Me, enjoying a nice pint on the Isle of Wight in 2011

Following on from last years publication by the UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) recommending that men should not regularly drink more than 3–4 units of alcohol a day and women should not regularly drink more than 2–3 units a day, tonight see’s the launch of a new TV advertising campaign.

‘Regular Drinking’ is defined by the Department of Health as drinking every day or most days of the week. In addition to its guidance on the amount of alcohol it is safe to drink per day, the Department of Health also advise us to take a break for 48 hours after a heavy drinking session. Doctors say the government’s alcohol guidelines could be improved to ensure they do not sanction daily drinking.

The new TV campaign focuses on people drinking “just a little more than they should” and how this puts people at risk of serious illness including heart disease, stroke and cancer. It warns that regularly drinking two large glasses of wine or two strong pints of beer a day triples mouth cancer risk and doubles high blood pressure risk.

Units don’t work like reward points - You can’t store them up for a big night out. Drinking large amounts in one go does additional physical damage. 

In addition to the Change4Life campaign, the government released details of a poll of 2,100 people looking at what was known about the risks linked to drinking too much. Among the findings, the poll revealed 85% of those questioned did not realise it increases the risk of developing breast cancer. In addition, 66% did not know it increases bowel cancer risk, 59% did not known about the raised risk of mouth, throat and neck cancer and 37% did not realise it reduces fertility.

The campaign, which also has a website and leaflets offering tips on how to drink less – such as having booze-free days or just using smaller glasses.

Chief Medical Officer for England Prof Dame Sally Davis said:

“Drinking too much is a major public health issue. This campaign highlights how easy it can be to use a glass of wine or beer to unwind at the end of a busy day but these drinks stack up and can increase your risk of high blood pressure, cancer or liver disease.”

Dr Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “An estimated 10 million Britons drink more than the recommended limits for alcohol, which puts one in five of us at increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and weight gain.

“There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t all enjoy our favourite tipple in moderation, but don’t underestimate the health risks when one glass becomes two or three on a regular basis.”

And Sarah Lyness, of Cancer Research UK, said:

“Alcohol can increase the risk of seven types of cancer, including two of the commonest kinds – breast and bowel cancers.

“And a recent study showed that nearly 12,500 cancers in the UK each year are caused by alcohol.

“The risk of cancer starts to go up even at quite low levels of drinking, but the more people cut back on alcohol, the more they can reduce the risk.”

Well if the advise on how to be health is to drink a bit less and regularly take a few days off alcohol then hopefully my year without beer will be doing me some good! Why help your health by donating the price of a drink or 2 to Cancer Research UK or the Cystic Fibrosis Trust!

Buy Me a Pint!

For those of you looking to support my Year Without Beer, here are a couple of options…

To donate to Cancer Research UK please click here to visit my just giving page or donate by text – send AYWB66 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting “AYWB66 £5″ will donate £5.

To donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust please click here to visit my just giving page or donate by text – send AYWB55 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting “AYWB55 £5″ will donate £5.

World Cancer Day is marked on February 4 every year to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. It is led by the Union for International Cancer Control, a global consortium of more than 470 cancer-fighting organisations in over 120 countries.

My Dad - The Grandad my kids will never get to meet. There is not a day I don't miss you.

Sadly most of our lives have been or will be affected by cancer at some point. Cancer has robbed many families of their loved ones, including my Dad who passed away from cancer in 1998 and both of my wife’s parents.

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research. It works to fight cancer on all fronts, finding new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat it to save more lives. It is entirely funded by the public. With your help, we can ensure more people beat cancer.

Please help Cancer Research UK and support my Year Without Beer. To donate to Cancer Research UK please click here to visit my just giving page or donate by text – send AYWB66 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting “AYWB66 £5″ will donate £5.

Food Matters examines how the food we eat can help or hurt our health. Nutritionists, naturopaths, doctors, and journalists weigh in on topics including organic food, food safety, raw foodism, and nutritional therapy.

“Let Thy Food Be Thy Medicine, And Thy Medicine Be Thy Food.” – Hippocrates

Food Matters is a hard hitting, fast paced look at our current state of health. Despite the billions of dollars of funding and research into new so-called cures we continue to suffer from a raft of chronic ills and every day maladies. Patching up an over-toxic and over-indulgent population with a host of toxic therapies and nutrient sparse foods is definitely not helping the situation.

The filmmakers have interviewed several world leaders in nutrition and natural healing who claim that not only are we harming our bodies with improper nutrition, but that the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification can be used to treat chronic illnesses as fatal as terminally diagnosed cancer.

Food Matters seeks to uncover the business of disease and at the same time explore the safe, cheap and effective use of nutrition and supplementation for preventing and often reversing the underlying causative aspects of the illness. With the premise of the film being: access to solid information helps people invariably make better choices for their health. The Food Matters film was independently funded from start to finish in order to remain as unbiased as possible, delivering a clear and concise message to the world – Food Matters.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Buy Me a Pint!

For those of you looking to support my Year Without Beer, here are a couple of options…

To donate to Cancer Research UK please click here to visit my just giving page or donate by text – send AYWB66 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting “AYWB66 £5″ will donate £5.

To donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust please click here to visit my just giving page or donate by text – send AYWB55 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting “AYWB55 £5″ will donate £5.

If you are unsure what Cystic Fibrosis is please read my blog post – What is Cystic Fibrosis? and help me to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis UK by supporting my year without beer.

Please help Lorraine’s boys and many other young people like them by donating to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. To do this please click here to visit my just giving page or donate by text – send AYWB55 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting “AYWB55 £5″ will donate £5.

Please also tweet links to this page using the #cysticfibrosisuk hashtag.

In late 2009 I made a decision to change my diet in order to reduce my weight and improve my health. Prior to this I drank loads of coffee, probably anything between 10 and 20 cups a day and all with 2 sugars. When I started changing my diet I knew I needed to reduce the 20 – 40 spoonfuls of sugar I was getting in my coffee, but I didn’t enjoy coffee without sugar. As a result I looked for an alternative hot drink and although I was a little unsure the first time I tried it (the cup looked someone had peed in it), I soon discovered a taste for green tea.

Green tea is made solely from the leaves of Camellia sinensis that have undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originates from China and has become associated with many cultures throughout Asia. It is also believed to be very beneficial for our health.

• Green tea supports the immune system – 2011 research by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University found that EGCG in green tea has a powerful ability to increase regulatory T cells in the body and boost the immune system and suppress autoimmune disorders.
• Green tea can reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases – In May 2006, researchers at Yale University School of Medicine weighed in on the issue with a review article that looked at more than 100 studies on the health benefits of green tea. They pointed to what they called an “Asian paradox,” which refers to lower rates of heart disease and cancer in Asia despite high rates of cigarette smoking. They theorized that the 1.2 litres of green tea that is consumed by many Asians each day provides high levels of polyphenols and other antioxidants. These compounds may work in several ways to improve cardiovascular health, including preventing blood platelets from sticking together (this anticoagulant effect is the reason doctors warn surgical patients to avoid green tea prior to procedures that rely on a patient’s clotting ability) and improving cholesterol levels, said the researchers, whose study appeared in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. To be specific, green tea may prevent the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (the “bad” type), which, in turn, can reduce the buildup of plaque in arteries, the researchers wrote.
• Green tea can lower cholesterol – In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted by Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee; 240 adults were given either theaflavin-enriched green tea extract in form of 375 mg capsule daily or a placebo. After 12 weeks, patients in the tea extract group had significantly less low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (16.4% and 11.3% lower than baseline, p<0.01) than the placebo group. The author concluded that theaflavin-enriched green tea extract can be used together with other dietary approaches to reduce LDL-C.
• Green teas can help weight loss – A study published in the January, 2005 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded “Daily consumption of tea containing 690 mg catechins for 12 wk reduced body fat, which suggests that the ingestion of catechins might be useful in the prevention and improvement of lifestyle-related diseases, mainly obesity.”

Support my Year Without Beer – Buy Me a Pint!

For those of you looking to support my Year Without Beer, here are a couple of options…

To donate to Cancer Research UK please click here to visit my just giving page or donate by text – send AYWB66 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting “AYWB66 £5″ will donate £5.

To donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust please click here to visit my just giving page or donate by text – send AYWB55 and the amount to 70070. For example, texting “AYWB55 £5″ will donate £5.