Can­di­da Khan

Reg­is­tered Di­etit­ian Nu­tri­tion­ist

The Car­ni­val sea­son usu­al­ly in­cludes al­co­hol con­sump­tion. Oc­ca­sion­al drink­ing may be part of cul­tur­al and so­cial events, but ex­cess al­co­hol in­take can neg­a­tive­ly im­pact women’s health. As women, we process al­co­hol dif­fer­ent­ly, which leads to stronger ef­fects with small­er amounts.

Too much al­co­hol can af­fect hor­mon­al im­bal­ance, liv­er health, men­tal health and re­pro­duc­tive well-be­ing. Reg­u­lar or heavy drink­ing can weak­en your im­mu­ni­ty and im­pair judge­ment in­creas­ing the risk for ac­ci­dents. Rec­om­mend­ed al­co­hol in­take for women is one drink per day. This may be a dif­fi­cult goal, but there are oth­er drinks that can be con­sumed that of­fer a bet­ter en­er­gy boost­ing abil­i­ty.

Try these tips for health­i­er drink­ing dur­ing Car­ni­val events:

1) Eat­ing bal­anced meals can as­sist in full­ness and help to re­duce the neg­a­tive im­pact that can be caused by over-con­sump­tion of al­co­hol. If you eat bal­anced op­tions be­fore drink­ing, it can slow down the di­ges­tion of the amount of al­co­hol con­sumed.

2) Drink­ing slow­ly and al­ter­nat­ing al­co­hol with wa­ter can al­so as­sist in re­duc­ing the harm­ful im­pacts caused by ex­cess al­co­hol con­sump­tion. This can lead to re­duced in­tox­i­ca­tion.

3) Health­i­er al­ter­na­tives can in­clude non-al­co­holic bev­er­ages such as fresh fruit juices, co­conut wa­ter, herbal teas, fruit-in­fused wa­ter, and prop­er hy­dra­tion. Choos­ing these bev­er­ages can be just as en­joy­able and re­fresh­ing dur­ing events. It can sup­port bet­ter en­er­gy lev­els and over­all well-be­ing through­out the cel­e­bra­tions.

The goal is to en­sure that Car­ni­val is an en­joy­able time. Not a time when health risks in­crease. There is a rea­son we are asked, “What’s your poi­son?” We tend to not un­der­stand the term in a lit­er­al sense, but it is and can be a se­ri­ous health is­sue when over-con­sumed. Al­co­hol above the rec­om­mend­ed lev­els can cause dam­age to our bod­ies’ health. Re­spon­si­ble habits dur­ing this sea­son can help with a health­i­er lifestyle. Binge drink­ing can be clas­si­fied as four or more drinks in two hours, as well as eight or more stan­dard drinks per week. One drink serv­ing size can in­clude one glass of wine, one beer or one shot of spir­its.

Snack­ing on nu­tri­tious op­tions dur­ing the day and in­creas­ing wa­ter be­fore the event can as­sist with the neg­a­tive im­pact that the op­tions at the event can pro­vide. Usu­al­ly, what is pro­mot­ed at events is fried foods, burg­ers and over­all high-fat, high-calo­rie foods rather than nu­tri­tious op­tions. If you con­sume nu­tri­tious op­tions and stay hy­drat­ed dur­ing the day, it can as­sist with items con­sumed at the event.

Car­ni­val usu­al­ly in­volves long hours of stand­ing, danc­ing and some­times walk­ing. These ac­tiv­i­ties can in­crease sweat­ing, and prop­er hy­dra­tion can help to reg­u­late body tem­per­a­ture, main­tain en­er­gy lev­els and sup­port nor­mal body func­tions. Al­co­hol can act as a di­uret­ic, which means that it can cause the body to lose more wa­ter. Drink­ing al­co­hol with­out enough wa­ter can in­crease the risk of de­hy­dra­tion. Women should drink at least 2-2.5L of wa­ter per day dur­ing these lev­els. I would rec­om­mend small, fre­quent sips be­cause, as a Reg­is­tered Di­etit­ian Nu­tri­tion­ist, I no­tice that many clients have dif­fi­cul­ty with hy­dra­tion be­cause they tend to try to drink a lot very quick­ly. I would rec­om­mend car­ry­ing a reusable wa­ter bot­tle, drink­ing be­fore you’re thirsty and in­clud­ing hy­drat­ing fruits such as wa­ter­mel­on dur­ing the day.

Try these tips dur­ing Car­ni­val fes­tiv­i­ties and gain the ben­e­fits that liv­ing a healthy lifestyle of­fers.

Can­di­da Khan, MSc RD al­so known as Di­di, is a reg­is­tered di­etit­ian nu­tri­tion­ist.

She is al­so the CEO of Di­di’s Nu­tri­tion Con­sul­tan­cy