B Good to Your Body
Your doctor wasn’t lying: vitamins are important. It’s been true since you started munching those chalky Flinstones tablets, and it’s still true today. The packaging may be different, but the eight nutrients collectively known as “B vitamins” are vital to everyday health, and are also vulnerable to the effects of alcohol.
B vitamins play a vital role in your body’s fight to remain healthy. Together, they help in converting food into energy, metabolizing fats and proteins, and maintaining healthy skin, hair, eyes, liver, and your nervous system. In other words, they keep the machine in smooth working order.
Their weakness, however, is that they are water soluble, meaning they get flushed quickly from the body. Add to this the fact that alcohol hastens the B-vitamin flush, and you begin to understand why even occasional drinkers should be mindful of replenishing their B vitamins after a night out with that other “Vitamin B” – booze. Even moderate drinking can decrease vitamin B12 levels.
Regular drinkers should take note that routine consumption of alcohol not only flushes nutrients out, it also interferes with their absorption. Without the ability to absorb B vitamins, your body could eventually develop a vitamin deficiency leading to scary conditions like dementia and damage to the nervous system.
Whether you consider yourself an occasional drinker or a more regular tippler, we could likely all afford to take in more Vitamin B – the nutrient, that is. Natural sources of the vitamins can be found in brewer’s yeast, almonds, animal liver, yogurt and eggs.
Of course, I should remind everyone that our blog entries are for your information only and are not intended as medical advice. Because everyone is different, you should work with your medical professional to determine what’s best for you. If you’re going to drink, do it legally and responsibly; don’t be stupid =).
