posted November 24, 2002 06:55 AM         

Does any of you drink alcohol? And if, how much and how often?

Thanks!

posted November 24, 2002 04:10 PM         

I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but as with all things that alter the mood (pot, drugs) one has to be careful. While I do it, I wouldn't tell others to drink because I do not know how they react.

I have done alot of research on alcohol and can tell anyone the important steps to avoiding a hangover, vitamin depletion, etc. if you want...

posted November 24, 2002 04:46 PM         

I'm asking this becase Linda writes in her book about totally forgetting about alcohol altogether, so I just wanted to know how many people do that, and whether it's wrong to drink a glass of beer of wine from time to time or is it entirely "forbidden" because of destroying your brain tissue?

Is that also true if you only drink a small glass of wine?

As for the tips about avoiding the hangover - please, do! But I never have a classic hangover with a headache, I just feel terribly sick. How can I avoid that? (don't drink, right?)

I read that you can decrease the hangover by taking vitamin C before you drink, but I think that doesn't help much.

posted November 24, 2002 07:24 PM         

Always drink water while you are drinking.
Before you go to bed drink 2 big and tall glasses of water, even if you don't want to or don't think you need it, force it down and just do it.

what your drinking will effect how badly you are affected as well. Darker liquors and red wine will give you more negative effects than light liquors and wine. Also, the more high grade (I like stoli) the liquor is, the better is has been processed and the less trouble you will get the next day. The cheaper the wine or liquor is, the worse it is for your body.

I like to order vodka and orange juices, and vodka and tonic waters when I go out, that way I am getting some juice to help negate the vitamin depletion and some water to help negate the dehydration. But I still drink water in between drinks.
DOn't be embarrassed to order a water, as long as you tip, there is nothing wrong with that!

I know the awful queasy stomach feeling you are talking about, and that is no fun. I find drinking tons of water and taking some kind of vitamin before I go out helps me. And never, never buy into these hangover tricks:
hair of the dog that bit you (meaning drinking the next day, so you get drunk and don't notice the hangover) that is just awful- you will do yourself no good.
exercise and sweat it out- sounds pretty painful to me, if you feel good enough to exercise, you cannot really be hungover, and if you don't feel good enough to do it, then don't!

And don't get those drinks with alcohol and redbull or other high caffeine drinks, those are no good. Caffeine is a diuretic and alcohol is too, so you will lose all your bodies water (that is what makes the headache the next day, all the blood vessels are constricting) plus, with those drinks, you get such a rush from the caffeine that you don't notice how much alcohol you are taking in and it's more than you regularly would.

Really, moderation is the best key.

posted November 24, 2002 07:30 PM         

I enjoy drinking socially and also find a glass of wine relaxes me at times.
As long as alcohol is not used as an escape I think there is no harm in it..that's my humble opinion anyway

posted November 25, 2002 03:37 PM         

water sounds logical because when I feel I've had enough to drink, I drink tons of cold water, preferably hours before I even go home, it makes me feel so much better. I always did that, even in my hard-drinking days. But I never thought of drinking water in-between drinks, that's a new one.
And I drink vodka (was that Stolichnaya that you mentioned?) with juice (I cannot drink alcohol on its own, except wine or beer) or beer - what do you say about beer? When you drink it, you get a lot of fluid and a lot of vitamin B (yeast). That's my bf's excuse, by the way. But alcohol destroys vitamin B, so I don't know which is more true: does vitamin B in beer stay in your body or does alcohol destroy it?

And I know all about cheap alcohol, believe me. That's the worst. And the next day I can't even look at anything alcoholic.

Yes, alcohol is the worst escape because you don't really escape, everything just catches on with you, even the things you thought you forgot because it emphasises your feelings.
I think someone once said to me that alcohol affects your heart-chakra and it sounds quite true. That's probably why those people who have difficulties expressing their feelings drink more than those who don't.

shine on

posted November 26, 2002 02:06 PM         

Stolichnaya (I don't know if this is exactly the right spelling) is, so I'm told by various experts around me, the best vodka (purest and all that) that can be bought outside Russia. So I guess if you drink, drink the best.

Hope people won't think I'm advertising alcohol here Sorry, folks!

posted December 02, 2002 01:54 PM         

I'm obviously not experiencing these higher levels, not that I'm aware of, anyway. But it's true that I drink much much much less (not that I was a drunkard or anything, but I drank quite a lot when I went out) and very rarely. Oh, I said that already. It does sound like I'm apologizing, doesn't it?

I know that alcohol is bad, it's just that maybe I feel that I don't want to close any doors in my life and that's why maybe it's so hard to say "I'll never drink a drop of alcohol again" - because I know I'd want to keep my word to myself.

I'm really interested what anybody has to say about their relationship with alcohol or anything similarly stimulative or addictive, for that matter (cigarettes, perhaps?).

Thanks!

posted December 02, 2002 08:35 PM         

"...because we practice for everyone, including those with a propensity toward alcoholism... If we give up our glass of wine, it is to show our children, our firends, and our society that our life is not for ourselves alone, but for our ancestors, future generations and our society also... If you [decline an offer of alcohol] gently, with a smile, your refusal is very helpful. If sets an example for many friends, including the children who are present. There are so many healthy beverages available- why must we continue to honor a beverage that brings about so much suffering?"

posted December 05, 2002 05:33 AM         

And, like Trippy says, I believe that, but as for myself, I don't yet have the strength, or the wish which comes from inner knowing, for that matter, to follow it. I guess that comes with growth, and I just don't want to force it because nothing good ever comes out of that. I believe everything must come naturally and if you follow your self, everything will be fine.

P.S. I think someone said to me that it takes 3 months to cleanse your body from alcohol. But I don't know if he meant the aura as well.

posted December 05, 2002 12:26 PM         

to get rid of hang over, put lemon juice in your armpits!

i got this out of a book of folk remedies. the author said that her publisher had handed the manuscript of the book to an MD to ensure the safty of all the remedies. she said next to just about everything this guy wrote "how rediculous" "they must be kidding" "won't work" but next to this one he said "works great! got me through medical school!"

posted December 09, 2002 06:18 AM         

This is really the most bizarre thing I've ever heard about rid of a hangover. It can be a great deodorant as well, don't you think?