(0.19) Empty Calories
(1.30) My ‘diet’ diet
(1.54) Calorifically Horrendous
(3.02) First Tip
(3.36) Second Tip
(4.00) Third Tip

This is Part Two of our alcohol and nutrition series. You can find part one here.

Today you’re going to learn three important steps that you can use now to replenish and revitalise your body after the effects of drinking alcohol.

Alcohol Calories Versus Fast Foods

One of the major problems of drinking alcohol is that it only contains empty calories, there’s no nutritional value whatsoever. You may get some incidental nutritional benefits from drinking the mixer…the fruit juices etc., but the alcohol itself is not going to give you any of the crucial nutrients that your body needs to survive…

One drink, say a margarita, can give you the same amount of calories as a large meal. I am on a diet right now, and my daily calorific intake is around 1200 calories… that’s just over two margaritas.

Let’s look at some other examples:

Sticking to the margarita theme, each margarita (10oz.) will set you back 550 calories – that’s the equivalent of eating a Big Mac, two slices from a 12 inch pepperoni pizza, or a mozzarella stuffed turkey burger. It’s two times as much as a Subway 6” turkey breast and ham, and it has over three times the calories in a Taco Bell fresco style ranchero chicken soft taco…

Other high calorie cocktails include the Mai Tai(meaning good in Tahitian) (9oz.) weighing in at a stupendous 620 strip-your-stomach-lining-clean calories, the Mud Slide (a wee 6oz.) packing a horrendous 556 cals, the Piña Colada (strained pineapple) (12oz.) contains a hefty gut-busting 586 calories, and lets not leave out the long island tea…sounds healthy enough…but this little bugger will dump 543 calories straight onto your arse for a measly 10oz. portion…

When thinking about calories and alcohol, consider this:
Carbohydrates and protein both contain 4 calories per gram; alcohol will give you 7 calories per gram…second only to pure fat, which will hand over a greasy 9 calories per gram….

Calorifically Horrendous

My old drink back on planet Emerald Isle was draught Guinness which packs 210 calories per pint (depending on who you check with!). When I used to go to the pub in Ireland, I could go through 15 or 20 pints of the stuff…that’s between 3150 and 4200 big old empty calories…then take a couple of packets of crisps at about 190 calories per packet, a pack of nuts at 290 calories, and a toasted cheese and ham sandwich would be about 420.

Once hunger became too much of an issue for bar snacks to deal with, we’d head to the local chip shop/takeaway/fast food joint. My favourite was a couple of burgers and chips at the local “chippy”. A portion of chip shop chips is a phenomenal 950 calories… along with a couple of burgers at 260 calories each this all adds up to a staggering 6760 calories…

At my “diet” intake of calories, 1200 per day, 6760 calories is the equivalent of 5.6 days’ worth of food!

When you think that the next day my diet would probably be just as bad, nursing a hangover and being far too lazy to make anything decent, I’d always choose the tastier junk food options, feeling too crappy to give a crap… it’s no wonder I am so much over-weight…

3 Nutritional Tips for Giving Your Alcohol Poisoned Body a Break!

Once you’re off the drink, it’s important that you start treating your body right again. It’s going to need all the help that it can get from you to recover and repair from the damage that you’ve done to it.

So, here are my 3 nutritional tips to get your body back on track:

1. Eat regular meals

It’s important to give your body the necessary nutrition at regular intervals. I find two and a half hour eating intervals work best for me.

I start with a good breakfast packed with all the necessary protein and complex carbs. Eggs with brown bread toast and a glass of freshly squeezed OJ is one of my favourites. I use 4 eggs, taking the yolk out of three of them. That gives all the benefits of the egg white protein without the egg yolk fats. I add a bit of mustard for flavour and colour, salt and pepper to taste, and Bob’s your uncle.

Then I’d alternate snacks with low calorie meals. I might have a bit of fruit 2.5 hours after breakfast with a small handful of nuts, a healthy sandwich 2.5 hours later…another snack, followed by my evening meal.

It’s up to you how you do this, what you eat, and when you eat, just make sure you are giving your body the food it really needs and not just satisfying your taste buds.

2. Drink Plenty of Water

Alcohol dehydrates as everyone knows. So, you need to take in as much clean fluid as possible. The best fluid is water.

You can take this whatever way you want: gassed or flat, with or without a herbal teabag or a squeeze of lemon juice, in a glass or straight from the bottle if you’re feeling bolshy…

Dehydration can really sap your energy, which will lead to you having less willpower at your disposal, which can lead to eating crappy food or even worse, thinking that the “hair of the dog” is just what you need right now. Also, drinking copious amounts of water will give you a brighter complexion, aid your digestion, help your body transport those necessary nutrients, help give your heart a healthy boost, and give you better overall fitness levels.

3. Take a Multi-Vitamin Supplement

A good multi-vitamin supplement to help you after-alcohol should contain B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, and a smattering of zinc.

The B-complex vitamins will help your body to absorb the critical nutrients…
The vitamin C is necessary for tissue repair…
Zinc also supports internal healing and will helps to build immune system functionality…

I hope you got something useful from this article and video. Please leave a comment below if you have anything to ask, or any general comments about this article or the website.

Onwards and upwards!

 

Other Videos in this Series

Part One Pregnant in Pamplona – Alcohol and Weight Gain
Part Three The Link Between Alcohol and Malnutrition