How You Can Drink Socially Without Damaging Your Health

Whether we like it or not, alcohol is everywhere – especially during summer!  There’s no shame in skipping the drinks, but on those days when you feel like enjoying a few, there are some things you can do to help maintain the progress you’ve been making on your health journey. 

1. Go for low-sugar drinks. Sugary drinks in general are not good for blood sugar or weight control, and pairing it with alcohol makes it even worse. Blood sugar will be out of whack, causing hangovers and cravings once the buzz dies down.

• Try a dry red wine with flavored sparkling water for a DIY wine spritzer. 
• Low-sugar cocktails made with clear liquor, sparkling water, citrus, and herbs are refreshing and still delicious. 
• Tito’s vodka, unsweetened iced tea, and fresh squeezed lemon is one of my faves when opting for hard liquor.

2. Do a 15-minute HIIT workout ahead of time. This will prime your metabolism for the extra calories you’ll be consuming and will make room in your muscles and liver for storage – preventing it from spiking your blood sugar and immediately being stored as fat.

3. Hydrate before, during, and after a drinking event. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it draws more water out of your body, leaving you dehydrated. Drinking water before, during, and after drinking can help your metabolism function optimally.

4. Take your last sip 2 hours before bed time. Alcohol can disrupt sleep both subconsciously and consciously (i.e. waking up to pee) leaving you exhausted and moody the next day, not to mention cravings that are all over the place. Letting the buzz die down and getting good quality sleep helps diminish these unwanted side effects.

5. Drink the alcohol or eat the dessert, not both. I know it’s hard to avoid the dessert table at a party (especially after feeling a bit buzzed), but the extra sugar on top of alcohol puts stress on your body can make it more difficult to get off that blood sugar roller coaster.

6. If you do end up eating dessert, go for the chocolate, not the fruit. What?! Why is a health professional telling me not to eat fruit?! Okay, I know it sounds weird, but fruit contains fructose which gets processed in the liver. Similarly, alcohol also gets processed in the liver. Having both at the same time can put more strain on the liver as it tries to deal with them. The chocolate will have more of an immediate effect on your blood sugar, so it’s really just choosing between the lesser of two evils.

These tips are here to make your fun, summer hangout easier on your body and metabolism. Even if you can only do 2 things on this list, you’re still helping your body handle the alcohol, and your future self will thank you.

We’re going with the low sugar options and a little HIIT sesh prior to hitting the bar! What two pre-drinking items from the list are you committing to this weekend?