I don't know if you've experienced the Scots celebrating Hogmanay and Burn's Night but it can be an awesome spectacle. There's something about the Dionysian rites as celebrated by the Northern European tribes that is very different from the slightly sinister but colourful revels of Carnival in warmer climes. Nonetheless, both are expressions of ancient and very powerful rites going right back to the Mother Goddess. And as such, heavy partying is not going to go away.
Which brings me back to New Year's Eve. I don't know about you, but I always rather wonder what to do with myself. A drunken rout is just too tough on my system these days and a couple of hours of partying, with the noise, smoke & progressively deteriorating conversation is about my limit. I long to go home. So staying up till midnight can be a bit of a challenge. Ideally I'd like to have a small dinner party at home or in a friend's house, but I still think it would be nice to go out & celebrate the occasion. But where do you go? Unfortunately it is the silly season for restaurants and hotels who, seizing the night, stiff you with restricted and grossly overpriced set menus. Why, for God's sake can't we be allowed to eat a la carte ?
News of an interesting alternative came my way the other day. Called the Bali Nirmala Conference it offers 5 days 4 nights celebrating the New Year in a different way with all kinds of performers and speakers, including the Grammy Award winning Swiss harpist & composer Andreas Vollenweider. "Volly who?", I hear some of you say. Anyone who's been in a spa over the past 20 years could hardly fail to recognise the music. It's an unmistakable sound and pretty funky for a harp. In addition to the Conference I hear Vollenweider will be doing a one-night charity concert at the Bali Cliff. Anyone interested should call Rose on 270 502.
But drinking's good for you, right? The doctors say so. Well, yes and no. A couple of glasses of wine a day is the max and then only if your liver isn't already a mess from what you've thrown at it over the years. And if the truth be told, it isn't the 'red red wine' that's good for you but the bioflavonoids in the grape skin - and you don't have to quaff claret to get that. Consumption of alcohol results in the formation of two very toxic compounds, acetaldehyde and malondialdehyde, which generate massive free radical damage to cells throughout the body, particularly the brain, similar to radiation poisoning. That's why you feel so sick the next day. If the proper combination of antioxidants is taken at the time the alcohol is consumed or before you go to bed, the hangover and much of the cellular damage can be prevented. As we age we are increasingly vulnerable to alcohol-induced hangover, liver injury and damage to the central nervous system. Such injury becomes more serious, more common & harder to recover from as we age also.
Now as the festive season looms, I am going to reveal to you here the secret of avoiding a hangover, other than drink in moderation if at all, which is of course good advise - but you already knew that.
A remarkable study was reported in which a group of rats were given a dose of acetaldehyde large enough to kill 90% of them. The rats, given a combination of Vitamin C, cysteine and Vitamin B1 had no deaths. These antioxidants gave 100% protection against acetaldehyde-induced death. The rest died. For many years, medical interns would mainline thiamin (Vitamin B1) to cure a hangover. There is now more evidence than ever that drinking can be made safer by saturating your body with antioxidants while you consume alcohol. The other nutrients that combine to neutralise alcohol by-products are the amino acids cysteine and glutathione, vitamin E and selenium.
If you take these substances in the right doses while you are drinking or before you go to bed you will avoid the hangover & the cellular damage that ensues. The reason it is best to take the cure as you drink is a lot of cancer causing damage and cellular havoc occurs before you go to bed. Although this may prevent brain damage from alcohol it will not prevent the temporary mental impairment that results. It won't make it safe for you to drive or stop you being busted if breathalised. Nor will it stop you saying silly things , becoming maudlin, giggly, amorous or aggressive - however the booze takes you. You will also avoid the paranoia of not knowing quite what awful things you said or did to someone the night before - you will know.
So what is the formula & how do you go about having it made up? Fortunately you don't have to. There are some commercial formulations already available of varying quality & efficacy. The best by far is a product called Anti-Alcohol Antioxidants. You take six capsules with you when you know you are going out drinking, take one capsule with each drink and the remainder immediately when you stop drinking, or six tablets for every 2 hours you are drinking.
Those who drink routinely should also consider taking 500 mg of Silymarin (Milk Thistle) or Silibinin, which protects the liver. Alcohol depletes many vitamins and minerals from the body, so taking the best high potency multivitamin-mineral supplement you can find is very important. The best multi formulations will already include Silymarin.
Now as for the "Quick Smoke", there is no one to put in a good word of any sort. No one is saying smoking in moderation is good for you. And they are right, smoking is very bad for you. It sends free radicals coursing through your body and encourages all the wrong kind of intestinal flora & fauna. It is one of the quickest means of aging you could possibly devise for yourself. Quite apart from an increased chance of killing you from cancer, heart or respiratory disease. If you are one of those unfortunates who cannot quit although you want to, find a way to minimise the number of cigarettes smoked per day and take serious steps to get the necessary antioxidants and supplementation to protect yourself.
I must admit I find the demonisation of smokers a bit disturbing. I've nothing against smoking apartheid, indeed I advocate it, but the scorn, even hatred, I've seen directed against smokers in some quarters is worrying. It seems to me the collective shadow is at work here. Perhaps worse still, is the strong possibility that the smoking habit becomes even more dangerous as smokers themselves take on the shadow, believing that it is more likely to kill them than statistically is the case. And so it does.
The best suggestion I heard recently was that if you have to smoke, become an "eco-smoker" using natural tobacco. There are several brands of organic cigarettes available totally free of the poisonous rubbish commercial manufacturers shove in their products. And do it ritually, say three times a day. The fatal habit may then actually become life enhancing. Tobacco does in fact have some wonderful properties and is a mystical manifestation of the Plant Goddess. But it will only work if you are serious in devising a meaningful internal rite, (it doesn't have to be longwinded) and not jokily "smudging the temple". The Gods are not mocked. Having a 'ritual' every 10 minutes ain't it either.
Meantime, whatever your poison, enjoy the Holiday Season, take care & have fun out there.
Paracelsus
Comments or queries are welcomed.
ParacelsusAsia@yahoo.com
