Photo: flickr / wysz

MPs recommend two alcohol-free days per week

So it’s that time of year again – Christmas is over, New Year is here and most of us are a bit overindulged thanks to weeks of chocolate, booze and food. For some of us, returning to university is simply an excuse to carry on the drinking and the junk food consumption, albeit on a slightly tighter budget. However there are a select few who, believing that their health depends on it, will begin the famous January detox.

It seems like a good principle – a month with no alcohol, good food and an active lifestyle should easily make up for the Christmastime decadence. Unfortunately, a dry January for the drinkers amongst us often just ends in a return to the bad habits of the rest of the year. So is this really the best way to get healthy after the holidays? Health experts think not.

A new report released by the Commons Science and Technology Committee states that the best way to keep ourselves healthy if we are going to drink is to have two days every week completely alcohol free. Before this, government guidelines stated that men shouldn’t exceed 3-4 units daily, and women 2-3 units daily.

The problem with this is twofold: one is that most people don’t know how many units are in their drinks. One pint of purple is around 3 units – that’s already put women at their maximum recommended intake. On top of this, if people are drinking more than they should daily, with or without knowing, the body has no time to recover from the excess alcohol. This is where the problems start.

This is also why the government have created the new policy. Though they plan to raise awareness of units in drinks, having two days without alcohol will give the body a chance to recuperate if extra alcohol is consumed – in fact, the report says that after heavy drinking, 48 hours should be left before drinking again. It will also push the idea that daily drinking habits are unhealthy.

Supposed ‘health benefits’ of small quantities of alcohol are not universally agreed upon and so the new guidelines prevent any notion that daily drinking is healthy. At present, people are also under the misconception that units can be ‘saved up’ in order to drink on the weekends. This leads to binge drinking, which is far more damaging to your health than drinking small amounts regularly.

The government are also considering putting a minimum price on alcohol in order to curb binge drinking habits. They believe that introducing a minimum price per unit would both discourage people from buying too many drinks and also keep them aware of just how many units are in the drink itself.

So whilst the January detox is all well and good, it may not be the best way to keep our bodies healthy in the long run. Two dry days a week is a far better way to get over the Christmas indulgence and keep yourself feeling good all year round. Just in time for next Christmas.

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