Winter Drinking: Fighting the Holiday Heart Syndrome

A few meetings with the Old Monk everyday seem perfect in the winter, but cold temperatures, combined with the "holiday heart syndrome" are not worth toasting to one's health.
Alcohol does not keep you warm - it's quite the opposite. After a drink or two, your blood vessels dilate, reducing blood temperature. In fact, in severely cold conditions, alcohol can actually speed along hypothermia or frostbite.

Triggering Holiday Heart Syndrome

A combination of drinking, getting stressed out and not enough water can make your heartbeat irregular, even if you've only had small amounts of alcohol.

In fact, even if you don't have a history of heart disease, binge drinking can trigger off heart disease. And cold temperature can make it worse on the heart. A recent study showed that drinking when temperature go lower than 10 degrees Celsius can trigger heart attacks.

Alarm Bells

For the susceptible, a night of heavy drinking could give a warning bell of 'atrial flutter'- or a rapid heart beating that's localized in only your upper atrial chambers.

Taking Action

See a doctor if you feel a first time heart flutter that lasts for five minutes or longer. Take someone else along for emotional support, and to call an ambulance if it get worse. For those who'v experienced a flutter followed by gradual dissipation, it's still recommended to check with a physician.

Your doctor may add another beta blocker to your regular heart medicine if you have a history of heart palpitations.

Other Ingredients of a Winter Heart Attack

Salty foods, a complement to any drinking session, up your blood pressure, and those with advanced coronary disease are even more vulnerable. The sodium in salt also influences circulation.

How to Reduce the Risk of a Holiday Heart

Take less drinks, and fend off social pressure by making pegs a half of their regular size. Eat less, or don't need fried snacks (which also tend to be high in salt). Instead, opt forpeanuts or salads. And get some exercise the next morning, even if it's only pushups next to your bed

Winter Health Myths You Probably Still Believe In

The following unhealthy winter myths have been carried over from generations.

Separate the truth from the myth for a healthier December and beyond.

Winter depression

Looking at the festiveness of winter the world over, anyone would assume the December is a hard time for the lonely. The contrast can be a killer, the winter depression myth says.

While being alone or disappointed with life on New Year's Day is common, the realhealth threat is from eating and drinking more than normal during the holidays, or coping with less sleep, more traffic and the stress of spending more than usual.

Head Cold

We lose most of our body heat (over 45%!) from our head, so wear a woolen cap, the myth says. Nonsense, say scientific studies which trace this myth to a misinterpreted 1970s US army survival manual. According to scientists at the Indiana University in Indianapolis, going without headgear would leave one as cold as humans would be just as cold if they went without a hat as going without trousers, which is not the case.

Alcohol for warmth

Alcohol cannot save you from the cold. In fact, it makes you feel even colder.

The science: drinking a cold beverage will draw heat from your body. And feeling warmer after a drink results from dilated blood vessels, which increases blood flow to skin surface, where your nerves pick up on the change in temperature, making you feel warmer, temporarily. Thus, the body is literally exhaling out it's own heat, and you get colder.

What alcohol will do is help you get hypothermia if you consider a hip flask anemergency resource in cold temperatures.

Sunglasses and Sunscreen in the Winter

You do need sunglasses in the winter. The glare bouncing off the reflective snow can communicate 85% of the sun's UV to your eyes, giving you sunburned eyes and 'snow blindness' - damage to the cornea. This glare can also blind you if you're out snowboarding or skiing.

Even if you aren't out in sub-zero temperatures, the glare from reflective surfaces in buildings and cement can still hurt your eyes.

The sun is always producing UV rays, no matter what the weather. While the sun is at a different angle in the sky, and still cause damage to the eye. You pretty much need sunglasses everyday. UV rays are also the reason you need, and still need sunscreen in winter.

Alcohol as Home Medicine

In an October 2007 issue of the Phuket Gazette, I read of monks in Phuket who poured rice wine over a woman’s breasts, stroked them with a copper knife, and chanted spells. 

All this to cure their patients. Not of congestion, or even breast cancer, but black magic. When these enterprising monks were interrogated, they explained that black magic resided in the chest area. Tiny metal pieces were found embedded in the accursed areas.
Read on to find out how to channel the powers of Rum and other booze to heal your body.

Rum

Old Monk or Contessa. 

As an Indian, I can only recommend the two highest selling rum brands in our defence forces. (As an Indian, I’ll also have you know that the Bombay Prohibition Act of 1949 still recognises Rum, Brandy and Champagne as medicines!) Rum can be mixed with a bit of warm water. It’s not unmanly to add a bit of honey; it does taste very pungent otherwise.

Beer

Beer is a beneficial brew of good things.Antioxidants  slows down aging, vitamin B6 cuts your chances of cardiovascular disease and hops,which flavor beer has many medical benefits, such as fighting cancer. The darker, the more bitter, the better. 

Xanthumol comes from hops, and more hops makes beer darker and bitter.
Basic bodily processes get a bit subdued with age, and beer dilates blood vessels, and helps in sleep, urination, and preventing kidney stones.

Europe has seen a recent spurt of beer spas, where people soak in beer. However, a more pragmatic way to avail brewski benefits is to wash your hair out with it. After imbibing a bit, people usually tend to leave a few ml worth in their bottles. Collect the leftover beer, and rinse out your hair with it for the extra shine.

Brandy

Ask your grandparents about this one. Most will swear by brandy as a bit of loving care in the treatment of cough, cold, and congestion. A spoon or so can warmly conquer a sore throat.

Coughs are of two categories: productive (which produces sputum/phlegm) or dry, hacking cough (in which your throat is dry, and you can’t cough up anything). The latter can be soothed a lot by a tablespoon of brandy with a bit of brandy. Add hot water, in case it’s unpalatable otherwise. Toothaches can be temporarily numbed by soaking cotton in brandy, and direct application. If you don’t have cotton, just hold in small amount, preferably over the painful spot for 30 seconds, and then spit or swallow (kids should spit it out)

 

Whiskey

The classic winter drink, a hot toddy is colloquially a whiskey, with honey, lemon juice and hot water. For an ounce of whiskey, add an ounce of honey and lemon juice and honey each, and 3 ounces of hot water.  Since it is antiseptic, whiskey can also be dabbed onto wounds. Honey is sweet, warm and medicinal; it can be added to toddy made of rum or brandy as well. Like beer, whiskey also contains antioxidants, which are good you.

Red Wine

While it contains beneficial antioxidants, red wine is specifically known for its role in preventing the growth of cancerous cells. Even a 30 ml daily dose of red wine can improve cancer prognosis, notably in Esophaegal cancer, as well as overall immunity. Fresh red wine combined with a tablespoon of pink clay, a tbsp. of red can also be used as a face mask. Leave on for 15 minutes, and rinse off with a sponge and warm water as a treatment for greasy skin. Red wine contains reservetol, which reduces inflammation, arterial plaque, and lower abdominal fat deposits.