Melbourne is known for it’s nurturing of artists and creativity so these ‘crazy’ cocktails being served up by Melbourne publicans is no surprise. If you’re in Melbourne, why not skip dessert and opt for one of these delicious creations instead?
Tag: Booze
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Drinking and Its Effect on Your Sleep Cycle
Although you may feel drowsy after a drink, alcohol isn’t actually good for your sleeping patterns and in fact it can disrupt your deepest sleep, the kind needed for rejuvenation.
How Alcohol Disrupts Your Sleep
Sleep is made up of 5 phases, each needed for our brains to rejuvenate for the following day’s activity.
On a normal night, 25% of sleep involves rapid eye movement (REM) phase. When we drink alcohol, we enter deep sleep without the usual REM phase first.
According to Dr Tina Lam, research fellow at Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute, you will feel like you’re sleeping more deeply and you will dream less.
“When you have alcohol in your bloodstream, it increases the slow-wave deep sleep and reduces the REM sleep,” Dr Lam explains.
Source: https://coach.nine.com.au/2018/06/15/10/55/alcohol-sleep
Dr Lam explains that as the night progresses the opposite happens.
As the alcohol leaves your bloodstream, your central nervous system switches to being dominated by glutamate. This is the brain’s excitement neurotransmitter and takes you into REM sleep, which is lighter.
“The drinker may experience less slow-wave/deep sleep, and get more REM sleep, which may result in more intense dreams or nightmares.
“This, along with the increased likelihood of snoring and tossing and turning, will result in sleep fragmentation and disruption. You’re more likely to get sweaty and have to get up to go to the bathroom too.”
Source: https://coach.nine.com.au/2018/06/15/10/55/alcohol-sleep
In other words, Dr Lam believes having a nightcap to help you sleep is counter-intuitive.You will have a lower quality of sleep and the length of your sleep will also be less.
Dr Lam also found that the more frequently alcohol was consumed, the less it will work in a sedative way.
“We get used to the sedative effects of alcohol very quickly,” Dr Lam explains.
“Within three to seven days of having a couple of glasses of wine after dinner to help us get sleepy [will see] the sedative effects diminish, but those counterproductive disrupting sleep effects continue.”
Source: https://coach.nine.com.au/2018/06/15/10/55/alcohol-sleep
Thus a poor sleep cycle is developed where you keep looking for alcohol to relax you and help you sleep, maybe even increasing the volume of alcohol you drink each time.
“People who drink the night before will have more disrupted sleep and feel less rested in the morning and will likely caffeinate up, which will still have residual effects at night,” Dr Lam explains.
“Then you might try to calm down again with a bit of alcohol, which will disrupt your sleep further. It’s quite easy to get into a vicious cycle.”
Source: https://coach.nine.com.au/2018/06/15/10/55/alcohol-sleep
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Why Alcohol and Sport or Exercise Don’t Mix
Having a drink after a game has become common place for most Australians that play sport, even professional athletes. But is this drinking after physical activity good for you?
A recent article on TheConversation.com says drinking after exercising is a bad idea, especially very strenuous activity.
The writer highlights that high intensity activity such as sport, creates temporary muscle damage and pain. Our energy (glycogen) can also be depleted during exercise.
The body also loses a lot of fluids, due to sweating so drinking alcohol after sport and exercise makes the recovery process harder for the body.
Alcohol actually slows down the repair process for the damaged muscles and if you’ve already lost a lot of fluids, drinking alcohol causes you to lose even more – alcohol can cause dehydration.
The writer also highlights that athletes with soft tissue injury can worsen the condition because drinking alcohol will open up the blood vessels and encourage swelling to the injury.
If you must drink alcohol after playing sport, drink moderately and have plenty of water.
Find out more https://theconversation.com/why-alcohol-after-sport-and-exercise-is-a-bad-idea-98313
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New Study Shows Moderate Alcohol Really Does Benefit The Heart
Despite conflicting opinions, it appears alcohol really is good for you, as long as it is consumed in moderation. According to a new research from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil the enzyme responsible for making moderate alcohol consumption good for the heard has been identified – ALDH2.
The study, in partnership with scientists from Stanford University in the USA, shows that when consumed moderately, alcohol can activate this beneficial enzyme. Two cans of beer or 2 glasses of wine is all it takes to activate this enzyme which held rid the body of aldehyde which is a toxic byproduct of alcohol digestion and a stressed heart.
Source: https://vinepair.com/booze-news/new-study-alcohol-heart-healthy/
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10 Things You Never Knew about Absolut Vodka
Whether you’re a fan of vodka or not, you’ve probably heard of Absolut – an alcohol brand with a hugely successful marketing campaign. Here are some things you probably haven’t heard about the brand before,
- Andy Warhol is responsible for the first of those artsy ads that propelled the brand.
- It’s no surprise the brand loves art and has a collection of over 900 commissioned works.
- Everything is locally sourced including the water used to make the vodka.
- Absolut gives distillate byproduct/ protein to pigs and cows at local farms.
- The brand sources its water from more 450 feet deep so it’s much purer.
- It is a 100% wheat vodka which makes it almost completely neutral.
- Absolut is completely gluten free.
- The brand recently released a powerful video in support of equal love.
Find out more about this iconic brand at https://vinepair.com/articles/absolut-vodka-sweden/ -
Why Some Drinks Make Hangovers Worse
We’ve all experienced it, that one alcoholic beverage that seems to make us feel more “hungover” than others. But why is that?
Ultimately a hangover is caused by dehydration, so drinking plenty of water before, after and in between each alcoholic beverage is the key to avoidance. However this isn’t always possible.So what drinks should you avoid?
According to a Dutch study, darker alcohol makes you more hungover than lighter alcohol. That’s why vodka doesn’t seem to affect you as badly as rum. That’s because when alcohol ferments, chemicals called congeners are created and create deep flavours like you get in red wine and other dark alcohol but they are also what’s responsible for the rough hangover.
So basically if you want to avoid the hangover, stick to lighter, clear booze.
See more at https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/04/why-some-drinks-seem-to-make-hangovers-worse/
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Man Donates Toe to Bar for “Sourtoe Cocktail”
In slightly bizarre and quite grotesque news, a man who lost 3 toes to frostbite has donated his toes to a Canadian hotel bar for its ‘Sourtoe Cocktail’.
The Yukon hotel’s bar has been offering shots of whiskey with a human toe in it since the 1970s after a rumrunner in the 1920s began the tradition.
The rules for drinking the gross cocktail “You can drink it fast. You can drink it slow. But your lips must touch that gnarly toe.”
Bizarrely in 2013 a drinker swallowed the toe, on purpose while a thief ran off with another, he later returned it to the hotel.
Apparently the cocktail is ‘safe’ to drink because of the alcohol and the salt.
Source: https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/a19709759/donated-toe-sourtoe-coctail/
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82 Killed in Indonesia from Bootleg Alcohol
Australian holiday-makers flock to Indonesia on holiday every year but if you’re planning on going you should be extremely careful about where you purchase alcoholic beverages, 82 people died in April from drinking bootlegged alcohol.
The catastrophe in April happened near the nation’s capital, killing 82 people and resulting in the hospitalisation of dozens more.
Authorities found that the fatal mix contained pure alcohol combined with herbal beverages and high-caffeine energy drinks.
A police official said one of the ingredients was mosquito repellent.
The cheap alcohol apparently sold for around 20,000 rupiah ($1.45) per unit.
Indonesia has heavy taxes on alcohol which prompts many to produce their own alcoholic beverages at home, unsafely and unmonitored. These home made brews have been linked to an alarming number of fatalities including in 2016 when 36 people died.
For more visit http://time.com/5237269/indonesia-82-deaths-bootleg-liquor/
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Trends in Drinking You Can Expect to See This Year
According to The Roy Morgan Alcohol Currency Report, in a 4 week period, 69.3% of Australians drink alcohol.
The report revealed that in an average 4 week period Australians drinking trends are as follows,
- 39.1 per cent drink beer
- 44.5 per cent consume wine
- 27.5 per cent drink spirits
- 13.6 per cent consume cider
Unsurprisingly men drink more than women with 75% drinking in an average 4 week period, compared to 65% of women.
Although men drink more than women, drinking among males has declined over the past 5 years.
Read more https://www.beerandbrewer.com/report-finds-that-wine-is-most-popular-but-beer-is-most-drunk/
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Alcohol Consumption Guidelines Review Called for
University of Queensland drug and alcohol experts have called for the thresholds for safer alcohol to be lowered, following a global alcohol consumption study.
The recommendations were made by Wayne Hall and Jason Connor from the university’s Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research.
The study was co-authored by more than 100 academics from around the globe and included analysis of 599,912 drinkers in 19 countries over a 50 year period.
The study and a commentary by Professors Hall and Connor is published in The Lancet.
Professor Hall explained that the study found that people who drank more had an increased risk of serious diseases.
“The study found that increased alcohol consumption was associated with a higher risk of stroke, coronary disease, heart failure, aortic aneurysm, and fatal levels of high blood pressure,”
“Around half of people in the study reported drinking more than 100 grams (or 10 standard drinks) of alcohol per week and almost 10 per cent drank more than 350 grams per week.
Source: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2018/04/experts-urge-review-of-alcohol-consumption-guidelines
Conversely the study found that reducing the amount of alcohol consumed, increased life expectancy in middle-aged drinkers.
“The study suggests that reductions in alcohol consumption could increase life expectancy by up to two years in a 40-year-old drinker.
“However, this gain in life expectancy is only seen when alcohol consumption is below 100 grams per week.”
Source: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2018/04/experts-urge-review-of-alcohol-consumption-guidelines
While alcohol consumption guidelines around the globe vary, in Australia guidelines say we should not consume more than 14 standard drinks a week or 140 grams.
The professor says the study supports an adoption of lower limits of alcohol consumption, which are currently recommended in other countries across the globe – 100 grams per week.
“These recommended drinking levels will no doubt be described as implausible and impracticable by the alcohol industry and other opponents of public health warnings on alcohol.
“Nonetheless, the findings ought to be widely disseminated and they should provoke informed public and professional debate.”
Read more at: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2018/04/experts-urge-review-of-alcohol-consumption-guidelines
While suggested guidelines are still being reviewed, we should keep in mind that moderate alcohol consumption is best for your health. Currently we shouldn’t consume more than 2 drinks a day, according to guidelines.
As servers of alcohol, we must remember to serve alcohol to patrons in a way that does not knowingly cause them immediate or long term harm. For more about Responsible Service of Alcohol training click here.