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Tag: health

  • Research Shows Why Detoxes and Cleanses Don’t Work

    According to a post on HuffingtonPost.com.au detoxes aren’t just ineffective, they can be dangerous.

    The article cited research by Alexandra Parker and Anna Debenham, accredited practicing dietitians, says that our bodies do a good job of detoxing themselves, so we don’t need to help our bodies out by giving up certain food and drink or taking specific foods or supplements for a fixed amount of time.

    Organs such as the kidneys, liver, lungs and gastrointestinal tract perform the purposes of detoxing the body naturally so we don’t actually need to do it ourselves.

    Detoxes and cleanses can actually do harm to the body. Instead of detoxing, experts suggest a healthy lifestyle, introducing more plant based foods, reducing junk foods and increasing exercise.

    Read more at http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/01/18/so-detoxes-or-cleanses-dont-work-heres-why/

  • Are Women More likely to Suffer from Alcohol Blues?

    It is generally accepted that women are the more emotional sex but now research shows that they may be more emotional drinkers as well.

    According to research conducted at the University of Southern Denmark, there are happy drinkers, miserable drinkers, tearful drinkers and even angry drinkers. And it could all be determined by your gender. Women have a tendency to be emotional after drinking than men.

    The research shows that women and men react differently at the end of a booze filled night. Men tend to be happier after drinking all night while women peak at a certain point before they start getting emotional.

    Researchers conducted the study on 230 high school students who were given alcohol and monitored to see how the alcohol content affected their mood.

    This post from British website metro.co.uk explains further:

    And your sex could well determine which you tend to be at the end of the night. Alcohol can put a smile on young men’s face all night – while ladies peak at a certain point before they get tired and emotional.

    Researchers in Denmark threw a party for 230 high-school students to examine how their blood alcohol content affected their mood. The revellers, aged 15 to 20, were checked for their cheerfulness, sluggishness and how easily they were distracted.

    Prof Marie Eliasen, of the University of Southern Denmark, said: ‘We found that low to moderate alcohol consumption is associated with increased cheerfulness among adolescents attending high-school parties. Extensive alcohol consumption leading to high BACs was associated with decreased cheerfulness among girls, while this was not found for boys.’

    Source: http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/18/why-women-are-more-likely-to-be-hit-by-booze-blues-4150334/

    Researchers weren’t as clear on what the possible cause of these emotional differences between girls and boys could be but they speculated that it could be because boys may have been more exposed to alcohol in their lives and may have built up a higher tolerance to alcohol than girls which may translate to girls being more emotional.

    According to the Professor responsible for the research, alcohol education needs to move away from the normal scare tactics which are often used, to a way of having fun without drinking excessively.

    The post goes on to explain:

    The different reactions could possibly be explained by binge-drinking boys who had built up a better tolerance to alcohol than girls.

    Prof Eliasen said alcohol education should move away from scare tactics to promoting how to have fun without excessive drinking.

    Although some students had trouble focusing, most had low to moderate alcohol levels in their blood. This could be used ‘to challenge the idea the majority of adolescents drink in excess’, Prof Eliasen added. Her findings will be published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

    Source: http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/18/why-women-are-more-likely-to-be-hit-by-booze-blues-4150334/

    This research is particularly relevant for parents of teenagers who wish to understand their children better and encourages them to teach their teens to drink moderately and responsibly rather than forcing them to abstain completely.

     

  • RSA Training: Serving Alcohol to Minors – The Implications

    According to an article on www.thechronicle.com.au young drinkers that are dependent upon alcohol (in other words have an alcohol addiction) are nearly 10 times more likely to have had 10 or more sexual partners within several years than people who do not have an alcohol problem. The article was quoting a new study published in the journal “Drug and Alcohol Dependence” by author Dr Joseph Boden amongst others.

    Although the survey was conducting on New Zealand youth, the culture of binge drinking among young people is comparable to Australia’s.

    The new study shows that these young people are also nine times more likely to have committed violent offences than young people who have no alcohol abuse issues. The implication of this is great because it shows that quite a number of juvenile and violent young offenders are most likely to be misusing alcohol and if we remove alcohol from this equation, the young adult crime rate could drop by as much as 47 per cent.

    The research was conducted at the Otago University in Christchurch, New Zealand involving more than 1000 people who were part of the long term study.

    Read an excerpt from a post on www.thechronicle.com.au which explains more about the survey:

    The study’s authors, including Dr Joseph Boden, estimate in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence that the elimination of all alcohol misuse could reduce the young adult crime rate by up to 47 per cent.

    The research, from Otago University at Christchurch, is based on interviews with around 1000 members of a long-term study who were born in the city in 1977.

    The alcohol study draws on answers from when they were aged 21, 25 and 30.

    Five per cent met the clinical criteria for alcohol addiction. Up to a quarter had problems with alcohol that were less serious but still affected their daily life to some extent.

    Dr Boden said much alcohol research focused on the impact on teenagers – “because they do the most drinking, it peaks at age 21 and drops after that.

    Our study shows these adverse effects are occurring up to the age of 30″.

    He said earlier research by his group had indicated the risks of hazardous drinking patterns were now stretching further into adult life because of New Zealand’s trend of delaying parenthood, which now on average started in the early 30s.

    “It shows people are living this extended adolescence.

    Source: http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/multiple-partners-linked-alcohol-comnsumption/2008849/

    With people attempting to prolong their youth they are also doing a lot of partying which means doing the same things they did when they were younger such as binge drinking.  As people delay parenthood they are able to be more irresponsible because as the post explains, “parenthood knocks this stuff right out of people- the drinking, the drugging.” They normally don’t clean up their acts unless they have to.

    Dr Boden went on to explain that alcohol law changes passed by NZ Parliament last December were weak and didn’t sufficiently address the problem.

    New Zealand’s councils have been warned to take note of the survey’s findings in light of the new local policies they are currently developing.

     

     

  • Liquor News: Danger of Home-brews

    Calls for a Review of Laws Relating to Home-Distilled Alcohol and Public Health Warning Issued

    A public health warning has been issued about the dangers of drinking home-made spirits, which often contains dangerous amounts of methanol which can prove fatal.

    According to media reports, the Tasmanian Government has said it is considering changes to laws relating to home-brewed alcohol following the death of 2 men in the state.

    These 2 fatalities are the latest in a serious of deaths caused by drinking toxic, home-brewed alcohol. Another 3 men recently died in Victoria after drinking grappa made in their garage.

    Police are currently waiting for the toxicology reports to confirm that the 2 men who died were in fact poisoned by home-distilled liquor.

    The latest 2 victims were a 54 year old and a 49 year old man who passed away in the St Helens area, prompting the state government to issue its statement that it would review the current legislation relating to home-made alcohol. The 2 men drank the home distilled alcohol mixed with a soft drink which may have masked it’s poisonous smell and taste.

    The following excerpt from an article posted on Abc.net.au explained further,

    The Tasmanian Attorney General Brian Wightman says while laws relating to moonshine are a federal matter, he would consider working to tighten any potential loopholes.

    “About any legislative amendments that may be required,” he said.

    “We have two people who have lost their lives, it’s an incredibly sad time.”

    While owning a small still in Australia is not illegal, making alcohol with it can attract big fines or a jail term.

    The Federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus says it is a matter for the Tax Office, which enforces alcohol laws.

    Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-30/alcohol-experts-call-for-education-on-home-distilled-alcohol/4924426

    The aim of the public health warning is warn home distillers about the potential risks of making alcohol at home. It is vitally important that people know what they are doing and do their research, which was the warning from experts. People who consume home-made alcohol should be vigilant and report to a hospital if they begin to feel ill after drinking a home brew. It is important that people with alcohol poisoning get early treatment to avoid death.

    The problem with home-made alcohol is Methanol. Methanol needs to be removed, it is a toxic by-product and causes blindness and death in humans with just 100mls of consumption.

    The police are currently investigating the death of the 2 men last week and will determine the alcohol content of the milky white spirit consumed by a number of residents in St Helens. Apparently at least a dozen other people consumed the alcohol in the area and one man was apparently making it and safely consuming it for years.

    The post on Abc.net.au goes on to explain more about the investigation,

    “Our preliminary work has indicated that these two gentlemen did have contact with an address where there was some homemade or some home-brewed spirits and whether they drank those spirits is unconfirmed at this stage but it is forming part of our investigation,” he said.

    One of the men, aged 54, died on Monday, while a second man, aged 49, died on Wednesday.

    One of the men is understood to have collapsed outside a St Helens shopping centre on Wednesday, and the other died at home earlier this week.

    The ABC understands one of the men who died was making the spirits out of potato skins and sharing it with a small group of friends for a couple of years.

    Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-30/alcohol-experts-call-for-education-on-home-distilled-alcohol/4924426