Meeting of Wednesday 23 October 2019
Speaker, MS Sonia Slevin. Topic “Drink wiser – Age Well”
Sonia began by distributing evaluation sheets to determine if knowledge about, and attitudes towards, alcohol changed during session. Her over-arching message was that healthy ageing requires a controlled approach to diet, exercise and alcohol use combined with varied social activities to stay outward looking and mentally alert. Starting with the current recommended Government guidelines of 14 units of alcohol per week for both men and women, she challenged members to guess how many units there were in a number of popular measures, for example, a pint of beer, a glass of wine, a single measure of spirits. Sonia further explained that it takes one hour for a unit of alcohol to clear the body and it is not speeded up by cups of coffee, eating a meal or an Ulster fry for breakfast the morning after the night before. The reasons for alcohol consumption rising with age were examined, as were rates of dependency and sources of help. Sonia’s talk provided scope for lots of witty banter but members nevertheless took seriously the importance of her message. She was thanked for an engaging talk by Probian Eamon Cunningham