Feature
Healthy Lifestyle : Lots of tips on how to stop drinking alcohol
Drunkorexia appears to be on the rise again, with many young people reportedly skipping meals in order to get drunk more quickly and reduce their calorie intake from food in order to save them for alcohol.
Although it occurs in both men and women it appears to be particularly common in young women, with an Australian study published last year finding that almost 60 percent of female undergraduates in its sample showed drunkorexic tendencies.
There are lots of reasons why you might want to stop drinking alcohol. Some people need to stop drinking as a result of developing an alcohol related medical condition such as liver disease, or because they start taking medication which reacts badly with alcohol. Others choose to do so for religious reasons, or simply as a move towards a healthier lifestyle.
If you’re thinking about removing alcohol from your life, you should know that you’re not alone. 43% of adults in Britain who say they abstain from alcohol did previously drink alcohol.
Whatever your reasons, this page gives lots of tips on how to stop drinking alcohol, details of the potential benefits of not drinking, as well as information on the potential alcohol withdrawal symptoms you could experience if you move from drinking heavily, to drinking no alcohol at all.
Drinking on an empty stomach is also a quicker but more dangerous way to feel the effects of alcohol.
If you’re worried you might be engaging in drunkorexic behavior, or just drinking too much in general, here are some tips from independent UK charity Drinkaware to help you cut down or cut out alcohol for a healthier lifestyle.
Make space
Sipping a soft drink between alcoholic drinks slows down the rate of your drinking and means you’ll drink less over the course of the evening. If you’re out clubbing, take a bottle of water out with you on the dancefloor, and when in a bar try opting for non-alcoholic mocktail, a premium soft drink, or a glass of water.
Avoid temptation
In the early stages, it’s a good idea to avoid situations where you may be tempted to drink. This could mean opting out of the weekly pub quiz for a while, or if you tend to drink when eating out, try going to restaurants that don’t sell alcohol or simply volunteering to drive.
Track your drinking over time
If you choose to drink, recording exactly what you’ve drunk during the week will tell you whether you’re keeping within the unit guidelines. The Drinkaware Drink Tracker and its various tools to track your units will also help you keep an eye on your drinking while at home or out and about.
Treat yourself
Splash out on a special bottle of wine or liquor that’s expensive enough to encourage you to savor it over a few days or months, rather than down it all in one night. This way, you’ll space out the units you’re consuming.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.