Alcohol and Menopause – Should we consume less?
Let me ask you a question.
Why is it unacceptable in today’s society to not drink alcohol when socialising yet opening a bottle of wine at 12pm is?
When it comes to alcohol and the menopause there are various different area’s that are affected.
But before we begin, I would like to cover just a few points.
Women during menopause should only consume one alcoholic drink a day, or 7 in total during one week. Even this does not guarantee that our health would not be affected by the consumption of alcohol.
This equates to the following:-
A glass of Wine 12%
1 Bottle of Beer 5%
1 Shot of Distilled alcohol
Many women suffer from poor sleep during the menopause, and although there are many other contributing factors the consumption of alcohol does not help us sleep it sedates us.
REM is the restorative sleep stage of our sleep cycle. This is when our eyes flicker, and it is when our body repairs itself. If the REM element of our sleep cycle is reduced, then we are not only affecting our mindset, but we are also preventing our bodies from functioning correctly. Thus upsetting your circadian rhythm.
Falling asleep quickly after drinking is very common, but then so is waking in the middle of the night! So believing that having a couple of drinks before bedtime helps to relax the body and mind, think again.
Alcohol is the only drug where if you don’t do it, people assume you have a problem…
ED LATIMORE
Excessive alchohol consumption during the Menopause can be associated with the following:
Increased risk of Cancer. In fact those women who consume two to five drinks per day are 1.5 times more likely to have breast cancer at some point.
Heavy drinking can also lead to organ problems and damage to:
Heart, Liver, nerves and Brain
Increased risk of heart disease, is also associated with the consumption of alcohol. And for those of us who are struggling with weight gain and central obesity (midsection) maybe its time to think about how much alcohol is contributing to this factor.
Osteoporosis can be caused by a lack of oestrogen. The risk of osteoporosis can also be increased with the overconsumption of alcohol.
alcohol can increase the risk of depression and alcoholism
Sorry to have to break this to you but having that glass of wine to help us wind down, relax and forget our problems can actually have the opposite effect. In fact, Menopausal women are at risk of becoming depressed when drinking over the recommended amount of alcohol. In fact, it not only affects your mood but it can affect your confidence and ability to think rationally about given situations.
I recently listened to a podcast by the Not so Fit Couple, Lucy Davis and Ben Haldon. During this podcast, they interviewed Chris Williamson on the effects that alcohol has on weight loss, muscle building and your mindset. Now even if you are not into training in any shape or form, I would highly recommend listening to this as it gives some insightful information.
Following on from this I decided to take the 28 Day Sober Challenge. Some may say that doing such a challenge is easy, but when your whole social life revolves around alcohol, and you rely on it to bring out the extrovert in your personality I knew it would be a test. Also, I wanted to see what effect it would have on my skin, hair, gut health by not drinking. And finally, could I find new ways to unwind on a Friday night? I have linked it below should you want to check it out.
28 Day Sober Challenge
Okay so if you’re anything like me the thought of going out for food or drinks with your friends and sticking to diet this or diet that just seems a little boring.
Well, I have linked below some alternatives that may interest you, and make that shift a little more appealing.
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