Non-alcoholic Stress Relief

I have had exactly one drink in the last three months since starting my liver-healthy diet.

I had an especially bad day yesterday. Not really bad in the grand scheme of things, but bad in my own head. Too many unplanned things happened in too quick succession which left me feeling under attack and over-whelmed. A few hours later things looked much better and I was able to process everything.

But during my knee-jerk reaction to the stress, I thought about having a drink to help calm down. It was already the end of the day and I had planned to go out to dinner with some friends anyway. I thought a drink might be nice and may go a long way to soothing my jangled nerves.

Now I have had exactly one drink (a vodka/soda with lime) in the last three months since starting my liver-healthy diet. I have lost nearly 70 pounds so far and my blood work is showing massive improvement to my liver.

To ensure I’d be ordering a drink that wouldn’t undo too much hard work, I quickly google’d some low-carb drink alternatives. I ran across the NPR article from August 2018 warning that “No amount of alcohol is good for your health, global study finds“.

I had also previously read that alcohol is especially problematic for people with liver issues. Alcohol metabolizes in the liver before anything else and can stall weight-loss or even cause weight gain.

Seeing as my intention was to drink enough to get a mild buzz (and alleviate my self-stoking stress monster) I decided that one drink would probably not be enough. But more than one drink might be actually harmful to my liver (and even worse – I might regain some weight!  Just kidding, I know my liver is more important)

In the end I ordered an ice water and a big steak. A nice meal, conversation with good friends and some time away was all really needed to get myself back in order.

So does this mean I’ll never drink again? Probably not. But it’s a sure step that I’m learning not to drink for the wrong reasons. And to put my health first.

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