With more people choosing to swap out alcoholic drinks for non alcoholic and low alcohol alternatives – you might wonder what all the hype is about? Surely no drink sans alcohol can truly live up to the relished taste of booze? Here we give you 5 great reasons to switch out the sauce for non-alcoholic drinks.
For Your Mental Health 🧠
Having a hard day? Looking forward to finishing work and pouring yourself a stiff one? We’ve all been there, but maybe it’s time to reshape our thinking on this one. Whilst drinking alcohol can help us feel more relaxed in the moment, it has also been shown to increase depression and anxiety - meaning those bad days are going to come more often. In addition to this alcohol significantly reduces our restorative REM sleep, making us wake up feeling exhausted and groggy – no matter how many hours sleep we managed to catch.
As A Social Elixir 🍸
A vast majority of us drink to feel more comfortable in a situation, whether we’re at the awkward start of a date or awkwardly congregating around a bar post 5pm with colleagues. If this is you, you’re not alone! 31% of people say they often drink to feel less nervous, and the thought of socialising without a drink in hand to ease-the-awks can be terrifying. Switching to a non-alcoholic drink can help by having a placebo effect and easing our anxiety through habit. Having a non-alcoholic drink in hand to sip can trick your brain into making you feel more relaxed and less out-of-place. Chances are – once you've got that first drink out of the way, you might even enjoy yourself and be waking up as fresh as a daisy.
To Help You Reach Your Fitness Goals 💪🏼
Ever tried hitting the gym the day after a drinking session? It's unenjoyable, painful and frankly exhausting. Taking breaks from booze and swapping out your drinks for non-alcoholic ones can help you get in (and stay in) a fitness routine which works for you.
You’ve probably heard the saying “you can’t out-exercise a bad diet”, but have you heard “you can’t out diet a drinking habit”? If you’re trying to lose weight or get in shape, switching to non-alcoholic drinks (even if it’s just for a brief break) can make a huge difference.
If you’ve ever stumbled your way into a kebab shop at 3am, you know that alcohol can lead to a loss of control over food because, let’s face it, nobody wants to eat that when they’re sober. Alcohol is known to lower blood sugar, which leaves us craving carbs to lift those levels back up. Choosing to drink non-alcoholic drinks can help us cut down on those 3am kebab cravings.
And don't get us started on how booze can affect your gym progress.
Improved Relationships 💗
When was your last family get together that didn't end in absolute carnage and silent hangxiety and beer fear the next day? When was the last time you caught up with friends properly without plans revolving around booze? Taking a break from booze to truly spend time together and have conscious connections with the people we love can be an empowering lifestyle change.
And just imagine being able to remember every detail of your sister’s wedding, imagine not being a fragile sloth on Christmas morning! Choosing non-alcoholic drinks helps you cherish these moments.
Making Our Work Lives and Working Week A Little Easier 💆🏻♂️
It's a Wednesday night and the drinks are flowing – we all know we are in work the next day but we've reached the point of no return, this hangover may just destroy us, but it isn't scheduled until the morning.
And morning comes – crashing headaches, already late for work, still partially drunk and filled to the brim with hangxiety. The cherry on top of a perfect morning? An entire day of work to contend with while pretending that we have our shit together. We sit at our desks praying for the day to go easy on us and the hours to pass by, while vowing to never drink in the week again.
Choosing non-alcoholic drinks, or even using them in-between drinking alcoholic ones can help us limit the damage in the working week.
