Mens_Health_UK_March_2017

MENSHEALTH.CO.UK MEN’S HEALTH 41

WORDS: SCARLETT WRENCH | PHOTOGRAPHY: AGATA PEC AT HEARST STUDIOS

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JOY

PROVISION

T

here’s little more depressing

than a rainy Friday night in

February, with only reheated

quinoa and a tap water

chaser as reward for a week’s hard

graft. So, while we applaud any

man’s efforts to clean up his act,

the truth is that winter is no time to

be abstemious. A little of what you

fancy, as they say, can do you a whole

lot of good. Particularly if what you

fancy is a bloody stiff drink.

Contrary to popular belief that

booze is a depressant – this actually

refers to the slowing effect it has

on your reactions – new research

in Nature Communications journal

found it produces the same neural

changes as antidepressant drugs.

This triggers a biochemical mood

boost with blues-beating effects that

can last for a full 24 hours, long after

your heady glow fades. Now, clearly

WINTER MOOD ON THE

ROCKS? YOUR POISON

MAY BE THE ANTIDOTE

LIGHT UP

YOUR LIFE

Counteract your

seasonal sorrows

until Friday with

this daily timeline

BOTTOMS

UP TO RAISE

LOW SPIRITS

Call off the dryathlon.

In the right dose, your

evening tipple can pop

a cork in winter malaise

MIND

NEWSFEED

03/17

we’re not advocating ‘self-

medication’ as the solution to

life’s travails. Rather the message

here is that if a moderate dose of

the harder stuff at the end of an

immoderately tough week makes

you feel better, that’s no bad thing.

This builds on previous research,

published in BMC Medicine, which

found that those who enjoy up to

seven drinks a week are 32% less

likely to suffer from depression than

teetotalers. Note, that’s a glass over

dinner – not a bottle and a half while

perusing pictures of your colleague’s

winter sun break. Both of which

are likely to leave you in a far darker

mood come tomorrow.

07.00 RISE & SHINE

If dark mornings

cloud your outlook,

Lumie’s Bodyclock

(£54 johnlewis.com)

simulates sunrise to

wake you up, keeping

you bright all day.

13.00 HIIT HARDER

As well as endorphin-

boosting benefits,

interval training can

rebalance voracious

winter appetites, the

International Journal

of Obesity reports.

19.00 FEEL THE BURN

Light a vanilla candle.

What you lose in lad

points, you’ll gain

in serotonin, says St

George’s Hospital,

plus the scent also

cuts sugar cravings.

10

TIPPLE THE

BALANCE