Now let me ask my more mature readers...... Do you drink as much now as you used to when you were in your 20’s or 30’s? See I think I probably drink MORE! Not all in one bash like I used to, but as you get older, on a regular basis, the old glass of wine or two at lunch, the after work spritzer, Gin and tonic while you water the garden, a glass of wine while you cook dinner……. A couple of glasses WITH dinner. The reason I ask is that we post war baby boomers need to beware! Apparently our oldies forgot to tell us that we are not supposed to keep drinking as if we are 20 - 30 when we are middle-aged. Experts on the effects of alcohol (I wonder how you get THAT job?) have warned that guidelines on safe drinking levels should take into account the actual age of the drinkers. Apparently the old metabolism just can’t keep up. In other words the damage alcohol can do increases with age. Common sense I guess, but not something I’d ever thought about...... Until now! As we sit back and drink ourselves into our old age the recommended levels that are perfectly acceptable for the youngsters (boy was it hard for me to type that last word) are NOT acceptable for our middle-aged bodies which become much less efficient at metabolising alcohol and therefore make it much more toxic as it goes through our systems. Professor Mary Gilhooly, of Brunel University says governments need to adjust the current booze guidelines before it’s too late. Now last time I checked we girls were already down to one glass of red wine per day, two at a push, so it doesn’t leave us much room to maneuver does it? And don’t even THINK about that next Mojito! Now for the girls, combine that info with this sobering thought about the ‘5 to 15’ rule when treating alcoholics and it’s enough to make your girly livers curdle. When drinking the exact same amounts of alcohol, it usually takes a man 15 years to develop to the same point of alcoholism as it takes a woman to develop in 5 years!!! Then again if we stick to one a day, we can hardly become alcoholics can we?
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Too Old to Booze?
Now let me ask my more mature readers...... Do you drink as much now as you used to when you were in your 20’s or 30’s? See I think I probably drink MORE! Not all in one bash like I used to, but as you get older, on a regular basis, the old glass of wine or two at lunch, the after work spritzer, Gin and tonic while you water the garden, a glass of wine while you cook dinner……. A couple of glasses WITH dinner. The reason I ask is that we post war baby boomers need to beware! Apparently our oldies forgot to tell us that we are not supposed to keep drinking as if we are 20 - 30 when we are middle-aged. Experts on the effects of alcohol (I wonder how you get THAT job?) have warned that guidelines on safe drinking levels should take into account the actual age of the drinkers. Apparently the old metabolism just can’t keep up. In other words the damage alcohol can do increases with age. Common sense I guess, but not something I’d ever thought about...... Until now! As we sit back and drink ourselves into our old age the recommended levels that are perfectly acceptable for the youngsters (boy was it hard for me to type that last word) are NOT acceptable for our middle-aged bodies which become much less efficient at metabolising alcohol and therefore make it much more toxic as it goes through our systems. Professor Mary Gilhooly, of Brunel University says governments need to adjust the current booze guidelines before it’s too late. Now last time I checked we girls were already down to one glass of red wine per day, two at a push, so it doesn’t leave us much room to maneuver does it? And don’t even THINK about that next Mojito! Now for the girls, combine that info with this sobering thought about the ‘5 to 15’ rule when treating alcoholics and it’s enough to make your girly livers curdle. When drinking the exact same amounts of alcohol, it usually takes a man 15 years to develop to the same point of alcoholism as it takes a woman to develop in 5 years!!! Then again if we stick to one a day, we can hardly become alcoholics can we?
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