Siouxsie
04-01-2008, 03:58 PM
We watched this, and then decided to have a coffee last night instead of a glass or two of wine.
Liberty X Michelle in 'deadly' TV experiment
POP star Michelle Heaton was forced to pull out of a binge-drinking experiment after just three weeks —because she was on the brink of COLLAPSE.
The former Liberty X singer agreed to drink heavily for a month for a TV show to see if it affected her.
But she had to give up early after suffering LIVER DAMAGE, DIARRHOEA, AMNESIA, DEPRESSION, EXHAUSTION, STOMACH PAINS and a FAILING IMMUNE SYSTEM.
On top of that her sex drive disappeared, she lost her voice, got cracked lips, bad skin, greasy hair and had permanently bloodshot eyes.
The normally toned star even got a beer belly.
Michelle, 27, said: "I really thought I was going to die, I felt my whole body was giving up on me. It was the most awful feeling in the world."
Michelle drank 60 units a week —more than four times the recommended amount for women — for ITV1's documentary The Truth About Binge Drinking.
Her usual intake was 30 units, itself double the government guideline of 14.
Throughout the experiment she was monitored by doctors and other experts, including England rugby team's nutritional advisor Dr Adam Carey.
She sank the equivalent of around a bottle and a half of wine a day for the show, and admitted: "In the first week I thought it was wicked. I went out three or four times a week with my mates and was drinking heavily to get all the units in. We had a right laugh.
"In the second week it was starting to make me feel a little bit worse for wear.
"But I was thinking, ‘This is what I'd drink if I was going on holiday,' so it didn't worry me."
However, by week three her health was rapidly deteriorating. She said: "One day I was doing a photoshoot and my make-up artist laughed at me.
"My skin looked so dreadful. I had lines under my eyes that had never been there before.
"I started to get diarrhoea, stomach pains and I completely lost my voice. I was becoming forgetful and I'm not a forgetful person. I was becoming ill too.
"Usually I'm very lively but I couldn't drum up the energy to get up in the morning. Everything felt like an effort.
"My lips began to get cracked and my hair went very greasy. I had to wash it every day because it was so lank and horrible. And my skin got very bad—it was going grey and spotty."
She continued: "I went up a dress size from 10 to a 12. I only put on 2lb but my total body fat rose from 24 per cent to 29.
"Everything was growing—my arms, my thighs, my waistline and my boobs—but mostly I noticed my stomach was flabby. I got a real beer belly."
Michelle also nearly had a fight with a female stranger in a bar—but was so drunk she cannot remember it. And she was not the only one suffering, either. Husband Andy Scott-Lee bore the brunt of her mood swings— and their relationship faltered as she lost her libido.
Michelle, who wed Andy last year, said: "I suffered grumpiness and depression all the time.
"I could have ripped someone's head off every day and I'd take it out on Andy because he's the nearest and dearest.
"Our sex life absolutely dwindled because I felt unattractive and pushed him away. I didn't want him to touch me. I got so bad that many times he told me to stop the experiment."
But when she finally did pack it in medical tests showed her liver was failing.
Before the experiment a liver scan showed only 16 per cent of Michelle's neutrophils—blood cells that fight infection—didn't function...a good score.
After three weeks, 80 PER CENT were not working. Dr Rajiv Jalan, a liver specialist at University College, London, said: "Her liver was also stiffer because of having to deal with all the alcohol."
And skin tests revealed it had lost 50 per cent of its elasticity. The effects were reversible because Michelle was only drinking heavily for three weeks. But many Brits are not so lucky.
Each year more than 28,000 are admitted to hospital due to alcohol misuse—and 22,000 die prematurely of alcoholism and binge-drinking.
Michelle said: "My attitude to alcohol has totally changed now.
"Before the test I thought the government's 14-unit guideline was unrealistic but I don't now. It's there for a reason."
Liberty X Michelle in 'deadly' TV experiment
POP star Michelle Heaton was forced to pull out of a binge-drinking experiment after just three weeks —because she was on the brink of COLLAPSE.
The former Liberty X singer agreed to drink heavily for a month for a TV show to see if it affected her.
But she had to give up early after suffering LIVER DAMAGE, DIARRHOEA, AMNESIA, DEPRESSION, EXHAUSTION, STOMACH PAINS and a FAILING IMMUNE SYSTEM.
On top of that her sex drive disappeared, she lost her voice, got cracked lips, bad skin, greasy hair and had permanently bloodshot eyes.
The normally toned star even got a beer belly.
Michelle, 27, said: "I really thought I was going to die, I felt my whole body was giving up on me. It was the most awful feeling in the world."
Michelle drank 60 units a week —more than four times the recommended amount for women — for ITV1's documentary The Truth About Binge Drinking.
Her usual intake was 30 units, itself double the government guideline of 14.
Throughout the experiment she was monitored by doctors and other experts, including England rugby team's nutritional advisor Dr Adam Carey.
She sank the equivalent of around a bottle and a half of wine a day for the show, and admitted: "In the first week I thought it was wicked. I went out three or four times a week with my mates and was drinking heavily to get all the units in. We had a right laugh.
"In the second week it was starting to make me feel a little bit worse for wear.
"But I was thinking, ‘This is what I'd drink if I was going on holiday,' so it didn't worry me."
However, by week three her health was rapidly deteriorating. She said: "One day I was doing a photoshoot and my make-up artist laughed at me.
"My skin looked so dreadful. I had lines under my eyes that had never been there before.
"I started to get diarrhoea, stomach pains and I completely lost my voice. I was becoming forgetful and I'm not a forgetful person. I was becoming ill too.
"Usually I'm very lively but I couldn't drum up the energy to get up in the morning. Everything felt like an effort.
"My lips began to get cracked and my hair went very greasy. I had to wash it every day because it was so lank and horrible. And my skin got very bad—it was going grey and spotty."
She continued: "I went up a dress size from 10 to a 12. I only put on 2lb but my total body fat rose from 24 per cent to 29.
"Everything was growing—my arms, my thighs, my waistline and my boobs—but mostly I noticed my stomach was flabby. I got a real beer belly."
Michelle also nearly had a fight with a female stranger in a bar—but was so drunk she cannot remember it. And she was not the only one suffering, either. Husband Andy Scott-Lee bore the brunt of her mood swings— and their relationship faltered as she lost her libido.
Michelle, who wed Andy last year, said: "I suffered grumpiness and depression all the time.
"I could have ripped someone's head off every day and I'd take it out on Andy because he's the nearest and dearest.
"Our sex life absolutely dwindled because I felt unattractive and pushed him away. I didn't want him to touch me. I got so bad that many times he told me to stop the experiment."
But when she finally did pack it in medical tests showed her liver was failing.
Before the experiment a liver scan showed only 16 per cent of Michelle's neutrophils—blood cells that fight infection—didn't function...a good score.
After three weeks, 80 PER CENT were not working. Dr Rajiv Jalan, a liver specialist at University College, London, said: "Her liver was also stiffer because of having to deal with all the alcohol."
And skin tests revealed it had lost 50 per cent of its elasticity. The effects were reversible because Michelle was only drinking heavily for three weeks. But many Brits are not so lucky.
Each year more than 28,000 are admitted to hospital due to alcohol misuse—and 22,000 die prematurely of alcoholism and binge-drinking.
Michelle said: "My attitude to alcohol has totally changed now.
"Before the test I thought the government's 14-unit guideline was unrealistic but I don't now. It's there for a reason."