Do you find yourself taking ibuprophen or aspirin after a few drinks?
Or perhaps even before in a desperate attempt to combat the headache and joint pains to come?
While NSAIDS are common practice for many scenarios they can also be weakening and irritating the intestinal mucosa, ultimately leading to a higher risk of gastrointestinal ulcers, bleeds, and perforations.
Alcohol also increases the risk of gastrointestinal bleedings, especially when 3 or more beverages per day are being consumed. So even though a few glasses of wine or a couple beers after a long day do not seem like a lot, it could be causing some serious issues in your gastrointestinal tract.
Alcohol disrupts the intestinal linings through direct injury to the epithelial cells and increasing inflammation.
When combining the two to fight off some of the unpleasant effects of alcohol like migraine or the infamous joint aches after a night of drinking you could be doing some serious damage and could have potentially fatal side effects after years of abuse.
While NSAID use can be done safely and with positive outcome it is important to not exceed recommended doses or to drink heavily in conjunction with its use.
There are other options to consider when choosing an effective anti-inflammatory including botanicals such as ginger, curcumin, frankincense, bromelain and capsaicin. The use of these herbs boasts a lack of negative side effects and powerful anti-inflammatory effects.