’ TIS THE SEASON TO BE MERRY
And herein lies the rub: we get too merry. Here’s the drill: your summer tan has barely faded before the dreaded ‘C’ word is mentioned and the countdown to Christmas begins with an endless roll-call of works dos and dull parties where we drink our own body weight in booze. We know we shouldn’t, but it seems like the only way to tolerate colleagues we can’t stand and parties where Pictionary is the prime source of entertainment; so we might as well accept the inevitable and hunt down a decent hangover cure. One of the few herbs that has no equal in the world of conventional medicine for the treatment of liver disorders, milk thistle has also become a best-kept-secret hangover healer. Over-the-counter milk thistle capsules detoxify the body and help repair the havoc alcohol wreaks, easing nausea and the classic jackhammer banging head. Plus, it’s all yours for under a tenner, which is less than your average round of bevvies. Sadly, it won’t erase the memory of you dancing on tables in the misguided belief you’re Justin Timberlake.

CALLING IT QUITS
If your New Year’s resolution is to pack in the fags, you’re not alone. Of the UK’s 12 million smokers, three million attempt to quit each year but the bad news is only 3% manage to stay on the wagon long-term. As an ex-smoker, I know how hard kicking the habit to the curb is, because I’ve been off the nicotine for three years and I still get the occasional craving. If you want to take the sting out of stopping then smoking cessation programmes are becoming increasingly popular, primarily because they’re more likely to work. The late anti-smoking tsar Allen Carr’s much-vaunted course is probably the most famous. Spread over five hours of one day in groups of about twenty, it uses a psychotherapy/hypnotherapy double whammy approach and focuses on why smokers continue despite the obvious disadvantages as opposed to concentrating on why they should quit. It’s successful because it’s about cognitive behavioural therapy: changing your behaviour to change the way you think. The course costs £220 - private sessions are a couple of grand - which sounds a lot but is a mere drop in the ocean compared to how smoking dents your wallet over a lifetime - and this will actually prolong it - and if it doesn’t do the trick then there’s a money back guarantee to boot. For details of your local Allen Carr therapist log onto the website: www.allencarreasyway.com

10 WAYS TO BEAT THE WINTER BLUES
1. Don’t sheep-flock to the gym with the masses this January, take up a team sport instead. Try not to barf, but the camaraderie can be a real mood elevator
2. Take up a new interest. I know this sounds Simon Says simplistic, but sometimes simple is best
3. Lay off the drowning-your-sorrows approach, as alcohol is a potent depressant. You may feel a temporary lift but the high is soon goodbyed
4. Eat spicy food. The substance that makes chillies hot, capsicum, stimulates the release of feel-good endorphins in the brain. Think about it: have you ever seen a depressed Mexican?
5. Drink green tea. It contains high levels of antioxidants that help fight mild depression as well as protect against cancer and heart disease
6. Take vitamins. Zinc is especially effective at upping the brain’s good mood medicine, serotonin
7. Do a negativity edit. If you’ve got a whinger mate who’s always on the moan, limit the amount of time you spend together. Or, harsher still, hit the delete button
8. Change your routine. Experiment by chopping and changing the ingredients of your life to keep things fresh
9. Have a Thai massage. This is much more energising and rigorous than other forms of massage, literally extracting stress from the body
10. Remember winter doesn’t go on forever so enjoy some of its perks, like long walks on crisp, frosty days or having a Sunday roast in front of a crackling country pub fire

CALLING IT QUITS
If your New Year’s resolution is to pack in the fags, you’re not alone. Of the UK’s 12 million smokers, three million attempt to quit each year but the bad news is only 3% manage to stay on the wagon long-term. As an ex-smoker, I know how hard kicking the habit to the curb is, because I’ve been off the nicotine for three years and I still get the occasional craving. If you want to take the sting out of stopping then smoking cessation programmes are becoming increasingly popular, primarily because they’re more likely to work. The late anti-smoking tsar Allen Carr’s much-vaunted course is probably the most famous. Spread over five hours of one day in groups of about twenty, it uses a psychotherapy/hypnotherapy double whammy approach and focuses on why smokers continue despite the obvious disadvantages as opposed to concentrating on why they should quit. It’s successful because it’s about cognitive behavioural therapy: changing your behaviour to change the way you think. The course costs £220 - private sessions are a couple of grand - which sounds a lot but is a mere drop in the ocean compared to how smoking dents your wallet over a lifetime - and this will actually prolong it - and if it doesn’t do the trick then there’s a money back guarantee to boot. For details of your local Allen Carr therapist log onto the website: www.allencarreasyway.com 10 WAYS TO BEAT THE WINTER BLUES
1. Don’t sheep-flock to the gym with the masses this January, take up a team sport instead. Try not to barf, but the camaraderie can be a real mood elevator
2. Take up a new interest. I know this sounds Simon Says simplistic, but sometimes simple is best
3. Lay off the drowning-your-sorrows approach, as alcohol is a potent depressant. You may feel a temporary lift but the high is soon goodbyed
4. Eat spicy food. The substance that makes chillies hot, capsicum, stimulates the release of feel-good endorphins in the brain. Think about it: have you ever seen a depressed Mexican?
5. Drink green tea. It contains high levels of antioxidants that help fight mild depression as well as protect against cancer and heart disease
6. Take vitamins. Zinc is especially effective at upping the brain’s good mood medicine, serotonin
7. Do a negativity edit. If you’ve got a whinger mate who’s always on the moan, limit the amount of time you spend together. Or, harsher still, hit the delete button
8. Change your routine. Experiment by chopping and changing the ingredients of your life to keep things fresh
9. Have a Thai massage. This is much more energising and rigorous than other forms of massage, literally extracting stress from the body
10. Remember winter doesn’t go on forever so enjoy some of its perks, like long walks on crisp, frosty days or having a Sunday roast in front of a crackling country pub fire

THE COLD WAR

<<<BACK Winter is all about Christmas partying, New Year purging and post-festive blues. Jason Jones wages war on this season’s predictable excess-abstinence cycle