Mindful drinking is set to be one of the biggest health trends of the year with the #sobercurious hashtag racking up more than 300 thousand posts. In fact, even Sex and the City is going alcohol-free.
But cutting down on alcohol isn’t just a cool thing to do – there are plenty of science-based benefits to embrace.
Maintains a Healthy Weight
Alcoholic drinks are fizzing with empty calories and can sabotage weight loss goals. A glass of wine can contain up to 130 calories, beer can contain up to 150 and a large gin and tonic can total 170.
In comparison, alcohol-free drinks have significantly fewer calories and sugar making it easier to maintain a healthy weight. For example, 1920 Pinot Grigio has 80 per cent fewer calories than regular white wine with only 13KCals per 100mls.
Maintaining a healthy weight reduces your risk of multiple health issues including heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers.
Improved Sleep
Alcohol prevents you from nodding off into the deep restorative sleep that keeps you functioning at your best.
Without this sleep, you wake up feeling groggy and irritable. Everything feels harder and your productivity levels decrease. You’re also less likely to exercise and more likely to reach for the salty and sugary snacks to get you through.
In contrast, alcohol-free alternatives mean you can drift off to sleep and stay asleep, waking fresh and ready to face the day. Sounds dreamy, right?
Better Mental Health
Drinking may boost your mood temporarily, but it’s short-lived.
One of the most common and worst side effects of drinking is hangxiety. The gripping fear that won’t leave you. The more you drink, the tighter the anxiety grips. Over time this can develop into longer-lasting depression and anxiety.
Moderating or choosing alcohol-free drinks can reduce this risk. In fact, research suggests that women who stop drinking alcohol can experience better mental health and reach levels of well-being equivalent to lifelong abstainers.
No Hangover
Working, parenting, and generally juggling everyday life is tough enough. Doing it all with a hangover is torture. The day feels long and there’s little chance you’re taking any time for self-care. Crawling under the blanket doesn’t count!
Hangovers generally rule out exercise and affect your productivity and mental health. And the worse is yet to come. As we age, hangovers worsen.
To avoid the inevitable, swap your regular drink for a delicious non-alcoholic one, like Ms Sans Margarita – a perfectly mixed, non-alcoholic mocktail.
Better Sex
It’s unlikely that a drunken fumble will rock your world. In fact, alcohol lowers your testosterone which affects your ability to orgasm and generally makes sex less intimate. No wonder it’s instantly forgettable.
Go to bed without alcohol in your system and it’s a different experience. During sex, you’ll be more connected to your partner and afterwards, you’ll have that ‘glow’ as the feel-good hormones rush through your body.
Other wellbeing benefits of good sex include less stress, lowered blood pressure, better mood and improved heart health.
Irene Falcone is on a mission to change the way Australian’s drink. Founder of Sans Drinks, Australia’s first physical alc-free bottle shop, and online superstore. Irene is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur described by Channel 7 as “the biggest disrupter of the liquor industry since prohibition.”
With a unique understanding of the alcohol-free drinks market, including robust customer data insights into drinking trends and detailed knowledge of over 500 products, Irene is passionate about making alcohol-free drinks fun, sexy and part of everyday mindful drinking.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sansdrinks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sansdrinksau/
