INTRO
In this episode of Midlife AFI talked to my friend, the beautiful Natalie Battaglia. Nat and I met during the alcohol experiment in 2020. And Nat runs the most beautiful and amazing business, called the mindful mocktail. She is one of the most intelligent and creative people I know. And I feel so privileged to have her in my life. In today's podcast Nat talks about what exactly taking a 30 day break from alcohol does to our body. And why one of the most magnificent things about becoming alcohol free, is the childlike joy you get back that you didn't realise you'd lost. My favourite thing about Nat is the work she does really creates that spirit of abundance, which is what we need to stop our brains from thinking they're missing out by taking a break from booze. I hope you enjoy this episode.
Emma
Hello, everybody, I'm sorry, that took me a minute to just transfer from what I was doing before Natalie, to join us on this auspicious day. Hello. It's so good. That's so good. I was worried my technology wasn't gonna work. But here we are!
Nat
I know I'm coming to you live from the floor of my hotel room, so hello!
Emma
We're keeping it very real here today.
Nat
That's right, I’ve got the door shut, so hopefully the kids don't barge in.
Emma
That's right. That it's so beautiful to have you and I feel so privileged because Nat is on holiday at the moment. And she has taken time out of her holiday to come and join us on this very special day for me. So those of you who know me know that my little one has been struggling with to getting school and she managed to get in today. So I'm very excited. So I have that success. And I have the beautiful Nat who's such a lovely person, such a good friend to me. And we met together. And we both did the alcohol experiment together, and we met through that which is kind of very special. And we met back in the beginning of 2020. And we've just gotten to know each other over that time. And we met for the first time in real life in that little break in between COVID lockdowns in Melbourne.
Nat
Very briefly, we managed to just sneak it in didn’t we.
Emma
That's right, we did it. We had a lovely cake. We met each other in real life. But we were like, now, we're friends, this is great. I just wanted to bring Nat on here. One because we've both done the alcohol experiment together. And we understand it and we have had a big transformation in our life from it. And two, because I think what Nat brings to our community of people who are investigating their relationship with alcohol, wherever that might be, is she brings us what is very much true to This Naked Mind methodology as well, is spirit of abundance. And so without me carrying on any further, I would love to introduce you to Nat so she can tell you a little bit about her story. And Nat’s done a load of work on researching. And she's put some brilliant stuff together on the benefits of taking a break from alcohol. And so she's going to share that with us as well. So the floor is yours, Nat.
Nat
Thanks, Emma, I'm so glad that you asked me to go live with you today. And you know that I'm just a huge fan of yours. And I'm so excited about this program that you're running. And I'll be really honest with you, I'm asked a lot by sobriety coaches and sobriety apps and things like that If I will sort of come on board and help to promote or endorse a program or an app. And I generally say no, because the truth is, you know, it was the This Naked Mind methodology that helped me two years ago, when I took that 30 days alcohol free and had those 30 days to really educate myself and reassess my relationship with alcohol. And I just, I really can't endorse a program that I know nothing about. And I know that your program will be all about the This Naked Mind methodology. So that's why I really wanted to come on today because I just know that it helped me so much, and it will help so many other people too. So thank you for having me.
Emma
Thank you, thank you for being there. And some Yeah, it's such a different methodology. And you're right I think there's, there's so many different ways that we can all find our place, our way and how we want to live with alcohol, and so many great options out there. But this is the one that's worked for us and it's why I'm so passionate about it as well because it's the thing that changed, it really changed my life.
Nat
Same Absolutely. Well, I'll get into the good stuff. So if we talk about what happens after one month alcohol free: so the big thing for me with the This Naked Mind program is that it works into detail about what actually happens during that month that we're alcohol free, as alcohol starts to leave our bodies and our bodies begin healing in particular, if you've been, you know, a daily drinker, or even just a, you know, a moderate drinker, it's amazing what can happen, the changes that can happen in our bodies throughout a month.
So I have sort of broken it down a little bit. And I'll just run a brief overview of what happens week by week as alcohol leaves our body. And I think you're going to post a link at some stage to a resource that I have on my website that will go through all of this in much more detail, if you want to have a read through.
So the first thing that happens week one, as alcohol begins to leave our body is, first of all, it's really about the sleep. So sleep starts to regulate pretty quickly. Now, I will say that if you're someone that has been using alcohol to sleep, this may not happen as quickly for you. And in some cases, you know, we do need some extra help from a GP or a doctor or whatever it may be to sort of get some advice on sleeping. But in general, what happens when we sleep is that our bodies cycle through these three different stages. So we've got light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep. And what happens when we've had alcohol, even just a small amount of alcohol, we generally fall straight from our awake state straight into a deep sleep, which means we skip the REM sleep, and the REM sleep is the really restorative, that beautiful sleep that makes us sort of wake up feeling fresh and energized. So all of the sleep stages are important, but REM sleep is particularly important. And we really should have, you know, six to eight cycles of REM sleep at night, but when we've been drinking, we often only have two to three. And that can cause us to wake up, you know, have you ever had those nights where you sleep eight to 10 hours, but you've been drinking, and you just wake up feeling rubbish, even though you've had a decent amount of sleep, it's that's all due to just skipping these REM cycles that are just so important.
Hydration is another thing that really improved throughout that first week. And really hydration is tied to so many things within our body. So when we drink alcohol, we actually lose four times as much liquid as we drink. So if you can picture you drinking even two glasses of wine at 200 mil Ah, that's you know, 400 mil of liquid, and you're potentially losing one and a half liters for those two glasses of wine, which is just crazy when you think about it. So you know, alcohol sort of robs our body of all of that delicious hydration. So hydration improves. And that just connects to everything a little bit like sleep. So you can really see in this first week, just those two things can make a massive, massive difference.
And I do like to touch on the calories as well, not from a weight loss perspective. That was never a goal when I stopped drinking, it was never about losing weight. But I do remember back in my calorie counting days, which are behind me now, I remember looking at my calories and thinking, Okay, I might have 2000 calories or whatever it is to have today. So I would deliberately sort of skip meals or parts of a meal for myself, so that I could make it up with alcohol because I knew I wanted to have two or four classes that night. And what I inevitably ended up giving up those proteins and vegetables and carbs and like all those macros that keep our body you know fueled and running and everything. So I would be leaving the protein out and I would be having the alcohol instead, which just depletes our bodies of nutrition even further.
Because alcohol also affects nutrient absorption. So on one hand, we're not eating the good food. And then on the other hand, all of those delicious nutrients that we are eating, you know, are being suppressed by the alcohol. So it's just this vicious cycle and one of the reasons why when you drink you just feel so rubbish, especially in the long term.
Emma
Just our body goes into this kind of like, oh my goodness, I'm on high alert. I've got to get this alcohol out of my body as my top priority and I can’t do anything else.
Nat
Yes, that's exactly right. I remember, as I said, not drinking alcohol has never been about weight loss for me. But I do remember reading this thing where it's like, if you're having a pizza, and you're having a couple of glasses of red or whatever it might be with that pizza. And you're consuming both of those things, but you're in a normal circumstance, when you're not drinking alcohol, your body might be trying to process that pizza and process the fat and the cheese, and you know, all of that and focusing on digesting all of that.
But when you're drinking with that pizza, your body's number one priority is “okay, poison has just been put inside my body, my number one priority is to get that poison out”. So it stops digesting all of the carbs.. And its number one goal is just to get rid of that poison. So, you know, it's really quite amazing when you look at it, how it affects so many body processes.
Then moving into week two. So that's when we start talking about things like stomach lining returns to normal. So if you've ever, you know, had bad sort of heartburn or reflux or anything like that, and you're a drinker, I get so many people saying, like commenting on this blog post that I wrote about the benefits that “oh my gosh, this is just so true for me, you know, I had this heartburn and this acid and, and I stopped drinking, I've had a week's break, and all of a sudden those all of those symptoms have subsided”. And it's because when we drink alcohol, our stomach produces more acid, you know, to sort of balance things out. So that's a massive perk of week two. You also start to sort of think more clearly. And that's tied up into a lot of things. So the hydration, the sleep, you know, yeah, the sleep and the hydration are the main thing, but the nutrients being absorbed more slowly and better. You know, those things, they just make a huge difference.
And also, this can be the time when our skin and eyes start to clear. So if you've been an almost daily drinker, you'll find that by week two, well, and truly, you'll start to just look that little bit brighter and feel that little bit fresher. And maybe it’s the time when people start saying, oh, you know, you're looking really well. You slept well.
Week three is probably one of the biggest weeks for me, because even though you start to feel a huge difference in week one and two, but really, the internal stuff starts happening from week three of no alcohol. And that's when things like you know, our blood pressure can start to reduce. And even though that might not necessarily make us feel any better, you just, you know, that's going on inside you. And you know, blood pressure can be a huge issue. Also, vision can start to improve. So that's tied up into things like, you know, the dehydration, and also, you know, binge drinking, which you know, is really only four drinks for women, and six drinks fo rmen, which is a bit scary, and can cause a number of problems with the health of your eyes. So it can cause dry eye and cataracts and, you know, all sorts of nasty things. So, you know, it affects your eye health as well.
By week three, usually any sleeping issues that you've had, during that time, you know, those initial teething, you know, first and second week, by the third week, you know, things have settled down and it's a little bit more regular and consistent. And also, you're just you've got this increased clarity because you are better hydrated, you're sleeping better, the nutrients are absorbing at a faster rate. And all the good stuff that you're eating is getting to where it needs to be within your body. And also, your kidney health starts to improve.
So alcohol can change the function of the kidneys in the body and it makes them less able to filter the blood. And you know, the blood is where that alcohol goes and we need to be able to filter that blood effectively in order to get the alcohol out of our system. So by the end of week three, there are things going on inside your body that you're not even aware of. And that's all tied to why you start to feel so good after three weeks off.
Emma
Yeah, so true. It's like your body starts to actually start healing itself from the inside out.
Nat
It does, it really does. And you know, even when I was researching for this article, I just thought, it's just crazy. It touches every part of our body, you know, when you drink alcohol. You know, I mean, even I don't like to draw the comparison too much. But even when you compare it to something like smoking, you know, we know smoking affects us, but it still doesn't affect as many parts of our body as what alcohol does.
Emma
It's so surprising, isn't it? And when you start researching it, you start finding out the actual impact of it, it's like, I think that's the thing that I get frustrated about in with the marketing and stuff that goes on in the world, because we're all adults, we make our decision on what we choose to do with our life. Lots of us take risks on lots of different things, but it's not knowing the risks. And I think it's getting much better, though, isn't it? I mean, I see a lot more in the media now about the real risks of alcohol, but it's not common knowledge, is it? I think most people would still be surprised.
Nat
Yeah, I mean, for me for many years, I'm sure the information was out there, but I didn't really want to know. We all know that alcohol is not great for us. But I even know, like my dad, bless his heart. He loves his wine. You know, he's quite a big drinker. And, you know, we laugh about it. But sometimes when I try to tell him, I never preach. But, you know, I say, “you know, maybe you feel better if you cut back a bit”, but he always said, “I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to know”. And your brain hears what it wants to hear. So I could have two studies in front of me. And one of them would say alcohol increases your risk of cancer with every drink you have. Yes. The other one would say one to two glasses of red wine has health benefits, and we should do it on a daily and which one was I going to choose?
Emma
That's exactly right. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. You've got so much information, then it has you. Did you have some for what happens at the end?
Nat
So by the time we get to week four, I mean, I'm sort of I've actually got it up on the screen in front of me, but we were up to sort of 21 benefits. So by week four, it touched 21 parts of our body. And there's, you know, there's been this huge amount of improvement in our bodies, both internal and external. The biggest one by week four, of course, is liver health improves. So liver fat will now be reduced by up to 15%. After one month alcohol free. And the liver is such an important organ. So it plays a part in 500 processes in our body. Yes, it's responsible for removing contaminants. Converting food nutrients, like I said that better nutrient absorption, it stores, minerals and vitamins for us, it helps to fight infections. I used to get sick all the time when I was drinking. And it also maintains hormone balance. So the liver is just tied to so many different parts of our body. Glucose stabilizes and cholesterol drops by up to 5%.
A huge part for me was the reduction in anxiety and feeling like rubbish. For so many years, I drank to calm my nerves not realizing that it was making it worse in the long run overall. And you know, it really does, it changes the levels of serotonin in our brain, and it changes the way our brain works. And you would probably know more about that but I know for me, the thing is for me, like alcohol provided this dopamine spike. And when I stopped drinking, I really had to look around and find dopamine spikes that weren’t artifiial show. So if there’s an artificial dopamine spike, and it can be very, very difficult because artificial dopamine spikes are usually you know, they're quick. They're easy. You don't have to work too hard for them. You can go down the line or you can pick up the phone and this you know, you get “Bing Bing” from the social media, you know, from notifications and things like that or an email you were looking for. Like these dopamine spikes are easy things. More than looking internal, and looking what dopamine spikes that I can create for myself in my life. So can I think, yeah, that was one of the huge things for me, you know, when I stopped drinking.
Emma
Yeah, and I think it's, I know a lot of people talk about that moment when you have a drink, you know, that way you kind of breathe out you exhale. And you know what, that's actually your nervous system, just registering that dopamine has come into your body. That “aaaah” and you know, it's so interesting now that I've learned about, you know, the nervous system and how these different things work. There's so many practices that I have now, including just taking some breaths sometimes and touching my skin. And I was laughing because whenever I do, I quite regularly exhale out, which is my nervous system, like, regulating itself. And my kids are like, “Mum, why are you passively aggressively sighing?” Because they're teenagers? really sarcastic, and judgy. And I'm not, I'm just regulating my nervous system.
It's so funny, isn't it? It's like, it's in your right. I think when we've been drinking for a long time, it's hard for us because it takes a little bit of effort to, to feel our internal things and to find what works for us and to go out and try different things. And, and it's because we've been so used to just drinking and that's made it you know, made things very quickly. Okay. Or feel like they're okay on the surface. But, you know, as we know, not underneath the surface.
Nat
I remember I shared a story though, just speaking of dopamine spikes, and, you know, trying to achieve them naturally, it would have been about three months after I stopped drinking. And my husband and I, we went away for a weekend. My first alcohol free weekend. So it was kind of a big deal. And it was quite difficult. But I remember on the second day, I was really excited about something we were doing, we were going to see something that I wanted to see for ages. And then we were going to lunch somewhere that I really had been waiting to see.
And I remember standing there like having my tea in the morning. And I got butterflies, like a thrill. Like, this happiness that went from my head, like all the way down my body. And the best way I can describe it is how I felt when I was a kid. And it was Christmas morning. And I knew that Santa had been, you know, that moment where you're when you're lying in bed, and you're thinking about presents under the tree or whatever it was that made you happy as a child and really giddy with excitement. And I had that feeling. And I hadn't had that feeling in 10 years, you know, and I just, I didn't even think that I had the ability to feel like that anymore. And you know, and I realized that, you know, with alcohol, it suppresses a lot of the good stuff. Like it stops us from being able to, because we're getting these artificial dopamine hits all the time. It stops the natural ones come through. And it was so true for me. And yeah, just that feeling of utter joy, like spurred on by nothing but being excited about something I was doing that day. I just Yeah, I hadn't had that feeling for such a long time.
Emma
It makes me feel a bit emotional when you say that. Because it is really, it kind of makes everything sort of samey, doesn't it and you don't feel. I know. It's a particular chemical. I know. It's the chemical diamorphine that has this impact on us, but it sort of takes away the joy in everyday things, right?
Nat
Yeah, yeah. It really does.
Emma
It's, yeah. It is really a huge benefit of taking a break for sure. Of just getting back a little bit to yourself and then I know for me personally, the piece I always remember is just that the fighting in your head, you know, wait, you know, when you take 30 days and you're like, you've made that definite line in the sand, “I've made a decision, I'm going to do this for 30 days, whatever happens, even if I'm crying on the floor, in the bathroom, I'm not going to, I'm not going to break this decision”. And that freedom, then from all of those conversations in your head, “am I aren’t I? What am I going to do?” When am I going and you just realize how much space it's taking up in your brain, right? And I just always remember that from every break I've taken. That was the one takeaway, even before I found This Naked Mind. I always came away with that. Oh, that was nice not to have that for a bit.
Nat
Yes, that's so true.
Emma
And the other thing I was going to talk about now, if you feel comfortable that you've shared all those benefits, we'll definitely put Nats resources in the comments underneath this reel, because it's so excellent. And I've shared it with so many people over the years. Yeah, it is. It's a fantastic piece of information and massively well researched as everything that Nat does is. But that feeling, and I think both of us love.
And I don't know not if you want to talk about this a little bit, but that feeling that, for me, was different about This Naked Mind and The Alcohol Experiment was that it came from a feeling there was definitely not about deprivation, when before I found This Naked Mind, I would take Febfast breaks, I'd take breaks, I'd take dry July breaks. And I could do them. But I'd hate every second of it.
And I would load up with booze beforehand. And when I came out the other end, I'd been drinking at least as much, if not more, because I felt deprived. And I was having an awful time. And the difference with this naked mind. And that's why when I was two weeks into the alcohol experiment, I was literally on the phone to Scott going, please, please, I want to be a coach. And it's so amazing. I can't believe it. It was not about deprivation, this is about giving yourself the opportunity to heal. Nourishing yourself, coming to it from a spirit of abundance, which very much ties into the work that does naturally want to talk about your experience of that with The Alcohol Experiment?
Nat
For me, I know this is sort of a quite, you know that this expression or this saying has been going around for a long time. But for me, I remember hearing for the very first time when I was doing the course, was that instead of coming at it from an angle of you know, “I have to”....
I knew that I had to do something about my drinking. I knew that I had to. But you know, it seems like this huge chore. You know, I didn't want to admit that I had a problem because I thought people would say to me, “Well, you just have to stop drinking and you can never drink again”. And I never wanted to say, still to this day, I've never said I'm never drinking again.
Because I think that that like locks us into, you know, never being able to drink again. And it's forbidden. And I just don't think that that's the right way to approach it. And for me this expression of you know, I moved from a state of “I have to stop drinking”, to. “I get to stop drinking”. And that really came from you know, researching for things like this article, it came from educating myself on what alcohol was doing to my body.
And so I got to a stage and I thought “oh my god, I don't want to put this in my body anymore. I don't want this to be in my life anymore”. And I think once that switch was made once it was very much “I get to stop drinking” instead of “I have to change things for me”. And then of course that was when I started the mindful mocktail, I was missing having something to drink. You know, I wanted that special drink at the end of the day or when I went to a friend's place.
I didn't want to be stuck with, you know, sparkling water or soft drink or the stuff that kids were drinking. You know, I wanted something nice for me. And that's when I started. I stopped drinking just as we were coming into the pandemic so you can imagine And the 5pm wine cravings were strong, you know, I really needed something to escape the reality that was my day. Back in those early pandemic day’s, we're all scared, and no one knew what was happening. And that was when I started making drinks at the kitchen bench. And I've always been a foodie and I've always loved flavor pairing and creating something special in the kitchen. And, so much to my husband's dismay, my focus went from cooking beautiful meals to making delicious drinks. And yeah, and it sort of all stemmed from there. And the reason why I have health focus on so many of my drinks is because I just love the idea of being able to sit on something with fresh fruit, you know, beautiful cleansing citrus, fresh herbs from the garden, you know, made with kombucha or soda water, something that's super hydrating. And instead of drinking, you know, something that, you know, I know, it's controversial, but at the end of the day, so instead of drinking a glass of something that is going to increase my risk of cancer, there I am on something that is nourishing me from the inside out. And it also almost became like a form of self care for me, being able to create something nice for myself in the kitchen, and, and drink that knowing that I was doing the very best thing for my body and mind.
Emma
And 100%. And I think for anybody who's joining me on The Alcohol Experiment this August, I highly recommend going to Nat’s website, getting her resources. I think Nat will tell us a little bit more about it. But it is such a great thing to do to bring in loads of beautiful drinks, and make yourself feel like you can still have a beautiful, gorgeous drink. It just doesn't have to be putting all that stuff into your body that's going to cause you harm. And you can feel like you're having something that's really wonderful, and you're treating yourself and you're nourishing yourself. And I think so much for women, particularly, and I'm sure for men as well. But particularly for women, we don't look after ourselves as much as we should. And that's why, you know, again, with this spirit of abundance, it's like, how can we take some time for ourselves? How can we take some time to, to look after ourselves to start to learn how to be in our world in a way that doesn't require that we're having to be controlled by alcohol, you know, and like Nat says, It's not about necessarily, you know, stopping drinking, that might be your choice. It might not be that's up to you. It's about, it's about having a break and nourishing your body and looking after yourself. And I know Nat, you've got so many great resources. And I really highly recommend that people dip into that while you take a break because it is just it can be so life changing for people to have abundant drinks, abundant treats and abundant rewards, you know, that aren't an alcoholic substance. So Nat, would you like to share with everybody where they can find all your wonderful resources?
Nat
Yeah, sure. So my website is mindfulmocktail.com. And there you'll find all of my recipes, they're all provided for free. There's also lots of resources there on you know what happens to our bodies when we stop drinking, I talk a bit about alcohol and sleep and dived a bit deeper into that. There are non-alcoholic drinks for all different occasions. And there's also a free ebook there. So you can download your free ebook. So you can have some, you know, mocktail recipes at home on your computer, or you can print it and give it to a friend. Yeah, it's just a website full of color and healthy drinks. And yeah, it's a fun place to be on the internet.
Emma
It totally is. And if you want to be wowed by it, some extreme creativity, Nat is one of the people that I know that is so intelligent, and so creative at the same time, and she marries that so beautifully. If you go onto her Instagram site, I'm sure most of you have already but what she produces is extraordinary. And, you know, if there's one way to show love to ourselves, it's what we put into our body. I really highly recommend it. What Nat does is a beautiful way to put things into your body that's going to nourish you and make you feel good.
Nat
Thanks, Em.
Emma
No worries. Thank you so much for joining us on your holiday and I really appreciate you.
Nat
Tuning out now from the floor.
Emma
Have an amazing rest of your time. Thanks. Bye bye.
Nat
See ya. Bye. See ya
