Binge drinking makes you fat, ugly and miserable

In my work as a public health dietitian, I often feel things are compromised in the light of political correctness...never mind, don't want to shock too many people this week!

Personally I would like to run a campaign that ran along the lines of the title...and here is why.

Alcohol makes you fat
If you drink 1 UK unit of alcohol (assuming no other calories in your drink, which is unlikely), you will consume 56kcal. If you binge drink and consume 30 units over a weekend you will consume nearly 1700kcal...and that is not taking into account the disinhibition that alcohol gives most people over food and the extra fatty and salty food you are likely to consume when drinking.
A deficit of 3500kcal per week leads to a loss of 0.5kg or 1lb per week. So many young women I see drink far in excess of the recommendations and complain about their weight. Those who don't complain about their weight worry me because I wonder what nutrients they are not getting because they are not eating food to balance out for their drink calories.
By reducing alcohol intake you are often reducing the calories that are keeping you just that bit heavier than you would like

Alcohol makes you ugly
Alcohol dehydrates and it make your skin tone bad because of dehydration. You need to drink plenty of fluids to replace the water your body will lose to get rid of the by products of alcohol metabolism. Further, heavy drinking depletes B vitamins and if you are weight controling by eating less food while drinking, then you are running the risk of nutrient deficiencies.
What we eat affects our skin and our health...for good or for bad, and excessive drinking make you ugly, even if it is not through making a fool of yourself on the streets.

Alcohol makes you miserable
Alcohol, for all it has relaxant effects, has strongly depressing effects as well, and once you are aware of it, you can often detect a drop in mood in yourself or others after a drinking session. For those prone to depression and anxiety, drinking might seem like an answer but becomes a vicious cycle of broken sleep and low mood.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a moderation approach to alcohol myself, but I am tired of these long term messages which don't alter young people's perceptions being used to try and win the battle against binge drinking - tell them the things that matter