alcohol?

[Vann167]

Ok, so I know that alcohol is a very harmful toxin for our bodies. However, I'm in college, and the reality is that if I didn't go out drinking on the weekends, I'd be sitting at home on Friday and Saturday nights (and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it on occasion). I've been a vegan for 5 years, and am trying to transition to raw. It's been hard getting through detox while having to study for classes and exams, but I was wondering if it is worth it to go raw if I'm going to be drinking on the weekends? I know this sounds like a trivial problem because I should just give up alcohol, but at the same time I don't want to give up this part of my college experience. Can anyone relate or offer advice or tell me how bad alcohol is poisoning my body?

[sport]

Yes it is bad but it is not as bad as having the alcohol and the cooked food.
Go raw and have a drink.
I have read that Sky Vodka is the purest drink if you need to indulge.
Hopefully you will find in time that you no longer want it but in the meantime enjoy your life and do the best that you can.

[mdm4888]

Hey< I definitely relate to you! I graduated from FSU, and drinking was a huge part of college... I am not saying you can't have fun, but it is the favorite past time! I feel your pain, I am still struggling with this now. I like very much to go out dancing, and drinking. I have been 16 weeks raw, and have still enjoyed my wine. I now only drink wine and mostly organic. I will tell you one thing that I noticed, I can't tolerate it as much at all. I can only drink like 2-3 glasses of wine at most... I feel the effects much stronger and the day after SUCKS! I am sorry to say that the hangovers are the worst. If you want to continue getting super drunk, don't go raw. I am not going to lie or sugar coat it beacause I have been in your shoes and am in the transition. It really sucks the life out of you to drink on raw... not really if you have 1 or two glasses of wine, but even that now is really affecting me. Your body becomes so sensitive to everything. Well good luck. I think it really depends on how bad you want health at this point in your life.

Hope this helps!! Michelle

[Sharon in Colorado]

Ok, so I know that alcohol is a very harmful toxin for our bodies....

Can anyone relate or offer advice or tell me how bad alcohol is poisoning my body?

You mention that you ALREADY know that alcohol is a harmful toxin to the body, but then you also want to know how bad alcohol is poisoning to your body.

Just wondering why you'd ask here - are you asking for permission, or justification? Or, do you need a reason to get out of it?

Because either you are going to do what you want to do, or you aren't.

If you want my advice to get out of it, I would suggest not being boring and following what your friends do. Do what you are really led to do, away from the crowd. You don't need to hang out with them, do what they do, or be like them to have a good time, and I'll bet there are plenty of others who have similar interests as you, or even just disinterested in drinking alcohol that you can hang with in your down time, you just have to look around.

You must decide on your own with your head and heart if this lifestyle is for you or not. And we'll be here to support your decision. :)

P.S. In another thread here, someone had posted how UNfun it is to go out, act like a drunken idiot, not remember anything that happened, get into strange and uncomfortable situations, not be able to think clearly or walk straight, do things that in your sober mind you'd never do, operate a vehicle or other machinery drunk, and then wake up feeling horrible. Now I've been there myself, and I wouldn't do that again for anything.

[solarliving]

I occasionally have organic wine. You can do what my dad does when he is the designated driver, drink water with ice and a straw, or you can drink out of a tall glass that you can't see through. Looks like vodka, No one will know the difference. He says he actually has more fun watching everyone else.

[Princess Elaine]

...though I spend a lot of time lurking...learning so much...I feel compelled to write to this thread...

I spent the years in my 20's drinking so much...thinking it was the only way to have fun...gee, how boring everyone else seemed...since I have the disease I call 'more'...more of anything that makes me feel different I had to eventually surrender and say my way didn't work...now this is for me...and I'm definitely not trying to promote this...now that I'm sober...come'n up on 13 years...and ALL my friends are from my annonymous group....we will all agree...we've never had more fun....a group of us at a party, a restaurant...whereever...and you can take the liquor out of party people but you can't take the party mentality...and no more hangovers...guilt, the 'gee what did I do last night'...

I just wanted to add to what others had said ...I'm grateful every day that I didn't harm someone while I was drinking or myself...
love, Elaine

[Faithfullyfit]

Get your friends hooked on wheat grass.....woohooo! Much more fun :-) to have clean energy and not fuzzy nauseated fatigue the next day!

If you are going out -most bartenders have the makings for a strawberry daquiri. (Frozen Strwberries)...just swirl up a Strawberry Lime smoothie- carry some greens powder -like "green Vibrance" it comes in single serving packets! You will be the LIFE of the party and maybe even start a RAWvolution.

I wish you the best in your decision and be a leader and not a follower ;)

[Amberly]

I occasionally have organic wine. It may not be a healthy thing to do, but I like it so i do it occasionally. I don't try to justify it. I don't have to.

[luckitri]

Well, I know when I was that age the pressure was really on and there was lots of ridicule like "Reality is for people who can't handle drugs" and I starved to just meet some middle of the road people who were having balanced lifestyles. It seemed that excess was the order of the day. You couldn't just be a musician after work - you had to live eat and breathe music. Ditto for the druggies and drinkers. Unfortunately I found the vegetarian health food people also excessive in their own way. Perhaps you can be an innovator and form that middle of the road group of people and I would encourage you to do so.

Perhaps hosting potlucks at someone's house would help you find some middle ground people.

[Mango]

I don't have too many regrets in life but the one that I do have is the way I drank in college. I never drank until I went to college but then I did it big. I did things while drunk that I truly regret to this day and I am 40. I am still paying for the consequences of my actions.

Do yourself a huge favor and find something else to do on the weekend. I am sure there are others who are looking for someone else to say "I don't want to do this anymore".

I have not had a drink for 5 years now! No regrets for 5 years.

[Atari117]

for me, this is what i do and my results with raw and alcohol:

every day of the week I eat ONLY raw foods (I will list) and Friday and Saturday nights I do drink alcohol.
I have seen the fantastic typical raw-related energy, skin, etc. results, even with drinking (although, I will mention that I am probably lukcky and that I guarantee my raw diet WITHOUT alcohol would greater my results)
Now, I'm not losing weight anymore, but I don't need to; nor am I gaining weight. I did lose about 10 pounds though when I first started eating this way 6 months ago and that was probably enough for me.

MY FOOD (foods near the top are on a daily basis & foods near the bottom weekly):
Avocados/guacamole
corn
salsa
tomatoes
cashews/almonds
DATES and BANANAS! (like no other)
smoothies (bananas and frozen fruit: blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, mango - don't do peaches, they usually have other stuff in them)
marinated mushrooms
GT Komboucha - gingerberry & grape - actually I drink one of these a day

Also, when I'm out I order Skyy Vodka w/ soda water and lemon&lime
Also I drink wine but I never drink beer.
OH YEA: ITS TRUE! YOU WILL NEED LESS ALCOHOL!! SO BE CAREFUL!

Assuming you're the "typical" college kid and drinking is part of your social life, it is pretty unrealistic to just drop/change friends right now, plus I'm thinking you don't necessarily even want to stop drinking right now. I'm guessing, for me, over time I will only have wine.

But for now, I make sure all my solids are RAW RAW RAW :)

[eatyourbroccoli]

Can anyone relate or offer advice or tell me how bad alcohol is poisoning my body?

alcohol is THE WORST DRUG you could possibly put into your body, right alongside of heorine and cocaine. its worse for you than nicotine, but will never be restricted like cigarrettes are because its such an incredibly huge market and popular enough among the younger generations to ignore the riduculous amount of negative health effects in the name of monetary gain.

you could easily find something else to do on friday and saturday nights than drink. you could still go out with your friends, and just choose NOT to drink.

im a sophomore in college. i dont drink. i still have a life. a far more physically/mentally/spiritually rewarding one than the friends i have that drink.

good luck.

[sungoddess]

I am a freshman in college and I don't drink. My friends and I have an amazing time... we are very similar in our interests and are more homebodies. ( we aren't "freaks" either, i promise )

However, I also have friends that drink and I go out with them too from time to time.

I just want health really really badly. And if you are like me, and are struggling for it, alcohol is something easy to cut out (because it always made me SO sick the next day the few times I really did in High School)

[Sharon in Colorado]

This is a great lesson that I teach my kids...it seems like nobody feels like you do, but actually there are a lot of others who feel just like you.

When my kids go to a new class or group and they are nervous I let them know that many other kids feel the same way, and wouldn't it be great if they were the first ones to step out and say "hello" to the other kids.

This is quite like your situation. It's just the "stepping out" of your comfort zone, and getting to know others - soon you'll find there ARE others who actually go to college to learn, not to party. Your experience can be so much more than getting wasted with friends...don't think for a moment that this is what it's all about.

[exurb]

almost all wines are raw. organic wines are certified to be vegan, conventional wines may use an animal based clarifying agent, may not.

the wines that aren't raw are the ones made from concentrates (eg the dorm room down the hall that makes their own wine and beer). most bottled wines from actual wineries are raw, except some reeely cheeep wines that are made from concentrates.

beer though not raw, is actually very nutritious in general, chock full of vitamins.

I do think alcohol to the point of getting blasto is quite unhealthy... giddy, well, hey, who knows, because there are benefits. Statistically the person who has a drink a day is healthier than the teetotaller, but the person who has a major piss up on weekends is not healthier.