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If you’re someone who wants to drink less alcohol but you are intimidated by Dry January (or Dry July or Sober October), don’t fret. While cutting it out for a month certainly has its benefits, it’s not the only way to change your relationship with alcohol.
Enter “sober-curious,” a trend that’s about bringing a more mindful approach to drinking. It encompasses being more intentional about when and how much you drink to improve your health and well-being. Anyone can be sober-curious and make positive changes to their drinking habits, whether that means you stop drinking entirely or just cut back a little.
What are the health benefits of drinking less alcohol?
Let’s start with the cold, hard facts: Alcohol is not good for you. Over the long term, research has found that drinking alcohol is associated with greater risk for high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, stroke, cognitive decline and several cancers. And the more you drink, the higher the risk.
“People forget that alcohol is a class one carcinogen,” says Dr. Rotonya Carr, a clinical hepatologist, basic researcher and the head of gastroenterology at the UW School of Medicine.
A carcinogen is a substance that causes cancer — class one carcinogens are those most definitively proven to cause cancer in humans.
But while abstinence is the only way to eliminate those risks, drinking less alcohol can still reduce them. Bottom line: drinking less is still better than drinking more. Studies have shown that taking temporary breaks from alcohol or just drinking less than you usually do can improve blood pressure, blood sugar levels, cholesterol and liver fat, as well as sleep, mood, anxiety and depression.
“There’s debate about whether full abstinence is really the only route to get full health protection,” says Dr. Trang Vu, a physician and director of the General Internal Medicine Center at UW Medical Center – Roosevelt. “I think the best thing is something that’s sustainable for you. You are the best person to decide how much you want to drink or how much you can drink.”
If you are concerned you might have more serious alcohol dependence — you crave it, drink it every day and experience physical symptoms when you don’t drink — it’s important to talk to your doctor and get help.
Figure out your “why”
Like any habit you want to change, the first step to drinking less alcohol is to figure out what is motivating you to cut back.
“It’s really thinking about the ‘why’ — why you’re making the choice and really centering that and being proud of it,” says Carr.
Maybe your why is just to avoid being hungover. Or maybe it’s to be more alert and productive: alcohol disrupts your sleep cycle, leaving you tired the next day. Or it might be wanting to be more present with your family and friends. Or perhaps you want to lower your long-term risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer.
It’s also important to ask yourself about another why: why you drink and what it adds to your life. Maybe you want to be able to socialize with your friends at bars and not feel awkward. Alcohol is a big part of many of the things that bring us together, from watching sporting events to celebrating life milestones. Or maybe you just want to relax after a stressful day.
“It’s about figuring out what you really want and then figuring out if you can get that experience, but in a slightly less harmful way,” says Susan Collins, a clinical psychologist and co-director of the Harm Reduction Research and Treatment Center at Harborview Medical Center.
Figure out what’s possible for you now
Once you have a clear idea of why you want to drink less, it’s time to think about what is actually manageable and sustainable for you right now — and if full sobriety isn’t something you can or want to try, that’s OK.
“Sobriety has long been a really loaded term; that it's all or nothing and it's now or never and it's now and forever,” says Collins. “It's worth making incremental changes — smaller steps can sometimes have really big impacts on health and wellness. It's worth whatever you're willing to try.”
If that means trying Dry January, then great. But if you’re not up for that big of a commitment, that’s OK too.
“If this is going to be a stressful time, don't set yourself up for failure, don't start something that is going to stress you out more,” says Vu.
There are many other, smaller ways to be sober-curious that still have benefits — here are some of them:
Take a rest day (or two or three)
If you’ve started drinking every day, just taking one day off from drinking a week can make a big difference.
“Especially for young people who might be out partying more, if they can take one rest day or a couple of rest days a week, that will make it less likely that they develop a physiological dependence,” says Collins.
If you drink a few times a week, maybe you try to limit yourself to just Friday and Saturday or only when you’re with other people.
“You might not want to cut down abruptly; you might want to just slowly cut down — both approaches are acceptable,” says Vu. “Maybe you aim for just one less a week or one less a day and see how you feel.”
Drink less or lower alcohol beverages
It’s not just how often you drink, it’s how much alcohol you’re consuming in a sitting. It’s important to know how much alcohol is in your drink and slow down the amount you’re drinking.
“We know that there are patterns of drinking that are more dangerous than others,” says Carr.
Taking a couple of shots, for example, might be the same amount of alcohol as a few beers, but because of how quickly you're consuming it, it can do a lot more damage to your liver. Same goes for a straight-up cocktail versus a beverage like a spritz or a mixed drink, which has a lower alcohol by volume, or ABV.
“For some people, they just want a drink in their hand at a party,” says Collins. “But even so, you can reduce the risks. For example, instead of ordering a ‘vodka soda,’ try ordering a ‘vodka soda, tall.’ It’s still got the same number of shots, but with more mixer added. That helps people to feel like they’re still getting the same social experience, but the alcohol is not hitting them as hard and fast.”
Choose a mocktail
If you want to go to a bar, it’s never been easier to find a tasty nonalcoholic (NA) beverage. From NA beer to fancy mocktails, many places have nonalcoholic options these days — some bars even specialize in it.
Just be aware of how sugary your mocktail is before you start knocking them back.
“People are sometimes substituting sugar for alcohol; many of those drinks are very high in sugar content,” says Carr.
High sugar consumption is linked to its own health risks, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, so if that’s something you’re concerned about, consider drinking a sugar-free seltzer or lemon-infused water instead.
NA options are also great for the times you habitually reach for a drink. If you like to have a beer while watching a football game, maybe try having some NA options chilled in the fridge or to move on to after you’ve had a couple of alcoholic ones. If you like a nightcap, try a cup of herbal tea before bed instead. A drink called the “sleepy girl mocktail” recently went viral, which contains tart cherry juice, magnesium powder and sparkling water, though there is not enough research to back up claims that it will help you fall asleep quicker.
Find people to do it with
There is one other important ingredient to make your sober-curious habit stick: support and accountability.
“Having people who are going to do it with you or who are going to check in on you to see if you need support around that new choice I think is very, very critical,” says Carr.
Maybe it’s a family member or a friend who knows you well enough to ask how it’s going. You might even find that once you tell a friend that you’re going to stick to mocktails or limit yourself to two drinks tonight, they decide to join you.
Plan for social situations
On the other hand, often one of the biggest hurdles to shifting your relationship with drinking is peer pressure or even judgment from friends or family who might not accept the change right away. The best way to counter that? Figure out a plan for what you want to do or what you want to say ahead of time.
If you’re going to be spending time with family or friends you know well, you might decide to be upfront with them about what you’re doing.
“When people ask, share the ‘why’ and center that,” says Carr. “I think it would be hard for people to argue with you if you say, ‘I just want to feel good; I just want to be healthy.’ I think that should be enough, right? If they are people who really care about you, they should support that.”
Or you might just sidestep the conversation by saying that you have to get up early the next morning or want to make sure you’re good to drive later. Whatever you land on, practice what you will say in advance.
“If you plan it out in advance, it’s more likely to happen and work out how you want,” says Collins. “Practice some lines that feel good to you, that you feel like will work in this situation, and then that way, you can feel like you can kind of rattle it off, no big deal.”
Acknowledge your progress
Finally, it’s important to actually track your progress, whether it’s a dry month or just taking a day off of drinking this week. One way to build this into your routine? Start a journal and write about your progress. Journaling helps document how it felt when you successfully stuck with the change you made — you’ll then have that to look back on.
“Maybe you will regress to prior ways, and you’ll have that journal to go back to and read and say, ‘Oh, wow. I did this and I was feeling amazing,’” says Carr.
And remember, if you have a setback, you can reflect on what hasn’t worked and brainstorm new ways forward.
“I tell patients to think about it like a science experiment where we can learn about what works and what doesn’t,” says Collins. “If your goal from this week doesn’t work out, you can try something else next week that feels more doable.
Whether or not you are a journaler, try to find ways to acknowledge the changes you’ve made, however incremental.
“We often take our successes for granted, so don’t forget to celebrate them,” says Collins. “Even smaller steps you take towards better health and wellness matter, because they add up over time — and you’re worth it.”
