Blog

This past week took a sudden turn as a family member was rushed to hospital feeling faint and having had an “upset stomach” for several weeks. A CT scan at the hospital revealed an inflamed liver. Blood work and a biopsy confirmed that the cause was Autoimmune Hepatitis. Most people assume that liver disease is a result of heavy drinking or drug use and this can be the case but isn’t necessarily so. There are over 100 known forms of liver disease caused by a variety of factors affecting everyone from infants to older adults. The Canadian Liver Foundation (CLF)...

St. Patrick's Day celebrates the Roman Catholic feast day for the patron saint of Ireland who died March 17, 461. The strange thing is St. Patrick wasn't Irish and his name wasn't Patrick. St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the 5th century with the birth name of Maewyn. At this time the influence of Rome was in its final hours and Britain was left to fend for itself against Saxons, Picts, and the Scoti of Ireland. St. Patrick was kidnapped at age 16 by Irish pirates and forced into slavery in Ireland. He later escaped to a monastery...

You’ve probably seen this warning on medicines you’ve taken. The danger is real. Mixing alcohol with certain medications can cause nausea and vomiting, headaches, drowsiness, fainting, or loss of coordination. It also can put you at risk for internal bleeding, heart problems, and difficulties in breathing. In addition to these dangers, alcohol can make a medication less effective or even useless, or it may make the medication harmful or toxic to your body. It's important to remember these effects when combining over-the-counter medication and alcohol. Common ingredients in cold & flu medications can cause drowsiness, dizziness, bleeding and ulcers, liver...

Look, I get it. I really do. Lots of people find alcohol-free beer and wine laughable, some find the very concept offensive. What I don’t get is why. And, as importantly, why they feel the need to be so vocal about it. In the 10 years I’ve been running The Alcohol-Free Shop I’ve heard and read it all. ‘What’s the point? Just drink water!’ ‘Alcohol-free? I’d rather have free alcohol!’ ‘It’s like kissing your sister, it tastes the same but it’s wrong’ (and that’s the polite version of that particular one). Every time an article is published about alcohol-free drinks,...

Prohibition ended in the United States on December 5th, 1933 with the repeal of the 18th Amendment. Since then non-alcoholic beer, which was largely invented and commercialized because of prohibition, has been treated as the ugly stepchild of the beer world. That is until very recently when growth in non-alcoholic beer sales started to outpace the growth of its alcoholic sibling. Most multi-national brewers have had a non-alcoholic beer or two in their portfolios dating back several decades but it's the innovation in non-alcoholic beer by independent and craft brewers that is really starting to make the products shine. Many...