The Liver

Well yes stopping the booze must be good for your health. There is the effects it has on your weight which over time people start to notice. But what about other health affects.

One organ that comes to mind, that of the Liver. Now I am not saying that I am anywhere near to having Liver Disease, but you always here of the damage alcohol can do to the Liver. So may be a break from alcohol can be a good thing. What is interesting about the Liver is its regenerative properties. According to the Wikipedia website "the human Liver is one of the few glands in the body that has the ability to regenerate from as little as 25% of its tissue." This is amazing when you consider the punishment we give it. So I am hoping that my Alcohol free Lent will help my Liver get back to some form of normality.

Alchohol Free Drinks?

So now that I have stopped drinking alcohol for over a week, I just wondered what are the options are of alcohol free drinks in 2010?

Well there is the usual soft drinks (mixers) available and the fruit based drinks such as J2O. But what has happened to alchohol free beer, such as Kalibar? Well they are still out there, in fact Becks do a Non-Alchoholic beer with 0.05% alchohol in it. Now those members of AA may say that even this amount is too much, but for those of us that just want to reduce our alchohol in take, may be these drinks are for us. the site http://www.alcoholfree.co.uk/ lists a number of beers and wines that have very low levels of alcohol.


One thing I do remember when drinking these low-alcohol drinks in the very distant past was the really bad headache the day after. They in fact were worse than a hangover, hard to believe. So maybe in my dry days I may take on these drinks to see what the next day is like. Or is this against the spirit of the occassion for Lent?

It's a Joke!!

I kid you not. Some of the party I was out with last night for a meal thought that I was joking or had converted to christianity.

It took a good 30 minutes or so for it to sink in for them. What does this tell you about our society today. Do we have a booze culture? In a pub and you are expected to drink alcohol. It seems that even if you have elected to drive for the evening that social pressure is put on you that you should have your legal limit of drink for the night. I am not too sure what the units of alcohol are for drink driving, but I suspect that it is under two pints of beer or two measures of spirits. But should we give in to this pressure? I think not, if you don't want to drink, don't and you shouldn't have to make excuses.

But I did enjoy myself last night not drinking, especially watching those I know getting drunk as the night went on with slurred speech. Also the waking up the next morning with no hangover, a breeze. I therefore must admit I quiet like the no-alcohol at the moment, but then again I may well get a bit sick of Cola or Lemonade all night.

First Night out in Pub - Dry

Well the usual Thursday night drink after Guitar session was different tonight. No guessing what was different, it was the drink.

Made a change going to the bar and ordering two soft drinks. Felt strange in that others where ordering their normal pint of...and ....with tonic. But did they notice my drinks. I doubt it, all they would have been waiting for was to catch the attention of the Bar Maid to get their order in.

So how does it make me feel. No real sense of achievement, the usual chat in the pub was no different than usual. Though after two drinks there wasn't the desire to have another, though if they had been alcholic drinks, I know I would have wanted another.

The next tester is a night out. An hour in the pub is no real challenge. At present just no desire to drink, but then it is only two days in.

Its about time I did something!

I think we all like a drink and when young I enjoyed may be one too many when on offer. In later years I have cut back, but still enjoy a drink at the weekend and mid-week when out socialising. But that has been my downfall for the past 27 years, and need to prove that I can at times do with out a drink when it is on offer. So to prove to myself and to others that I can do without a drink, I thought it would be good to give up alchohol for a while.

At first I was going to make it a New Years Resolution, but that is not a good time to stop drink. All those New Years Eve parties, just can't get away from the stuff. So the next best time would be lent. Not a religious comment, more an excuse to give to those people offering drinks, that "No thanks I've given up drink for Lent". But no doubt the religious element will sit in their mind.

From a health point of view, I need to give my body a rest from all the toxins. Sure come Easter Sunday I will have a few drinks, but I would have proved to myself that I can do it. Plus I may loose some weight and get back into my jeans.

So for the next 5 weeks and 3 days I just need to get on with life as normal and just have no alcohol. Here goes...