OH! Magazine - Australian Version February 2014 (Australian Version) | Page 14

DR JOANNA
MCMILLAN

THE NEWS ABOUT BOOZE
Dr Joanna McMillan explains
the healthiest way to enjoy a bevvy or few.
f, at the end of a busy day, you enjoy a glass of wine, a gin and
tonic, a beer or whatever your drink of choice is, I’m not going to
waggle my finger at you and tell you to cut it out. I dislike few things more
than those who sit on what I call the ‘healthy high horse’ telling us what
we should and shouldn’t do. Instead, I prefer to share with you the facts
based on the science to date, provide my professional advice, but then it’s
up to you to make your own choices. I enjoy a glass of wine myself, and it
can be part and parcel of a healthy lifestyle; in fact, it can even be
beneficial. But not when a couple of glasses become several, most nights
of the week.
It’s not just that booze is loaded with kilojoules (kJ), it’s the situation
drinking creates. Your resolve to eat well goes out the window, you sleep
poorly, you’re tired and dusty the next day so you skip your exercise and turn
to fatty or sugary foods to pick up your energy levels.
Fat and alcohol is a particularly bad combination. When alcohol is in your
system, you can’t store it and so you burn it for energy ahead of fat or
carbohydrate. Meantime it opens up your fat cells, primi