Your guide to drinking alcohol during the holidays

`Tis the season to be jolly… and tipsy? Well, the holiday season is full of parties. And parties are full of alcohol.

Research studies have reported conflicting findings on the benefits and hazards of alcohol. On the one hand, low to moderate alcohol, especially red wine, is said to have cardiovascular benefits. On the other hand, even just a little sip of alcohol may increase ones’ risk for breast cancer.

So what should it be this holiday season? Complete abstinence or unlimited imbibement?

Well, in this post we give you some resources on how to drink to your health this season:

The MD Anderson Cancer Center gives the follow tips in their Guide to Drinking Alcohol:

Stick to the recommended serving size.

There may be varying opinions about the health effects of alcohol but there is one thing that every expert agrees upon: heavy drinking is to be avoided and binge drinking can kill you. So sticking to the recommended size makes sure you had enough. “The National Cancer Institute recommends that women have no more than one drink per day and men have no more than two drinks per day.”

Select low-calorie options.

Alcoholic drinks are literally swimming in calories. And when it comes to calorie content, cocktails and eggnogs are the champs.

Stay away from 100-proof liquor and spirits

Now, not all drinks are created equal when it comes to alcohol content. Spirits and liquors are especially strong on alcohol. So take it easy on that vodka.

Aside from the alcohol, however, liquors, especially dark ones, contain other compounds that may be toxic and cause severe hang over, according to researchers at Brown University. Thus, bourbon will probably give you worse hang over symptoms than vodka. Take note though that vodka is far from harmless. According to Brown researcher Damaris Rohsenow

“People did feel sicker the morning after bourbon than after vodka, but they still feel plenty sick after drinking all that vodka.”

Stay away from the sweet drinks.

This one’s from me. I had the bad experience once of imbibing too much white martini. It was quite sweet and quite palatable to the tongue unlike other liquors. The morning after was something I would never forget.

Sweet drinks make you forget they are still alcohol. The Spanish Sangria is another sweet and cheap drink. So are the so-called “alcopops”, a kind of alcoholic soda. Beware of these sweet temptations.

Non-alcoholic drinks are probably best.

Okay, you knew this is coming, right? But it is great to know that in every party and restaurant, there are non-alcoholic alternatives that look like the real ones. I love mocktails – non-alcohol cocktails – and alcohol-free beer. In the coming posts, I will bring you some links to recipes of the best non-alcoholic cocktails.