It also helps to regulate your blood pressure and improve your cognitive functioning. You’ll find…
Introduction
It also helps to regulate your blood pressure and improve your cognitive functioning. You’ll find increased clarity, calmness, and balance on a regular basis. In short, drinking less how to drink moderately can give you more out of life as you promote and sustain your well-being.
Peer Support Options
While straight liquor may not be everyone’s go-to, ordering vodka, gin, whiskey, or scotch neat (or on the rocks with ice) is one way to keep calories down and prevent consuming alcohol too quickly. Drinks served in this fashion are meant to be sipped slowly, not chugged. Drinking your favorite spirit in this manner can keep you from consuming too much, too fast—and, without the sugary, high-carb mixers, you’re cutting empty calories. People who have had problems with alcohol in the past may want to consult a doctor or therapist for help regulating their behaviors around drinking. However, it’s important to keep in mind that naltrexone will not prevent you from becoming inebriated or drunk from alcohol.
Lowering your health risks from alcohol
Blood alcohol content (BAC) is a measurement of how much alcohol is in a person’s blood. How many drinks you’ve had, certain medical conditions, even what you had to eat before you started drinking can all affect your BAC. The CDC also defines binge drinking, which can lead to an array of health issues. A man who has 5 or more drinks over the course of 2 hours or less has been binge drinking. For women, the threshold is 4 or more drinks in that same period.
The Bottom Line: Balancing Risks and Benefits
Compared with drinking excessively, moderate drinking reduces your risk of negative health effects. While our program is centered around a decades-old, proven treatment that uses naltrexone as a key component, taking the medication is not mandatory to join. Thrive offers resources and support that can benefit anyone seeking to change their relationship with alcohol.
Risks start from the first drop
The benefits of alcohol lead many of us to drink so frequently that it can become habitual. There is nothing inherently wrong with drinking habitually, but many clients who come to my office indicate that they would prefer to be in control of their habit rather than feel as if the habit has taken on a life of its own. For example, it may be used to define the risk of illness or injury based on the number of drinks a person has in a week.
Guidelines for moderate drinking have been set by the US Department of Health and Human Services and alcoholism the World Health Organization. Some alcohol, particularly red wine, has been linked to decreased risk of certain health conditions due to its antioxidant content. Consuming moderate amounts of certain types of alcohol, such as wine, has shown some benefits.
- While consuming alcohol in moderation appears to have some benefits, it is important to remember that too much can be devastating for overall health and even life-threatening in the long run.
- For example, the risk of breast cancer among women increases at less than 1 drink in a day compared to women who don’t drink at all.
- For example, in the previously mentioned study using an automated interactive telephone reporting system (Searles et al. 1995), 50 volunteers reported their daily alcohol intake for 112 consecutive days.
- Once you’ve reached your limit, switch to water or grab a snack instead.
Track Your Intake
But if you find that your log shows nearly all “E”s then welcome this as good information not only as an estimate of your drinks but also as information about your current observation skills or style. Heavy drinking, including binge drinking, is a high-risk activity. Decide how many days a week you’ll drink and how much you’ll drink on those days. It’s also a good idea to have some days when you don’t drink at all. 30 days of free, easy-to-use tools to help you change your relationship with alcohol. But we cannot and should not overlook the fact that drinking alcohol for its mood-altering effects is a normative behavior that has been a part of the human experience for literally thousands of years.
Set Limits
When putting moderation into practice, it often involves planning how to politely but firmly decline the inevitable drinks that’ll be passed your way. For a lot of people, it’s not necessary to completely abstain from alcohol—they just need to learn new drinking habits so they can enjoy the occasional alcoholic beverage responsibly. Read on for strategies you can put to use immediately to curb your drinking and learn about the benefits you’ll enjoy when you start drinking moderately. Alcohol causes dehydration, which contributes to hangovers, which absolutely no one wants. To avoid feeling like you’ve been hit by a bus the morning after a night out, drink water— lots. It’s suggested to drink a glass of water in between each alcoholic beverage you consume to help counteract the dehydrating effect booze can have.
- Even if you are keeping your daily intake within one drink for women or two drinks for men, there is still a risk of binge drinking, so it is something to be mindful of.
- If you’re an occasional or social drinker, it can be easy to participate in binge drinking and feel like it doesn’t have an effect on your health or how well you function.
- The below tips, tools, and writing prompts may not be a silver bullet to binge or chronic drinking, but hopefully they give you a few ways to strengthen these other skills.
Even if moderation hasn’t been achievable before, this evidence-based approach offers a new, proven path forward. A lot of people decide to start drinking in moderation for many different reasons. Perhaps you want to spend less money, reduce the chances of over-imbibing, or get in better shape. Whatever the reason, there are a lot of great tips to help you change your habits and cut back on your drinking.