Are you sipping your life away? Alcohol may sound good as a past time, but do you know what it’s actually doing to your body and most importantly your brain? Frock Paper Scissors talks to nutritionist, owner and director of Pure Aussie Supplements, Andreas Dimitriou, about the affects of binge drinking.
We have all heard it before; alcohol is bad for you. But Dimitriou says it has been shown that two standard drinks may be helpful in the prevention of cancer due to the antioxidant value. The real scare is when alcohol is consumed in excessive amounts, especially for young people. It causes extreme havoc on your health, emotional stability and survival.
According to the British United Provident Association (BUPA) from the age of 12 through to the early 20s the brain is still undergoing intense development, forming all the critical components it needs for learning, memory, planning, emotional stability and cognitive thinking. At the age of 24 the brain is fully developed and cannot be changed. If this were the case imagine how your drinking habits have affected your potential.
However it doesn’t stop there. The National Drug Research Institute records 60 young Australians are hospitalised each week for alcohol abuse and around one Australian teenager will die. This is why binge drinking is such a crisis in our country. We are losing our young Australians to irresponsible drinking, especially when experts say it can be easily prevented, or is it? With parents being the main supplier of alcohol for our underage drinkers it’s no wonder young Aussies have become so submissive to the binge drinking epidemic.
Dimitriou says high doses of alcohol are destructive to the body because alcohol contains ingredients that are heavily toxic to the body’s organs and can increase the risk of chronic disease. “The prominent ingredient in alcohol that is bad for the body is ethanol. It is a flammable, colourless, volatile liquid,” he says. “It is also a psychoactive drug and is one of the oldest recreational drugs.” Dimitriou says those heavily under the influence may experience, drowsiness, uncontrollable vomiting, diarrhoea, upset stomach, headaches, breathing difficulties, distorted vision and hearing, impaired judgment, decreased perception and coordination, unconsciousness, anaemia and black outs.
He also says alcohol binging after a long time may lead to deadly diseases. “Long term alcohol abuse may lead to, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart-related diseases, liver disease, nerve damage, sexual problems, permanent damage to the brain, vitamin B1 deficiency, which can lead to a disorder characterized by amnesia, apathy and disorientation, ulcers, gastritis (inflammation of stomach walls), malnutrition and cancer of the mouth and throat,” he says.
“Binge drinking has also been reported to cause social issues such as sexual assault, domestic violence, increased on-the-job injuries and loss of productivity, increased family problems and broken relationships.”
It is a mystery as to why we would gamble our health and life over such a damaging substance. But still alcohol is the most commonly used substance by youth. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse there is a continuing rise in young female binge drinkers. Jane* who has over the years become addicted to alcohol from binging at a young age believes she may not have been in her position if she had more guidance. “I had a difficult childhood after my dad left mum. I believe I would have known better not to get into the drinking scene so early if someone had told me about the dangers,” she says. “When you’re young you think nothing bad can happen to you, you’re not thinking about the future.”
Dimitriou says this is a worrying trend because alcohol affects women differently to men. “Women have a higher risk of alcohol poisoning as they absorb and metabolise alcohol differently to men. Women achieve higher blood alcohol concentrations to men after drinking,” he says. He believes there are some positive drinking habits we can make to dodge the nasty affects of binge drinking. “Eat a meal before drinking, drink alcohol slowly and with a cup of water between alcoholic drinks, also stick to the standard two drinks. It’s healthier to drink regularly than heaps in one go,” he says.
Dimitriou says there are habits we can make to beat the bloat and stop extra calories from sneaking into our bodies. “Beating the binge bloat is difficult to do, however by consuming predominantly pure types of alcohol and going to the bathroom regularly will assist this,” he says. “The alcoholic beverages that are low in sugars and calories are the most pure types that are not mixed, such as a pure vodka or wine. The best ways to burn off calories from binge drinking are high intensity interval training, vigorous weights routine and a clean healthy diet.”
As you have read, there is so much information and help available for alcohol abuse, but it is still a growing dilemma affecting young Australians. Perhaps in the near future young people will drink responsibly if they were taught the dangers earlier in life.