I
am delighted to announce an IDGOM exclusive. I, my dear reader, am one step
ahead of medical advice - for the first time ever.
So, what is behind this marvellous event? Well, it’s not that eating loads of fat makes you, err, fat. Been there, done that, got the Statins.
No, it’s the fact that drinking alcohol is bad for you. And that abstaining for several days a week is even betterer (Ed: is that English. Please check).than former advice given by our esteemed Department of Health.
This week England's Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, issued new guidance on drinking, saying there was a need to update the advice “based on new scientific evidence”.
People remained at "low risk" if they drank up to 14 units per week across three or four days, she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
And now men should consume no more than 14 units of alcohol per week, down from the previous 21 units, bringing them into line with the recommendation for women.
People
should have several booze-free days a week and not "save up" their 14
units for a binge. Which is where I’m ahead of the pack. For
I stopped drinking Mondays to Wednesdays in the middle of last year.
The catalyst was a hospital visit to see my sister-in-law a week after her 11-hour liver transplant operation. I should add, at this stage, that my sister-in-law had a liver disease that was not alcohol-related.
She had been given an information pack and, being of a journalistic bent, I began leafing through it. I soon came across a section revealing the incredible healing properties of the liver – particularly if you stay off the booze for a few days a week.
Back of the net! I can do that. I said to myself. It was a Friday so after a weekend of normal alcoholic beverage consumption, I committed myself to three days a week of soft drinks only from the following Monday.
Do I feel any better for it? Not sure I do. But there’s nothing like a medical drama in the family to make one take stock and to reinforce the rule that life is all about risks.
All we can really do is listen to the evidence, the advice and the science and then decide how much of a risk we want to take.
So, what is behind this marvellous event? Well, it’s not that eating loads of fat makes you, err, fat. Been there, done that, got the Statins.
No, it’s the fact that drinking alcohol is bad for you. And that abstaining for several days a week is even betterer (Ed: is that English. Please check).than former advice given by our esteemed Department of Health.
This week England's Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, issued new guidance on drinking, saying there was a need to update the advice “based on new scientific evidence”.
People remained at "low risk" if they drank up to 14 units per week across three or four days, she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
And now men should consume no more than 14 units of alcohol per week, down from the previous 21 units, bringing them into line with the recommendation for women.
People
should have several booze-free days a week and not "save up" their 14
units for a binge. Which is where I’m ahead of the pack. For
I stopped drinking Mondays to Wednesdays in the middle of last year.The catalyst was a hospital visit to see my sister-in-law a week after her 11-hour liver transplant operation. I should add, at this stage, that my sister-in-law had a liver disease that was not alcohol-related.
She had been given an information pack and, being of a journalistic bent, I began leafing through it. I soon came across a section revealing the incredible healing properties of the liver – particularly if you stay off the booze for a few days a week.
Back of the net! I can do that. I said to myself. It was a Friday so after a weekend of normal alcoholic beverage consumption, I committed myself to three days a week of soft drinks only from the following Monday.
Do I feel any better for it? Not sure I do. But there’s nothing like a medical drama in the family to make one take stock and to reinforce the rule that life is all about risks.
All we can really do is listen to the evidence, the advice and the science and then decide how much of a risk we want to take.
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