What Happens To Your Body When You Give Up Alcohol For One Month
By Chloe Mcleod on
We all love to indulge in alcohol every now and then, but a night out with friends brings social pressures in regards to frequent drinking. It can feel impossible to dodge having a drink when you want to be part of the group vibe - and before you know it, you’re waking up with a dry mouth and a nasty hangover again.
Dry July is a great way to reassess your relationship with alcohol consumption and see the health benefits of taking a month off. If you’re signing up to raise money, you’ll also be helping people with cancer.
Here are a few ways the human body can benefit from abstaining from alcohol for a whole month.
#1 Improvements to mental health
Alcohol may seem like a mood elevator when you’re dancing and having a great time...
Alcohol can be hard to quit — here are ways to set yourself up to succeed
By ABC Life / By Johanna Khan on
Have you ever considered cutting down on the amount of alcohol you drink, or even stopping completely?
It's not that you have a big problem with alcohol but there are some things about your relationship with booze that you want to change.
You might be reflecting on your indulgent holiday period and want to take a step back, or perhaps you've noticed your drinking is stopping you from doing other things.
So how do you get started? While a break from booze will look different for each one of us, there are certain strategies that can really help if you want to stop drinking (even if it's just for a while).
Create a support network
Personal support networks and connections can keep people going with quitting alcohol, says addiction...
Raspberry Lime & Mint Mocktail
By The Mindful Mocktail on
Ingredients (serves 1)
- 8 raspberries
- 1 lime, quartered
- 8-10 mint leaves
- 1 tsp sweetener of choice (opt)
- Sparkling water
Method
- Place raspberries, lime, mint and sweetener (if using) into a glass.
- Muddle together for about 1 minute to release the juice from the lime and raspberries, and the flavour from the mint. If you don’t have a muddler, use the back of a wooden spoon or similar.
- Top with sparkling water and stir gently.
- Add ice and garnish.
For more recipes like this, follow @themindfulmocktail on Instagram
Rose Lemonade
By The Mindful Mocktail on
This pretty, refreshing drink is perfect for one or a crowd. It looks so pretty served in a jug for guests, just increase the quantities.
Ingredients
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sweetener of your choice
1/3 cup rose dried rose petals (found in health food shops)
Lemon juice
Sparkling water
- Add water and sweetener to a small saucepan and dissolve over medium-high heat. Don’t let it boil - you don’t want to water to evaporate!
- Turn heat to low, add rose petals and stir.
- Leave on low until the colour fades from the petals. It will only take a few minutes. You can remove from the heat and leave it longer to seep if you want a deeper flavour/colour.
- Strain and leave to cool.
To Serve
- Place 2 TBS rose syrup into each glass.
- Add...
Blueberry, Mint & Lime Mocktail
By The Mindful Mocktail on
Ingredients (serves 1)
- 10-12 blueberries
- 8 mint leaves
- Juice of 1 lime
- Sparkling water or kombucha
- 1 tsp sweetener of choice (opt)
Method
- Place blueberries, mint, lime and sweetener (if using) into a glass.
- Muddle together for about 1 minute to release the juice from the blueberries and lime, and the flavour from the mint. If you don’t have a muddler, use the back of a wooden spoon or similar.
- Top with sparkling water or your favourite kombucha and stir gently.
- Add ice and garnish with some extra blueberries and mint.
For more recipes like this, follow @themindfulmocktail on Instagram
How To Be Happy - 10 Routine Changes Scientifically Proven
By Juice Daily on
Nothing spells a bad day more than spilling coffee on a crisp white shirt come Monday morning, but trivial as it may seem, it can be an instant downer on your mood.
While it’s only natural to get in a funk every now and again – according to a British survey, we have at least 10 grumpy days a year (five hours a week) – it can play an unhealthy part in our overall sense of wellbeing.
The biggest mood booster for women, according to the Healthspan survey is ‘me time.’ So while you can’t out run a bad day, you can shape and mould your routine a little bit each day to care of yourself and make the overall outcome that bit brighter.
Here, scientifically proven tweaks to make life happier.
1. Do exercise you like
With...
Who Needs A Healthy Liver?
By Dr Cris Beer on
For the first few years that I worked as a general practitioner I had underestimated the liver's significant role in the general wellbeing of my patients. I had learnt that the liver was important from a physiological point of view and that it helped keep us alive, but I hadn't fully considered how it keeps us feeling well on a day-to-day basis.
I had been taught how to detect liver-function abnormalities in blood testing and how to feel for an enlarged or tender liver - all signs of obvious and severe liver damage. But as for understanding liver damage well before any obvious clinical signs begin to show, I was completely in the dark. I had seen severe liver damage from chronic alcoholism and from liver disease such as hepatitis, but...
How To Get A Good Night Sleep
By Melissa Ingram on
Every single one of us needs to simply stop and recharge – regularly! Most of us have experience times where stress is high, deadlines are tight and yet we still seem to be able to move mountains. On the flip side, I can guarantee that all of us have also experienced periods of the same pressure yet feel we are not firing on all cylinders – resulting in lower quality of work being produced or it taking longer to complete.
Allow your body enough time each night to recharge. Start with attempting to get 7 – 8 hours of quality sleep every night. We are all different with regards to the amount of sleep we require to operate optimally, however the average 7 – 8 hours is a great place to start. While we sleep we unplug from our lives and...
Motivation to Exercise
By James Anderson on
This whole “exercise thing” can be so annoying. From finding the time to finding the motivation, exercise – can be a real bitch. We both know it’s good for us, so why is it so difficult to stay on top of? Well, I think there are 3 main problems.
Problem #1 - It’s painful.
We’re genetically wired to try and achieve pleasure whilst avoiding pain. We create a “pleasure hierarchy” for ourselves, putting the most important things first and everything else, well, who cares. After all, which would give you more pleasure? Staying in your warm bed on a cold winters morning or doing burpees at 6am? So how do we overcome this?
Solution - Set goals.
Create an inspiring vision that allows you to rise above “the workout” and able to see the...