Why Go Alcohol-Free?
It’s a Sunday afternoon; you wake up to your head throbbing, your body feeling weak, and you realise you didn’t even make it into your bed, but, hey, the couch is comfy anyways.
It’s already 4 o’clock, so you missed breakfast, and your favourite cafe is about to close. Since you’re clearly in no rush, you go down the list:
“Where are my keys? No clue.”
“Phone? Not sure.”
“Wallet? Are you kidding me!”
Then you ask yourself, “What happened last night?”
You can’t remember.
Alcohol? Never Heard of Her.
We’ve all been there. The morning after a wild night, and you have the absolute worst hangover.
If you can’t relate, here’s an old adage for you:
There are two types of people in this world: those who’ve experienced a hangover and those who are going to.
But why? Why do we continue to drink alcohol when we know it tastes awful and makes us feel like you know what every single time?
Listen, we’re not going to get in some discussion about why drinking is so heavily embedded in our culture.
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “why?” we’re here to give you a few answers.
A few reasons that will make any sober-curious person want to put down their glass, stop drinking and never pick it back up!
Don’t Want it, Don’t Need it.
From reducing the likelihood of heart disease or stroke to better-looking skin, achieving a deeper sleep to feeling more active, the possible benefits of not drinking alcohol are truly endless.
Touching on every possible benefit of being alcohol-free might take quite some time, so we’ve listed a few of our favourite reasons to put down your glass and quit drinking.
One reason for your physical health, another reason for your personal life, and one more for those people around you that you love the most.
Feel Good, Play Good.
The physical health benefits of going alcohol-free are commonly mentioned, but what is continuously overlooked is the positive impact that going sober has on your mental health.
While for years, the debate has been about how much alcohol consumption is good or bad for you, a recent study from researchers in Hong Kong showed that drinking no alcohol at all will significantly improve your mood, happiness, and overall mental health.
At first, researchers found that people who have never had alcohol had the highest level of mental well-being, but upon examining those who used to drink (particularly women) and are now sober, they found that the latter group actually scored higher than lifelong alcohol abstainers in terms of mental wellbeing.
Feel good, inside and out.
Spare Some Change?
Yeah, yeah, we all know alcohol is bad for our health, but guess what - it’s also terrible for your bank account!
The amount of money you spend on drinking may blow your mind.
In a study analysing the U.S. population, researchers found that 69.73% of Americans have at least one alcoholic drink each week. Diving deeper, for that group of people who drink, they average a mindboggling 8 drinks a week. On a monetary level, the study also found that women, on average, spend $73 a week on drinks while men spend $68.
Ouch! That can’t be good for their pockets.
To find out how much you’d save by not drinking, we suggest using this calculator!
Better Relationships
It may not be discussed often, but alcohol can seriously damage both your intimate relationship and your relationship with family and friends.
In a statement, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence noted that drinking alcohol negatively affects a person’s family members, employers, colleagues, fellow students, and others in numerous ways, including neglecting important duties. Since alcohol impairs cognitive function, drinking alcohol will result in neglect of responsibilities associated with work, home, and any other setting where discipline and actions are necessary.
If your personal health and well-being aren’t good enough reasons for you to put down your glass, then do it for your family and friends because, at the end of the day, when it comes to drinking alcohol, everyone is impacted.
We’re not here to tell you to stop for good but why not give it a go? You may be pleasantly surprised with how it changes your life.
-Your Friends at Nocktail