The Health Benefits Of Wine Are Bullshit
If youve had an alcohol addiction, the dumbest possible reason you could have for drinking wine is its alleged health benefits. Whatever antioxidants wine might have, they offer no benefits for people who cant stop drinking the stuff.
Still, its easier to miss something when theres a massive PR campaign aimed at convincing people that they cant live without two glasses of wine per day. So lets put this one to rest once and for all.
First of all, if you want to get antioxidants from grapes, then just eat grapes.
Secondly, studies have found that exercise, rather than wine, is the secret behind wine-drinkers healthy hearts. Is it any surprise that people who can limit themselves to two glasses per day tend to exercise more?
Moreover, you can rest assured that tea is much better for you than wine.
How To Stop Craving Wine
So how exactly do you go about stopping your cravings for wine in the evening? Well, our first strategy for our clients is to get them to mix up their nighttime routine so that the classic conditioning doesnt kick in. That means if you arrive home at 7 pm you need to do something very different from what you were doing before.
Mixing up your routines makes it harder for your mind to set off the drink trigger. As an example, if when you come indoors you go straight upstairs and run a hot bath you have taken the trip to your wine rack off the agenda. The mind is now pre-occupied with doing another activity that is not associated with wine.
Occupying your mind with different activities which are not associated with alcohol is important when you are breaking your alcohol cravings. You need to work out a plan of action for what you can do when you come home from work that will change up your old routines. That might be going for a walk, sitting in a different room, doing a hobby that involves both of your hands or even ringing a friend for a talk.
Placing your attention on doing something else is very important as when your mind has time to think it will invariably think about the wine. What could you do to keep your mind occupied so that it doesnt crave that glass of wine? Remember breaking the nightly wine habit requires some effort on your part.
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Youre Unable To Enjoy Life Without A Drink In Hand
If you cant enjoy a party where the Merlot isnt pouring freely, and a dry dinner with friends is agonizing, your wine habit may be an addiction. Life should be first on your list to enjoy and experience, not the newest bottle youve brought home.
The easiest way to see if your wine habit has turned into a problem? Take a few weeks off. If drinking isnt an issue for you, you shouldnt have an issue forgoing the booze. If youre back to the bottle in a few days, youve learned that you cant control your drinking. Hey, its a scary thing to find out. But many of us have been there before, and were here for you now.
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Drug Addiction Dependence And Withdrawal In Shopaholics
Withdrawal symptoms may vary from person to person, but according to the Chicago Tribune, many shopping addicts will experience withdrawal symptoms that are similar to the withdrawal symptoms experienced by people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. If you feel irritable, depressed or out of control after shopping, you may be experiencing withdrawal, and you may need to get help.
I Made The Most Of My Hangover
One of the best things about giving up alcohol – alongside the better sleep, weight loss, clearer skin and having more money – is gaining back the time I would’ve spent hungover on the sofa.
Now I’ve reclaimed my weekends, I decided to make the most of my newfound time and energy by running. I know it’s not for everyone, but I’d definitely suggest trying to find something you love that you had neither the time or the energy for after drinking. It could be baking, doing a fitness DVD or simply arranging more early morning outings with the kids.
I actually started running a couple of years ago, but stopped when my hangovers started lasting several days. Back then, I couldnt run for more than two minutes without wanting a break that is no exaggeration but, I very gradually worked my way up to 5k with the Couch to 5k podcast . This is a brilliant and FREE podcast of guided runs that very gradually build up, until before you know it you can run for 30 minutes without stopping. Even the super-sceptical writer Charlie Brooker is a fan.
I moved on from 5K and downloaded a running app by Verv recently . Along with the 5K it also includes other gradual workouts to help you reach 10K, a half marathon or a full marathon.
The plus side of this one, is you can choose between plenty of different soundtracks and it also tracks your distance, speed, GPS route and calories burned.
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The Connections Between Alcohol Use Disorder And Obesity
We already know that having a family history of alcoholism can make you more likely to develop the same disease. Obesity rates are now higher than ever, and this has also been shown to be linked to alcoholism. If you abuse alcohol, you could cause a loved one to become obese without meaning to do so.
If someone sees a family member misusing alcohol, they may avoid drinking. However, rather than craving alcohol, they may turn to other substances to make them happy. In many cases, these are high-calorie foods, which taste good and are a cheaper, more accessible option for dealing with their problems.
In some cases, alcoholics are almost malnourished since they depend more on drinking than eating. Alcoholic drinks, especially mixed ones with juices, usually have a lot of calories. For example, a pina colada packs about 650 calories, and a gin and tonic has up to 300 calories. Since alcoholic drinks dont satisfy hunger, people will end up eating more on top of the drinks to feel full. As a result, theyre probably consuming much more calories than they should.
Where Does It Come From
Alcohol is produced by fermenting or distilling various fruits, vegetables or grains. Fermented beverages include beer and wine, which have a maximum alcohol content of about 15 per cent. Distilled beverages, often called hard liquor or spirits, such as rum, whisky and vodka, have a higher alcohol content.
Although alcohol comes in different forms, it has the same effect. In the following table, each standard drink contains 13.6 grams of alcohol.
* Note that regular beers have an average alcohol content of five per cent, but some have as much as six or seven per cent, making them stronger than a standard drink. Light beers have an average alcohol content of about four per cent.
** such as sherry, port or vermouth
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What To Do If You Suspect An Overdose
If you think someone is overdosing on fentanyl or any other opioid:
- use naloxone, a drug that can temporarily reverse the effects of an opioid overdose
- naloxone wears off in 20 to 90 minutes, so it is important to seek further medical attention
- give the person another dose of naloxone if signs and symptoms do not disappear or if they reappear
Staying at the scene of an overdose is important to help save the life of the person experiencing an overdose. The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act provides some legal protection for individuals who witness an overdose and call 911 or their local emergency number for help.
Signs And Symptoms Of Addiction To Wine
Its important to recognize wine addiction symptoms because a casual and healthy drinking habit can easily become problematic. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse of any kind can cause serious complications and health problems and must be addressed and treated.
Some Signs that Drinking Wine Has Gotten Out of Control Include:
- Trying to stop drinking or to drink less, but failing again and again
- Often setting a drinking limit and going past it
- Other people are noticing and commenting on drinking habit
- Feelings of guilt or shame after drinking
- Drinking wine alone more and more frequently
- Forgetting what happened after a drinking binge
- Hiding drinking or lying about a number of drinks actually consumed
- Feeling a need for wine when stressed, sad, or experiencing other negative emotions
These are all signs of a potential alcohol use disorder, which may be mild, moderate, or severe. A severe disorder is also considered an addiction, or alcoholism. There are specific alcohol or wine addiction symptoms that point to alcoholism:
- Tolerance. Needing more and more alcohol to get the same level of intoxication.
- Withdrawal. Uncomfortable physical and mood symptoms when not drinking.
- Drinking in spite of issues. Continuing to drink even when it causes significant problems.
- Time and energy. Spending an outsized amount of time and energy on drinking wine, even giving up other activities to drink.
- Loss of control. Being completely unable to control drinking amount or frequency.
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Never Drown Your Feelings In Alcohol
Alcohol dependency may sometimes develop when your reasons for drinking are emotional, like depression, loneliness, stress or boredom. This substance is a depressant that can slow down the brain function and alter your mood.
But, the more you drink to ease your problems, the more you’re impairing your senses and ability to make sound decisions. If you have all these negative feelings, find other ways to manage stress, such as talking to a therapist, or cultivating a hobby, or simply opening up to a confidant.
Abusing alcohol can lead to short and long-term effects in your body and for some, it may be too late to be fully corrected. Cutting back on drinking doesnt have to be complicated and it starts with the will and the conscious effort to do so.
How To Stop Drinking Alcohol Every Night
If you have been spending time searching online for information on how to stop drinking alcohol every night, you may have started to become a little concerned about your drinking habits.
Within this blog, we will help you to identify whether your drinking is something to be concerned about. We will also look at different approaches to you can use to stop drinking alcohol every night, which range from at-home strategies to professional addiction support and treatment. The approach that will be most suitable for you will depend on a number of factors, which we will also look into.
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Negative Effects Of Excessive Wine Consumption
Whether its white or red wine addiction, or not yet an addiction, drinking too much can have some serious impacts on health:
- Increased blood cholesterol and toxins in because of impaired liver function
- Premature aging
It can be a little confusing to find out how wine intake can impair health. Moderate consumption may have health benefits and these often directly contradict the negative health effects of drinking.For instance, in moderation, red wine can actually support weight loss and maintenance because of the effect of antioxidants on fat. But, when it is consumed excessively, it can add pounds. Alcohol has a lot of calories without providing much nutrition and tends to stimulate the appetite. Someone who is drinking is likely to eat more and gets excess calories from the alcohol.
Shopping Despite Fears Guilt Or Desire To Change
One of the classic signs of addiction is wanting to stop the behavior, but feeling unable to do so. This is also the case with compulsive shopping. People struggling with compulsive shopping often want to change their ways. They may recognize their habits as irrational and excessive, but they continue engaging in negative habits.
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Counseling For Alcohol Abuse: How Long Does It Take To Get Sober
On average, however, one in six Americans binge drink at least once a week. And on the subject of digital tools, there are now many apps that can help you monitor or manage your quitting process. These include drink trackers, daily reminders, and even bluetooth breathalyzers that record your blood alcohol content. Finally, online communities are springing up that make it possible to socialize with others who are quitting, exchange support, and even build a new community.
How to Stop Drinking Alcohol: Killing Alcohol Addiction #health#recovery
Get That Right
Alcoholism, clinically referred to as alcohol use disorder , is a common, chronic, and sometimes-progressive medical condition that involves the compulsive Sobriety consumption of alcohol. Such maladaptive patterns of drinking can lead to several serious social, familial, and physical consequences.
Learn To Associate Wine With How You Felt Not How It Smells Or Tastes
This is a tough one, but it can absolutely be done. For the few months after leaving rehab, I was almost emotional when I saw bottles of Cigar Box, which was my go-to Malbec for evenings at home.
Thats right, I was drinking bottles of wine for no reason often alone, to ward off withdrawals. How did that make me feel?
Absolutely miserable. The high would last maybe an hour at most, and Id pass out drooling on my pillow. It would wear off in the middle of the night and Id wake up from a shiftless sleep. The worst part would be a few hours later, waking up from shaky half-sleep and feeling too weak and incompetent to tackle the day ahead.
At that point, the deep sense of shame and inadequacy would kick in. Id wonder if I could short-circuit my day so that I could open up another bottle of something sooner rather than later.
If any of this resonates with you, ask yourself next time you see a wine bottle: Do you really love the smell and taste enough to justify feeling like that again?
Dont lie to yourself youre not after the taste, youre after the euphoria and you can get that from real life.
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What Is Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol addiction is officially diagnosed as a substance use disorder that is commonly called alcoholism. Its a disease affecting the brain and causes you to crave alcohol like its a vital, life-sustaining resource. To understand alcoholism, its important to understand how alcohol works in the body. Alcohol is known as a central nervous system depressant, which means that when you drink, alcohol slows down, or depresses, activity in the central nervous system.
Alcohol does this by mimicking and binding to a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid . GABA is a brain chemical that calms you down by blocking signals that cause stress and anxiety from reaching the brain.
So when alcohol enters the body disguised as GABA, it activates the GABA receptors in the brain, stimulating them into overproduction and creating far more GABA than the body would ever be able to on its own. This is why alcohol use causes feelings of relaxation and a general lowering of inhibitions. Its also why drinking results in slurred speech, slowed breathing, and impaired movement, as these are all caused by too much GABA.
When someone regularly abuses alcohol for an extended period of time, the brain becomes hardwired to depend on the GABA supplied by the alcohol, as it will have started making much less natural GABA to balance things out in the brain.
Best For Daily Meditations: Twenty
- Platforms: iOS and Android
- Features: daily meditations and shareable messages
Twenty-Four Hours a Day is an app based on a self-help book of the same name by Richmond Walker.
The app gives people access to 366 daily meditations that may help a person focus on the 12-step system from support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
Swiping back and forth brings up daily messages that people can share. People can also bookmark their favorite meditations for easy access.
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Can Alcohol Addiction Cause High Blood Pressure
Alcohol use disorders are often associated with hypertension. Chronic alcoholism can lead to several long-term health effects, many of which involve the heart. Alcohol can also raise your blood pressure temporarily with a single drink. Increased blood pressure can last up to two hours after one drink. Chronic alcohol use can lead to permanently high blood pressure until you address the problem. Hypertension may not cause any symptoms until it contributes to other cardiovascular problems. Hypertension with chronic alcoholism can increase your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Herbal Remedies To Reduce Cravings For Alcohol
Fighting addiction is no laughing matter. Having a severe dependency on one thing can destroy both lives and relationships. If your goal is to get out of a slump, or to help out a friend in need its important to know that there are ways to improve the reliability of your decision to quit.
With alcohol in particular, people often develop addictive habits over long periods of time. It starts with a few drinks here and there, and eventually scales to more serious proportions when control is lost. As a result, people often face liver failure and a number of other conditions that are hard to fix.
Well thankfully, if youre trying to quit, there are some foods that can improve your ability to do so. How many of them do you have in your kitchen?
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Action Steps For Quitting An Addiction
Because change is so difficult, it’s useful to have a guide when attempting to kick an addiction to drugs, alcohol or behavior. Research shows that the following steps can help you move toward your recovery goals. You have the greatest chance of success if you adopt all five steps.
1. Set a quit date. It might be helpful to choose a meaningful date like a special event, birthday, or anniversary.
2. Change your environment. Remove any reminders of your addiction from your home and workplace. For example, separate from those who would encourage you to be involved with the object of your addiction . If you are trying to quit drinking, get rid of any alcohol, bottle openers, wine glasses, and corkscrews. If you’re trying to quit gambling, remove any playing cards, scratch tickets, or poker chips. Also, don’t let other people use or bring reminders of the addiction-related substance or behavior into your home.
3. Distract yourself. Instead of giving in to an urge to use, come up with alternative activities, such as going for a walk or calling a friend or family member to talk, so that you keep busy until the urge passes. Be prepared to deal with things that trigger your cravings, such as being in an environment where others are using.
4. Review your past attempts at quitting. Think about what worked and what did not. Consider what might have contributed to relapse and make changes accordingly.
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