water between drinks help? You bet it does! Here’s how:
Curbs food cravings: drinking water fills up your stomach, making you feel less hungry. If that sounds simple, it’s because it is!
Boosts energy: your brain and body need water to work properly, and drinking lots of it will help make you sharper and more energetic. All the better for flirting with the server or putting the moves on your significant other when you get home.
Keeps you cool: water is refreshing and hydrating, and downing some between drinks will also help keep you out of sloppy-drunk territory by slowing down and diluting your consumption. Same buzz, less sloppiness. Again, all the better for turning on the charm.
Hangover helper: water helps your body process and eliminate alcohol, so removing it from your system ASAP with plenty of water will result in a milder, or even non-existent, hangover. When you order a drink, ask for a glass of water with it, and then finish off that water after each and every alcoholic beverage.
So let’s all raise a glass to water! And then drink it…
Download the free “Blueprint for Better: The 5 Stages for Building a Healthier Life” right now.
by Adam Bisby | Jul 28, 2016 | Drink Less
“To alcohol! The cause of…and solution to…all of life’s problems.”
—Homer Simpson
Drinking has a time and place, and it can be a pleasant way to unwind after a hard day’s work, but hear us out: What guy doesn’t want more money, a healthier body and better sex? The problems caused by excessive drinking — financial troubles, liver issues, low libido, and nasty hangovers (ugh!) — are reasons enough to think twice before having one too many pumpkin ales this fall.
The question is, how many is too many? Around 10 drinks a week, no more than three a day, and 2 days a week with none is considered “moderate” consumption.
The biggest benefits of moderation
1. Extra cash in your wallet
Do the math: Every drink you don’t have puts a few extra bucks in your pocket. Cut your weekly drink count in half — say, from 20 to 10 — and you’ll save at least $100 if those pints are at a pub. In a year you’ll have saved more than $5,000!
2. A clear mind
The foggy thinking that accompanies drinking will disappear as your brain recovers and repairs itself. Not only that, you’ll have a clearer idea of how to spend that extra cash from the first benefit.
3. Improved sex life
Alcohol is rightly notorious for fuelling desire but hurting performance in bed. Cutting alcohol’s empty calories from your diet can make you trimmer — it’s not called a “beer gut” for nothing, right? Plus, the admiration and respect you’ll earn along the way from your significant other will score you some serious points.
Seems like Homer and the rest of us should toast to “taking it easy on the brewskies” instead!
