One of the most frequent questions working professionals like you who come to me for reversing type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol or obesity, ask: Can I drink? My answer always delights them, because yes, in moderation, depending upon your health issues, there are certain kinds of alcoholic drinks that you can consume. Now that I have your attention, let me elaborate.
The bad part about drinking is that it can damage your liver, increase your risk of certain types of cancers and harm brain cells. However, moderate drinking customized to people’s age, lifestyle and gender can provide benefits to the heart and reduce the risk of stroke.
Here are the qualifiers:
1. You need to be eating healthy: at least 30-40 per cent raw foods every day. These protect your liver and reduce cancer risk.
2. You need to exercise moderately; 30-40 minutes walk, 5 days a week. This reduces inflammation risk.
3. You need to be sleeping well. Seven-8 hours. Everyday. Consistently.
4. Even if you have health conditions, these need to be regulated and controlled. For example, blood pressure is normal with regular medication. All vital medical tests should be normal.
Now that we have the qualifiers (or what you need to do to earn that drink) in place, here’s HOW TO drink:
• Never touch the brown ones. Rum, whiskey, scotch, malts. All increase bloating and inflammation.
• Go for vodka. For men, two 60 ml ones three times a week, for women, two 30 ml ones, three times a week. Don’t mix it with soda, cold drinks, juice. Have it with lime and water.
• Reach for the red. Red wine already has established benefits. One glass (150 ml) of red wine per day for women and two glasses for men have shown better benefits to reduce unexplained pains, keep the heart healthy by reducing atherosclerosis and hence the risk of stroke, than not drinking at all.
• Make sure you eat before. Liver damage occurs when the liver cannot break down the alcohol. Empty stomach drinking may give you a high but it also increases chances of liver damage and of course, bad behaviour.
• Load up on raw fibre before or after. Once you have lined your stomach with some nuts and a protein based snack (like eggs), munch on carrots, cucumber during or after the drinking.
• Don’t exceed quantities. Self explanatory?
• Don’t drink if you’re not working hard to earn your drink. You need to deserve it first!
Alcohol, or madira is the drink of the Gods. Qualify with discipline before you can go near the stuff. Cheers.
Question Of The Fortnight
Send in your questions to askrachnachhachhi@gmail.com
I converted to being vegan but I still feel tired most of the time and get pains. I don’t have any medical conditions and I exercise regularly (pretty vigorously). Why am I low on energy and high on pain?
— Aneek Kumar, 51, Navi Mumbai
Dear Aneek, First of all let me congratulate you that at 51, you can boast of being disease-free. Most people who are active and exercise regularly get fatigued with vegan diets, and that’s what has happened with you. It’s called a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and can be reversed if you add eggs, fish, nuts and yoghurt in your diet, apart from fruits, raw salads with extra virgin olive and flaxseed oils. Vegan diets are incomplete. So we need natural proteins and probiotics (present in yoghurt) that can reduce muscle fatigue. Try this, and email me on how you’re feeling in three weeks. I’m sure you will feel a whole lot better!
The author is a certified nutritional therapist and WHO certified in nutrition. BW Businessworld published her book Restore, to order a copy mail at rachna.chhachhi@businessworld.in
Columnist
Rachna Chhachhi is a certified holistic cancer nutrition and yoga expert, and author of four bestselling health books. She treats across 27 countries.
