Recently the pubs reopened and summer is here- how nice is it to be able to meet friends for a drink and watch the world go by!
But what can you drink if you are health conscious like me?
We all know sugar is not good for our health. It is responsible for increased blood sugar levels and inflammation.
If you want to lose weight, alcohol is not the best choice as your body tends to burn the alcohol first before anything else. Besides when drinking we like to eat more.
To stay in the healthy range of sugar intake per day, you shouldn’t have more then 7g (1 ½ tsp.) of sugar per day.
And that is already quite high.
Spirits are lowest in sugar:
Vodka, whiskey and dry martini are sugar free.
But be careful when you start mixing with juice or tonics, as they are full of sugar. Tonics with artificial sweetener are equally bad, if not even worse as they raise blood sugar levels and change the makeup of your gut microorganism. These are important for nutrition uptake and our immune response.
Gin and Tonic:
Yummy I know, but tonic is super high in sugar. 100ml tonic = 7.2g of sugar (and if you’re anything like me you’ll want to have at least 2 ;-) )
Beer:
Most beer is a no-go if you like to stay off carbs. Hops and fermented grains are like drinking liquid bread — and the big beer bellies it can produce are proof that it can contribute to abdominal obesity.
Wine and Champagne:
As wine and champagne is fermented, it is very low in sugar.
A glass of champagne and dry sparkling wine contains around 2-4g of sugar.
A glass of red or dry white wine contains around 2-4g of sugar.
Red wine is also very high in antioxidants.
In the Mediterranean, diet wine is part of a stable diet and as Swedish diabetes researcher and Head of Internal Medicine at Linköping University, Dr. Frederik Nystroem advocates, in combination with a low carb diet, it can be good for your health.
It has even been shown to reduce blood pressure and apparently even blood glucose levels.
In my opinion, that should still not be an invitation to drink every day, especially when you want to lose weight or you suffer from fatty liver disease.
Some of us would like to stop drinking but find it difficult.
I think a good start is when you say Monday to Friday I stay away and then have a drink at the weekend.
It is easier when you know your motivation, your why.
For me, for example, when I drink too much or too often, I don’t feel as full of energy as I normally do, which shows with stamina when doing exercise. I also don’t sleep as well. But did you know drinking wines low in sulphites, ideally organic, can help with your sleep?
Maybe you want to lose weight or you like to be fit and increase your training regime.
Remember too much alcohol is always a strain on our body.
If that doesn’t work, it is maybe an idea to find out about beliefs you innocently created about yourself and your life.
“I am not worth it.”
Does that maybe ring a bell? You don’t care about yourself for whatever reason. Thinking about that can open a whole can of worms we don’t really like to look at.
And there is no real need for it but to understand that all innocently created limiting beliefs are clusters of thought we created over time about ourselves and our lives.
As long as I am not aware of my beliefs and can see them for what they truly are- thoughts coming to me in any given moment, thoughts which are impersonal, having no meaning, until I innocently decide to give them meaning, I won’t find the motivation to increase the quality of my life for the long term.
Find out how motivated you are by completing our 5 minute questionnaire.
If you would like to find out more or have any questions please get in touch.