TYLER TOLMAN BLOG
Is Alcohol Bad For You?
Is Alcohol Bad For You?
When you’re choosing to live a clean and healthy lifestyle, you may be wondering… Is a little bit of alcohol okay or should we not drink at all?
For me, there’s something really special about coming together as a community or family, enjoying a little drink, having a good laugh and remembering what life is really about.
If you don’t like alcohol or it makes you feel like garbage then don’t drink it. It really is that simple. I know loads of people who don’t drink and I think it’s an amazing choice they’re making to suit their own lifestyle.
First things first, I honestly believe the best thing we can do for our health is drink more water and stay hydrated.
And, by eating the right types of food and moving around, getting out in the sun, we’re supporting our body’s detoxification process. (Which will obviously help your body’s ability to detoxify when you do drink alcohol.)
Some Guidelines to Help You Make Better Choices
In my opinion, straight alcohol like vodka or gin is too hard for the body. Over time it can be very damaging to the liver. Even in the short term it just doesn’t make any sense.
But, if you are going to drink it, mix it with some freshly squeezed juice like orange or cranberry. Orange juice cleans the lymphatic system, while cranberry juice can be good for the kidneys and the urinary system. And I’m not talking about store bought orange juice full of preservatives. I mean fresh juice from an actual orange.
When we talk about beer or wine, on the other hand, fermentation can be beneficial for the gut as well as the blood.
No doubt you’ve heard of the benefits of resveratrol—the antioxidant found in red wine. Gerontologists (who study longevity) discovered that resveratrol opens up pathways for longevity. There are cultures of people who live in what are called “blue zones”.
One of these blue zones is Italy where some of the longest living men on the planet are drinking half a bottle to a full bottle of wine every single day. BUT, they also live an active lifestyle, ferment the grapes themselves and eat a high plant-based diet.
When researchers examined the blood of these men, they found that their red blood cells were smaller, which helped to prevent cardiovascular disease and all kinds of other blood conditions and diseases.
If alcohol was pure poison then there’s no way these men in Italy would live to be 110 drinking a half a bottle of wine every day. So in my opinion, we need to reassess things.
Look at What You're Drinking...is it full of preservatives?
Over time, sulphites contribute to liver disease and can cause cirrhosis of the liver. You don’t want that. They can also cause all types of allergic reactions.
If you do drink and start reacting to foods or things in your environment, say you’re getting nasal congestion, itchiness, sneezing, all this type of stuff, it’s likely to be caused by the sulphites and preservatives that are added to the stock-standard beers and wines.
Look at Why You're Drinking...
If you’re getting together with your family over Christmas or different holidays, being able to totally de-stress and have a good time and connect with your family is far more important than being anal about not drinking alcohol. But you need to make the choice that is aligned with your integrity.
Are you drinking alcohol to suppress something or appease someone? Do you need it to relax or help you sleep? If you feel some kind of dependency on alcohol, then that’s probably a problem. That’s more about NEEDING rather than ENJOYING.
We can absolutely 100% be around people and choose not to drink.
When people who are drinking around you question it, just say, “Hey, I can hang out and have a good time and drink water or a juice”. “I just don’t like the taste!” or “I don’t like drinking.”
Choosing Better Options
If you’re going to drink wine or beer, choose preservative-free options. There are some amazing wines that are organic or biodynamic. I personally believe biodynamic wine is the most profound and flavoursome wine out there.
I remember when I was about 14 years old. My father and I bought a bunch of concord grapes and we got this big kid swimming pool and smashed all the grapes with our feet. We had a great time singing songs, dancing around, smashing all the grapes. Then we put them into a nut bag and squeezed the grape juice into jars.
We had this pure amazing concord grape juice which was so beautiful. We drank some of it fresh then we just put a cloth and lid on it, left it out in the sun and let it ferment naturally. When we came back and drank it, the taste was like, “My god this is amazing!” It had an alcoholic kick that you couldn’t really taste.
We probably drank too much because it was like drinking grape juice and didn’t seem alcoholic at all. There I was, this 14-year-old kid, absolutely smashed. I didn’t even get a hangover the next day or go all crazy. So there you go, maybe we all just need to start fermenting and making our own organic and biodynamic wines.
It’s about having balance in our lives… and some really great memories!
Thanks for reading!
