The sun rudely bursts through the sliver of space my blackout curtains decided to miss. I reach over to grab the S’well bottle on my nightstand, but find that it’s only half full. After gulping it down, my mouth still feels as dry as the desert.
“I barely had three drinks last night… how am I hungover?”
I drag myself out of bed, knowing full well how ineffective my brain is gonna be today. “I’m never drinking again,” I lie to myself.
A week passes by, and the glorious cycle repeats itself again.
I’ve never had a binge drinking problem. But lately, for me, things have changed. I’ve stopped entertaining even the casual drink, and have opted for no drinks at all. Most of the time, the tradeoff doesn’t seem worth it.
Dr. Andrew Huberman was recently a guest on the Modern Wisdom podcast. After they recorded, the host, Chris Williamson, tweeted something that resonated with me:
Holy shit is that true.
I find it funny that every time I’ve turned down a drink, people have assumed it’s because I have a drinking problem. We know how harmful alcohol is to the body:
Higher stress levels
Shitty sleep
Side effects to the gut
Yet I’m the one with the problem for not having a beer? The whole thing seems so backwards.
I’m noticing an *anti-alcohol* movement starting to emerge. At least in the people and places I pay attention to. Hearing “nah, I’m not drinking tonight” seems way more common than it once used to.
Even more surprising to see this happen with my coworkers. It’s always been taboo (dare I say, career-limiting) to not have a couple drinks at happy hour.
Don't get me wrong, I’m thrilled to see that people are waking up to the effects of alcohol. But, I’m also curious why it seems to be happening all at once.
Before you jump down my throat asking for the data, here are a few disclaimers:
Could me citing this study about how Gen Z consumes 20% less alcohol than Millennials be a strawman? Yep.
Could it be because I’m a late-20s millennial living near woke NYC? Also yes.
Could it just be me projecting my own changing world view onto the world? Sure.
I don’t have enough significant data to back up my argument yet. Most of it is anecdotal. We need more time to see how this plays out.
But I do have a theory if you’ll play along…
Living in the digital age has given us access to information at our fingertips 24/7. Clips of Paleo Paul preaching about the dangers of bread, sugar, and alcohol are imprinted in our heads.
Then, the pandemic comes around and shuts off all social triggers to drink for over a year. These two factors combined created the perfect recipe for breaking up with booze.
All that time alone might just be why sober socializing is becoming so popular.
Could more information actually have been a good thing?
Over the past decade, search volumes for “mindfulness” and “fruit bowls” have trended upwards. (Simple heuristic – how many restaurants near you offer green smoothies?)
It’s not a long-shot to say that the average American is more aware of her health today than 40 years ago. I’d like to think this has something to do with information availability.
The Whoop is a wearable device that tracks your sleep, heart rate, and recovery. The technology is only getting better. In the future, we'll know more about our body metrics than ever before.
I bet you'd be less likely to drink after seeing a whopping 4% recovery on your Whoop.
I’m not denying the social benefits to alcohol. I still believe alcohol can bring strangers together, and make a night out twice as fun.
Will I still indulge on occasion? Absolutely.
Will I ever crack open a “cold one” to watch Sunday Night Football? Absolutely not.
Information about the negative effects of drinking changed my world. It made me wonder what other blind spots could be hiding in plain sight.
The Food Pyramid in elementary school told us to eat more white bread than raw veggies. It was endorsed by the USDA, so it had to be the healthy way to eat, right? Wrong.
Could the glass-of-red-wine-with-dinner advice be the modern day equivalent of the Food Pyramid? Time will tell.
We’re going to see more sober socializing in the future. So, don’t be shocked when your friend turns down that poolside High Noon, and grabs a Spindrift instead.
Image courtesy of DALL•E.
I asked for: “cheers a glass of beer in one hand and a glass of lemonade in another hand.”
Not bad, huh? Check it out if you haven’t already.
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