To drink, or to not drink alcohol, especially when you’re on the right side of 40.

On one side, researchers like Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia argue that alcohol, even in small amounts, poses risks to brain health, metabolic function, and overall lifespan.

On the other hand, Dan Buettner, famous for Blue Zones notes that moderate drinking in populations plays a role in heart health and longevity.

I’ve been reading and listening to many books and podcasts with these experts, and concluded that alcohol is indeed bad, but a zero-alcohol approach doesn’t suit me, and I would assume that is the case with most people.

So, I figured a few practices to minimize the risk, but still enjoy a good drink:

1. Keep the bar high & dry: Drink good quality alcohol, or none of it. If you receive wine at a restaurant that doesn’t taste amazing, politely but affirmatively refuse to have a sip. And choose wines that are more dry than sweet. High sugar wines and alcohol on the sweeter side like cocktails are terrible for blood sugar.
2. Find a worthy (impotent) side kick: Find a “pretend” alcoholic beverage that you enjoy. Something you can sip on slowly and not feel ostracized at occasions where others may be drinking. In my case, Bitter Lemon works great.
3. Save up for legendary moments: Drink only on those celebratory occasions like meeting old friends or a special date night. Bitter Lemon for everything else.
4. Use probiotics or medication: Probiotics before drinking help break down the alcohol efficiently with minimal stress on the liver. There are pills like Party Smart that do this too, but research on these is limited. Probiotics have been established for various health benefits. Make the most of it.
5. Drink as per your muscle mass: The more you’re beefed up, the more drink you can have. This itself should be an incentive to strength-train. But the science is that muscles hold more water (75%) than fat (10%) and alcohol being water soluble, gets distributed across the body better and lowers the Blood Alcohol Concentration which is good for you.
6. Pair with water: For every sip of the alcoholic drink, have a sip of water. Alcohol is dehydrating, and the water will help counter its effects and go easy on the kidney.
7. Never drink on an empty stomach: Always eat food before or during the drink, never after. My entire 20s I would only eat after a party to be able to enjoy the high sufficiently. Wish I knew something’s back then, I know now.
8. Learn to enjoy the moderate high: Sip the drink slow, be mindful of the high, and drink just enough to maintain a simple buzz. Beyond 40, getting too high comes with terrible consequences the following day, so learn to enjoy the high at moderate levels.
9. Health check-ups to be done annually: Assess how your body is handling alcohol. Any deviations in liver or kidney function, go with the zero-alcohol camp for some time at least.
10. Never drink alone and never drink when in a low mood: Both are foundations for addiction. My friends and I had an annoying habit to never take a sip until you’ve said cheers, and to this day I maintained that I can only drink if I have someone I can clink the glass with, say cheers to, and drink happily.

Author - Mr. Sandeep Matthew