LOOKING FOR ANSWERS???

Are you or someone you know affected by Alcohol?

To learn more about alcohol and how it affects your nutrition:

 

COME JOIN US!

 

Time:  Monday at 6:00

Place:  Indian Health Service

Nutritionist Goodie TwoShoes and Eddie KnowsItAll will be presenting the nutritional aspects of alcohol.

Indian tacos will be served!

 

Setting:  Nutritionist Goodie TwoShoes and twelve community members gather at the lobby of the Indian Health Service. Freshly made frybread is lingering in the air as everyone leisurely finds a seat.

 

Nutritionist TwoShoes:  Good afternoon everyone (Looking around the room).  Let’s all gather closer, I’m not going to bite. (Jokingly) Unless you try to steal my Indian taco. I want you all to take a minute to look around the room, introduce yourself to someone you don’t know, and smell the fresh frybread.  You all ready to eat now? Well, before we grab a bite, let me introduce myself. I am the Indian Health Service Nutritionist, Goodie TwoShoes, daughter of Harry TwoShoes. And this here is my partner in crime, Eddie TwoGuns. Together we will be giving a presentation on alcohol and its nutritional aspects. Everyone here has been affected either directly or indirectly by alcohol. We come from all walks of life: from young to old, from slender to overweight, from mothers to fathers, from antisocial to social butterflies, and even from unpleasant (Winking at Eddie) to pleasant.

 

Eddie:  (Winking back at Goodie) Speak for yourself there, Goodie. As you can all see, alcoholism is an indiscriminate disease in deciding whom it will attack. It affects everyone in our society. Today, Goodie and I are going to cover questions you may have about alcohol and nutrition. First, I am going to pass around a paper containing the most frequently asked questions about alcohol in general. After going through the questions and listening to the presentation, I want you to write down your own questions on a piece of paper. Now, grab yourself a warm Indian taco and let’s get started on the presentation.

 

Everyone scrambles to grab a taco while they’re hot and seats themselves comfortably to listen to Goodie and Eddie’s presentation.

 

(The presentation is over and everyone is ready to fall asleep after his or her stomachs are filled with food.)

 

Nutritionist TwoShoes:  (Clapping her hands together and raising her voice to wake everyone up) Alright, are there any questions? I know we went through a lot of information in a short amount of time, so right now I want to slow down and answer anything the presentation may have been unclear about. (Passing paper around) While that Indian taco is digesting, before you all fall asleep on me, write a question or two you have on a piece of paper.

 

(The papers are collected, as Goodie opens the first question handed in and reads it aloud.)

1st question- How does alcohol affect my nutrition?

Goodie:  Well as you can see from the presentation, alcohol affects our nutritional status in a variety of ways. The most evident is by depressing our appetite, displacing other foods from our diet, and decreasing the value of food by interfering with digestion and absorption.

2nd question (What causes fat not to be absorbed in alcoholics?)

Eddie:  When fat cannot be absorbed or there is a reduction in the amount of fat being absorbed it is called fat malabsorption and results from pancreatic insufficiency, failure of bile to flow (cholestasis) and folate deficiency in alcoholics. All three of these problems can create a problem with not only fats to be malabsorped, but also fat-soluble vitamins as well including vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin D, and vitamin E.

3rd question (How can drinking alcohol cause cancer?)

Goodie:  Remember that one of the fat or lipid-soluble vitamins, vitamin E, is a major antioxidant in our membranes. It is viewed as the “last line” of defense against membrane lipid peroxidation that creates free radical attack. And like Eddie stated, vitamin E is compromised in alcoholics leading to cellular destruction and possible cell cancer. In addition, alcohol depressed our immune system and therefore makes our cells more vulnerable to cellular destruction and abnormal cell growth.

4th question (What kind of nutritional therapy is available for an alcoholic?)

Eddie:  That is where Goodie and I come into the picture. We will work on setting up nutritional counseling with them to make sure their diet is adequate in replenishing their nutrients they are lacking, like we discussed in the presentation. Often, they are referred to the treatment center as well to ensure they are receiving the necessary treatments they need to help them get their health status back to normal.

5th question (What is your phone number?)

Goodie:  (Laughing to herself) Well, I wasn’t prepared to answer that question, but if you need to contact me regarding the information that was presented, you can contact me at the Indian Health Service as well as my off-hours to reach me if you have to.

Eddie:  (Laughing) Now Goodie, what makes you think they were asking for your phone number? Regardless, we both can be reached at the Indian Health Service.

Goodie:  (Embarassed) Well that looks like the last question. I want to thank everyone for coming. I hope we have answered all of your questions.

Eddie:  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready for a good night’s rest. Thanks for coming everyone.

 

SOURCE:  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol Health & Research World. 1989; 13 (3): 197-280.