Thursday, March 13, 2008

From the Founder: Alcohol

Sipping on cocktails or wine is something I enjoy a few times a month. Whether for relaxation purposes or as a social release during the times I catch up with my friends, having a drink is part of my life. However, there is a shot of irony with alcohol when it comes to living a balanced lifestyle.

It seems for most of us the scale is tipped too far when it comes to alcohol. Let’s not kid ourselves; we all tend to go a little too far with alcohol in some way, shape or form. Anyone who knows what a hangover feels like has put a boulder on the scale, which we know makes it very difficult to get the scale even with those odds.

I have had some really unforgettable hangovers where all I could think about was the next minute giving me some salvation from the horrible feeling. You may be wondering, why drink to the point where I feel like that the next day, and my answer to you is that when I am drinking I am serving another aspect of my well-being (as mentioned above).

When I think about wellness, I think about Balance- keeping everything in your life that makes you happy while learning how to make adjustments to keep the scale even to achieve goals. So for me when it comes to drinking alcohol, for the most part, I incorporate preventative measures to combat any of the extreme side effects of a happy hour gone wild.

First, I make sure I eat. Of those unforgettable hangovers 99% of them were the result of me not having enough food in my system giving the alcohol an all-access passport to travel throughout system wrecking havoc. On top of eating, I also eat a banana, take Vitamin B complex and OPC-3 (antioxidant with Pycnogenol) before or after my alcohol consumption. The banana is pretty hearty, plus the potassium rehydrates. In the home remedy world, Vitamin B is said to fight off the toxins in alcohol leading to that crushing headache due to its depletion. The antioxidant is just an overall back up fighting off free radical damage. I really notice a difference when I do not follow this regimen.

Now for my liver, I eat apples for breakfast during the work week. Even though it is a home remedy, I believe in the power of natural solutions. Twice a year I do a 7-day cleanse which includes a liver component that contains Milk Thistle, N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (amino acid), Dandelion Root, Garlic Bulb, Hawthorn Berry Extract, Schizandra Chinensis Fruit and Seed Extract, Yellow Dock Root, Burdock Root, Licorice Root, Barberry Bark and Root, Rosemary Leaf, Ginger Root, Green Tea Leaf Extract, Hyssop, Red Clover Flower, and Turmeric Root Extract.

If you’re a drinker like myself, consider how to be a ‘Well-Drinker’. Cheers!

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