What to Avoid

Bottom’s Up!

As far as health is concerned, it’s often perceived that a little bit of everything is good for you, but indeed there are limits to the meaning of ‘everything’? Can you go as far as to say that junk food, alcohol and even drugs are good for you so long as you have just the right amount?

Alcohol is the most widely used drug in our society. It is readily available, most people never think of it as a drug, and if it is consumed to excess, it can have a very damaging effect on the human body. Alcohol plays a large part in modern society, being considered the best’ ice-breaker’ around. Alcohol boosts your confidence, your ego. Alcohol allows you to do things you wouldn’t dream of doing. Usually, alcohol takes rationality right out of the equation. But surely diminishing rationality is risky business?

Alcohol is a sedative-depressant of the central nervous system, meaning it succeeds in slowing down your reactions and making things a little hazy,’ so to speak. However, alcohol obstructs the liver’s ability to process fat leading to liver toxicity and disease and drinking alcohol regularly can result in alcohol dependence and abuse. So how can you tell when you’re drinking too much?

• The NHS has come up with a ‘tool’ which allows you to calculate how much alcohol you are consuming and whether it is too much. You just answer a number of questions concerning your relationship with alcohol and you are given an immediate result, as well as advice on what to do if you are consuming too much alcohol.The NHS ‘tool’ can be found at: www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Alcoholcalculator.aspx

Some facts about alcohol:

• Alcohol features in almost a third of all UK divorce proceedings, which means one or both partner’s drinking habits have contributed to the break up.
• 13,000 violent incidents take place outside UK bars, pubs or licensed premises, every week. Most are alcohol-related.
• An average 12% of males and 7% of females in the 16-19 age group show signs of alcohol dependency.
• Alcohol related reasons and excuses are responsible for roughly 14 million lost working days in the UK every year.
• Booze features in almost 40% of all domestic violence incidents in the UK.

Worried about more than alcohol abuse?

The NHS also provides information on stopping smoking, see:

• www.nhs.uk/smokefree

If you’re concerned about drug abuse or drug addiction, websites are designed to give advice and help your circumstances. Try:

• www.nhs.uk/conditions/drug-misuseOr:
• www.talktofrank.com

Upon speaking to a group of dentists from Harley street, we have learnt that certain foods should be avoided in excess to prevent damage to teeth and gums. The obvious is sugars, but who would have thought that fruit juices and even fruits can damage your teeth. The advice is to limit your consumption of anything that contains sugars to 1 or 2 times during the day.