Supersize Me... with Liquor

[Taliesin]

Link.

See what the booze can do
By NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH
08jan06

NICKY Taylor, 39, is stumbling around a nightclub dance floor in the early hours of the morning, clutching a bottle of Smirnoff Ice.

In five hours, she has drunk equal to four bottles of wine in a potentially fatal mix of cocktails, spirits and beers.

She is drunk. She has vomited once, but Nicky carries on, determined to keep up with her female companions.

This ugly scene is not a typical night for Nicky. In an experiment for a British TV documentary, the single mother spent a month matching the bingers drink-for-drink to see what it did to her body and mind.

Over 30 days, going out five nights a week, Nicky consumed a staggering 516 units of alcohol -- 17.2 units a day. Guidelines say women should drink no more than two or three units a day, and a maximum of 14 a week.

One unit is 8g of alcohol, or a small glass (125ml) of wine, half a pint (284ml) of beer or a pub measure of spirits. But stronger beers may contain 2.5 alcohol units per half pint.

Nicky hopes her experiment will open people's eyes to the gravity of binge-drinking in the same way Morgan Spurlock's film Super Size Me (in which the American filmmaker ate McDonald's for 30 days) did to the dangers of junk food.

"What I discovered shocked me to the core," says Nicky, who was monitored by medical experts during the experiment.

She was chosen because her bosses wanted a responsible woman in her 30s. She went into it with gusto, but emerged depressed and exhausted. Her home and professional lives were suffering and she developed an increased risk of liver problems and alcoholism.

Her body fat increased from 37.4 per cent to 38.9 per cent, she put on more than 3kg, and her skin became so damaged she had the complexion of a 50-year-old.

Over time, with the dehydrating effects of alcohol no longer taking their toll, her skin will return to normal. But doctors said that in another five months she might have seen signs of cirrhosis.

"I lost my jaw line and I developed chipmunk cheeks," she said.

"I was drinking the equivalent of about 2000 calories a night and developed a big tyre of fat around my stomach. I also became really depressed."

Nicky describes meeting a generation of women for whom casual sex and alcohol-induced fighting is the norm.

"On average, to match the girls I was drinking with, who were in their 20s and 30s and worked in jobs ranging from city professions to nursing, I had to drink upwards of 30 units of alcohol a night. I never went out without having a big bowl of pasta to line my stomach," Nicky says.

"They all drink on empty stomachs so that the alcohol is absorbed more rapidly.

"On my first night out with student nurses Ceri, 30, and Lorna, 21, I drank in one night twice what the (British) Government recommends for a week.

"I ended up collapsing on the pavement and passing out in the back of a taxi. I never went anywhere without my film crew. But I dread to think what could have happened had I not had anyone looking after me."

The next day, with the hangover from hell, she went to a club with the same group of girls.

"I was so drunk I fell asleep in the club, but the girls kept waking me up to give me more. I ended up drinking 11 double vodkas," she says.

After another binge, her film crew "took great pleasure in reminding me of embarrassing things I'd done, such as dancing on a podium in a gay bar and dancing provocatively with an empty beer bottle".

I really hope the visible changes are reversible, because it's so horrible for a beautiful woman to suddenly look that much older. In a month-- it seems incredible.

 

[The Yankee]

She looks 20 years older in those pictures.

This didn't need to be done...we know what the effects of horrifically excessive alcohol consumption are.

 

[Irish Caesar]

What a senseless experiment.

 

[Pyrite]

I don't think this is so senseless, most people aren't aware of crap like this. You might, but you are a minority methinks. Binging isn't looked upon as alchoholism

 

[Aramazd]

I can't believe anyone would do that. Hopefully it will stop people from drinking too much, but I doubt it.

 

[Irish Caesar]

was it necessary for her to do all of the drinking to prove the point, though?

 

[The Yankee]

Maybe, but the question is:

Will this have any impact?

 

[Taliesin]

It's amazing she didn't manage to blind herself.

 

[cgannon64]

What kind of beastly executives asked her to do this?

 

[punkbass2000]

I don't think this is so senseless, most people aren't aware of crap like this. You might, but you are a minority methinks. Binging isn't looked upon as alchoholism

I agree. Indeed, one could have said the same things about "Supersize Me". Nonetheless, I knew plenty of people who seemed shocked by the results. :shrug:

 

[Taliesin]

There is a difference here, as small (i.e. reasonable) amounts of alcohol are quite healthy, while the same cannot be said for McDonald's fare. But still, if the film gets good exposure, it might turn some people away from the club scene to which Ms Taylor was subjected, which can only be a good thing.

 

[Irish Caesar]

I agree. Indeed, one could have said the same things about "Supersize Me". Nonetheless, I knew plenty of people who seemed shocked by the results. :shrug:

Oh, I'm shocked that the results were so drastic and so quick, but I'm not shocked that after binge drinking every night for a month, she felt like complete crap.

 

[punkbass2000]

Oh, I'm shocked that the results were so drastic and so quick, but I'm not shocked that after binge drinking every night for a month, she felt like complete crap.

Yes, but your expectations may not match others. Do you think the people that are lviing the lifestyle she based her month around really believe it's as bad as it is? They may know it's bad, but I would guess most wouldn't think it's this bad.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Perhaps...some probably do it night after night because it temporarily makes them feel better. My guess (I'm not a drinker, I don't claim to know much about it) is that it's similar to smoking: trying to quit makes you feel worse before you start to feel better. If this is your lifestyle, you're trapped and you can't get out very easily.

I'd be interested in knowing what sort of detox Nicky had to go through after the month was over.

 

[punkbass2000]

Perhaps...some probably do it night after night because it temporarily makes them feel better. My guess (I'm not a drinker, I don't claim to know much about it) is that it's similar to smoking: trying to quit makes you feel worse before you start to feel better. If this is your lifestyle, you're trapped and you can't get out very easily.

I'd be interested in knowing what sort of detox Nicky had to go through after the month was over.

Indeed, addiction is a rough thing.

 

[Pyrite]

Probably pretty severe, I've had freinds going through alchohol withdrawal that had sever seizures that needed to be hospitalized.
Alchohol and i think denzoopiates(denzo something, some kind of downer but i forget the exact name) or something are the only drugs that if you show up for detox with, they have to commit you.

 

[Fifty]

Wow, that is really disgusting.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Reminds me on a guy in a slimming program who thought drinking seven beers every night was pretty normal.

But, presumably, the effects of a month like that on someone who drinks moderately or not at all normally are worse than someone who's got there gradually, with the body adapting to the booze and all.

Now the big question - how can a student nurse afford going out every night?

 

[feline_dacat]

Its things like this that reminds me how much I enjoy NOT drinking.

 

[PrinceOfLeigh]

I really hope the visible changes are reversible, because it's so horrible for a beautiful woman to suddenly look that much older. In a month-- it seems incredible.

You can look different by taking the picture at 12 and 5 this proves nothing. Drinking to excess is harmful? Wow!! Doing anything to excess is harmful.

By the way, I wish I had thought of this for my dissertation instead of reading Health and Safety Laws