I can exclusively reveal some of the contents of the New Years Honours List. My liver has been awarded a C.B.E, for services to alcohol. Not Commander of the British Empire but Cirrhosis By Easter. If only the English cricket team were able to accumulate a century in runs like I have done in units this week. Sir Ian Gilmore is not normally someone I would rely on for advice, but his two days dry a week may have some merit.
Tis the season to be jolly and I thought I would give you some health tips for Christmas and really get the best out the festive season.
Religion
After all what we are celebrating is Christ’s Mass, and those who go to a place of worship live longer than atheists. The University of Colorado found that once a week attendees lived on average seven years longer than those who abstained. I am sure the social bonds, contemplation time and having a spiritual purpose all have an effect. I am sure this equally applies if you are Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, or any other religion.
Chocolate
Yes ladies get that Cadbury’s Milk Tray box out and don’t eat all the soft ones first. Chocolate, and especially dark chocolate will “..reduce the risk of heart disease by boosting levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, and decreasing levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad” cholesterol. Credit for those heart-healthy effects goes to a cadre of antioxidant compounds in cocoa called polyphenols, which are particularly abundant in dark chocolate.”
Salt
When it comes to your Christmas lunch, give those roast potatoes and turkey an extra sprinkle of sodium chloride. Researchers from McMaster University in Ontario found that: “Those who consumed between 4,000 and 6,000 milligrams of sodium per day–more than double the current recommendations–were at the least risk for heart disease and stroke.
People who ate a diet lower in salt didn’t experience less risk, but more. Researchers found that people who consume 2,000 to 3,000 mg of sodium per day were actually 20 percent more likely to experience death or hospitalisation related to heart conditions, compared to those consuming between 4,000 and 6,000 mg daily.”
Obesity
Don’t be bashful about that extra mince pie, preferably with some double cream. People who are tubby, broad at the beam, plump, carrying a few extra pounds are the longest lived.
Dr. Katherine Flegal is a Senior Research Scientist of the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that those with a BMI of 25-30 or “..overweight was associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality.”
Full fat cheese
Get the biscuits and butter out and have dollops of stilton, brie and cheddar on them as there is a “..growing body of epidemiological, clinical and experimental evidence suggesting that regular cheese intake may reduce the risk of cardiovascular outcomes.”
Alcohol
No Christmas would be complete without copious levels of our favourite tipple. Those who drink moderate levels of alcohol have lower cardiovascular disease due to a reduction in platelet aggregation. Simply our arteries are less likely to develop blockages, inducing heart attacks. Drinkers outlive tee totallers by five years.
Smoking
That occasional post lunch cigar or electronic cigarette is not going to do us any harm, and yet another medical study has shown that passive smoking not a raised risk for lung cancer.
Cannabis
Just checked out the travelling and there is still time to jet off to Uruguay for Christmas and the New Year as the growing, manufacture, distribution, sale and consumption of cannabis will be full legalised. It will no doubt work. The net result of drug decriminalisation including class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine in Portugal was “…drug-related pathologies — such as sexually transmitted diseases and deaths due to drug usage — have decreased dramatically.”
Consumption is static, if not slightly lower, and is viewed “..by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalisation framework has been a resounding success.”
While the health lobby are sticking pins in a corn effigy on my iconoclasticism, may I wish you a peaceful and fulfilling Christmas and may God Bless.
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