If you consider alcohol as a coping strategy, then it makes sense why heading straight to abstinence would be terrifying. Maybe you feel that you’re drinking too much or too often. Scientists know that alcohol is carcinogenic, or cancer-causing. In the body, alcohol turns into a carcinogen called acetaldehyde. If acetaldehyde builds up in the body, it damages Substance abuse DNA and prevents cells from reproducing or repairing themselves.

What Is Binge Drinking?

You’ll want to stop hiding the ‘spare bottle’ of wine at the back of the cupboard, and stop ‘topping up’ the actual bottle that you want people in your house to focus on. You might also want to stop pretending that it’s the same bottle being poured from, even thought there’s a warm empty bottle wedged in an empty cornflakes box in the recycling. You will need to be prepared to be constantly aware, on guard, and actively moderating, every day, and every time you find yourself with an opportunity to https://www.adifan.org.pe/2022/06/life-expectancy-of-alcoholics-how-alcohol-shortens/ drink. If my clients can achieve those numbers on a monthly basis, that’s excellent—but that’s often unrealistic for many, which is perfectly OK. It’s important to meet yourself where you are and make small steps towards healthier practices from there.

How Alcohol Impacts Your Health

Tons of beverage brands offer delicious non-alcoholic drink options from Surely Wines and Ritual Zero Proof Spirits to Little Saints and even Heineken. If you’re looking to enjoy more than one drink in a sitting, diluting your drinks is a great way to stretch a smaller amount of alcohol. To do this, simply cut the amount of your hard liquor, cocktail, or wine in half and mix with sparkling water (flavored or plain) or just plain old filtered water. Depending on the drink and your taste preference, you can also add fresh fruit juice. Maintaining moderation in drinking means starting out with a specific goal.

Can I Moderate Alcohol

Another common practice to encourage moderated drinking habits is the concept of ‘one for one’ where you alternate between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Many opt for water for their non-alc option (hydration boost!), but you can choose anything you’d like (bonus points for something without added sugar). While the pandemic seems to have triggered substantial increases in alcohol consumption, and in alcohol abuse, this is true on a macro level. For some people, the pandemic created more opportunities for reducing drinking. More time at home may have contributed to less peer pressure to drink, less time in a “wet” culture, and lifestyle changes that might support a shift towards moderation. Learning to drink in moderation can be the goal, or it can be a way station on the way to abstinence.

• If you’re looking to enjoy more than one drink in a sitting, diluting your drinks is a great way to stretch a smaller amount of alcohol.
• If those two points didn’t apply to you, then I doubt that you would be here reading this and scanning for the answer that you want to find.
• Without addressing those needs, it’s like trying to cap an active volcano with a giant boulder.
• While you are taking a break from drinking or limiting your drinking, you have an opportunity to develop better coping skills, address your drinking behaviors, and find healthier ways of dealing with the issues that drinking is covering up.

Issues with past studies on moderate alcohol use and health

Moderation gives you control of your drinking and allows you to take back control of your life. Once you’ve cut back on your drinking (so you’re at or can you moderate your drinking below the recommended guidelines), examine your drinking habits regularly to see if you’re maintaining this level of drinking. Some people attain their goal only to find that old habits crop up again later. The most frequently cited definition of moderate drinking comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which defines it as consuming one drink a day or fewer for biological women and two or fewer for men. The agency considers a single drink to be a 12-ounce beer, a 6-ounce glass of wine, 8 ounces of malt liquor, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor, the equivalent of a shot.