Monthly Boost December 2005

Primarily, alcohol is the GREAT carbohydrate and a very high glycaemic index at that! In other words it has the impact of increasing your blood sugar very rapidly, which then only gets stored as fat (yes Atkin’s proved that point very very clearly). So if you have low blood sugar issues, also known as hypoglycaemia, you may suffer from any of the following symptoms when hungry; ‘shakes’, getting angry, irritable, emotional, or feel faint, unable to concentrate (some call it ‘brain fog’), then alcohol is definitely not your ‘friend’ more a ‘foe’.

The sugar rich alcohol, sends the pancreas into a frenzy. The pancreas starts to throw out insulin like there is no tomorrow (to some it does feel like there is no tomorrow after a huge binge) to reduce the blood sugar levels, but now the blood sugar has gone down too low..it’s a bit like a diabetic who takes too much insulin, this goes on to create the hypoglycaemic symptoms mentioned above. …what a roller-coaster ride, we get ourselves onto.

So what can you do? ...It would make sense to slow down the blood sugar rush from the alcohol for a start, don’t you think? In order to do this, one should eat before drinking, or rather eat whilst drinking… and yes I know for some this may seem rather foreign, but to the French and Greeks this is the ‘norm’.

The food before or with a drink should contain protein and fat, none of the pasta dishes with a tomato/vegetable based sauce, thank you. How about a proper meal before ending up in a pub to booze the night away (I apologise to those of you who do not ‘booze’) but stay with me and I will get some tips in for you too. Maybe a steak with some vegetables and roast potatoes, or a fish dish with some French cream sauce and sautéed vegetables? If all this is too much before dashing off to the pub, maybe a ‘bacon buttie’ (dare I say) or a glass of whole fat milk (rarely would I recommend this option, but the milk tolerant may just be OK), ooh I feel rather sacrilegious giving this advice….

The purpose of eating before drinking is:

1. it slows down the sugar rush from the alcohol

2. it also lines the stomach so there is less irritation to the stomach by the alcohol (so having an aspirin the next morning just aggravates the stomach lining more)

• most importantly keep your self hydrated, drink plenty of water (not the sparkling variety either). Ideally for every glass of alcohol one should be drinking 3 glasses of water (yes three!) so you may be frequenting the ladies or gents. This may not be helpful if you have just sparked off a conversation with a rather attractive individual
• take some liver support supplements, such as N-acetyl cysteine, vitamin C, MSM, glycine, B vitamins (the one that works depends on your nutritional status in general)
• Homeopathically stick with ‘nux-vomica’, a great liver remedy
• A capsule or two of good quality evening primrose oil (before the night out) will not only help with lining the stomach but prevents a hangover
• The next morning, have a high protein breakfast (I am sure if Atkin’s was around today he would hire me, don’t you think?)
• Avoid coffee, coffee is not a hangover cure, it acts as a diuretic and even further aggravates the blood sugar levels and also keeps you feeling ‘under the weather’ for longer

Now if you wretch at the thought of eating breakfast, then your liver not only needs some solid support but a good detox…so you may just want to book in with us for the new year…hhhmmm.

And for us women, due to the very important fact that we have less of the alcohol metabolising enzyme (feminism has it’s limits) we need to be even more vigilant with the advise above.

In January we will be concentrating on detoxification programmes, to not only clear out our bodies but to clear out the fat. For more information or bookings email us at info@khushmark.com

To a joy-filled December and a fruitful 2006!

Khush Mark