My Journey to No Alcohol

The movement of people giving up alcohol (sans any previous addiction or abuse) is starting to gain speed, and it has been something I’ve struggled with quite a bit in the last couple years. Even in college, drinking and I did not agree. I was always hungover significantly longer than anyone else, no matter how much less I drank, and I really didn’t like a lot of alcohol anyway. Fast forward a few years, and after getting diagnosed with POTS, gastroparesis, and MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome) my struggles became even more apparent. In POTS, your autonomic nervous system is dysfunction-ing, and alcohol affects your nervous system directly, so when you combine the two, you get some serious effects. With gastroparesis, my digestion is slowed, so everything I eat and drink, including alcohol, stays in my digestive tract longer making me feel the effects, and stay sick, longer after drinking. Lastly, MCAS is exacerbated by histamines which are found in almost all alcoholic drinks including wines, especially reds (my favorite). Obviously, putting it that way makes it seem like a really obvious choice to quit drinking- but it has been a really hard decision for me to commit to. I didn’t even drink that often, maybe a drink with dinner 1-2 times every month, and a “night out” a few times a year. It wasn’t until I thought about quitting that I realized I might miss it.

With how strict my diet has been over the last several years, most mixed drinks were off the table anyway, but I actually liked having a glass of wine during dinner or while out with friends. However, it was getting to the point where even wine was making me feel so terrible, I was starting to not enjoy it anymore. I tried drops that “canceled out” sulfates (truly no idea how that works or what was in them) and then decided to only drink natural wines. Even doing that, the next day my body felt the effects and I started to really wonder if it was worth it. I was doing so many things throughout the day to help my body, to make it work better, to prevent it from having issues, and then I would willingly go drink something I knew would make me feel crappy after… it wasn’t adding up. Recently I had to stop drinking due to some diet changes my doctor asked me to make, and it really showed me that I don’t want to keep doing this to myself.

I miss it socially. I miss having something that isn’t water or iced tea as restaurants, and I miss “wine nights” with my friends. But what I don’t miss is waking up feeling hungover from one glass of wine, or nauseous, or the whole-body fatigue that would happen afterwards, and I definitely don’t miss having mini-flares because of it. I’ve found a lot of freedom hanging out with friends, knowing that tomorrow is also going to be a good day because of the choices I made. It turns out a lot of the time I was ordering because of the social pressure to have something, not really because I wanted it. And a lot of the time I was using it to relax, which isn’t bad necessarily, but I am learning how to achieve that same goal in a healthier, more sustainable way.

That being said, it is nice to have something “special” once in a while, and I started experimenting with mocktails to fill that void. A lot of alcoholic replacements have tons of sugars and additives, and it was a struggle to find something that fit my other dietary requirements. Enter- Seedlip. I love this brand, and how clean it is. They don’t claim to mimic any type of liquor but I would say its closest to gin, but also not really like gin at all. It’s all distilled botanicals and they have three blends, plus a website with dozens of free mocktail recipes. We have made quite a few of them, and really love most of the ones we’ve tried. The hibiscus margarita and espresso martini are my two favorites so far, and we have them on repeat at our house. I love that I don’t feel any effects after drinking these mocktails, and we sub most of the syrup suggestions for homemade honey syrup or maple syrup “syrup” (see my p.s. at the end for details). Finding this company has been great, and has really helped fill that little void that I had, but something was still missing. After trying several different things, I realized I still missed wine quite a bit. All my attempts to replace it with different adaptogen-based drinks (intended to replace wine) hadn’t worked because I was just missing the real thing, and so I’ve started looking for a true wine replacement. I just got in a few different ones from an online, alcohol-free wine retailer, Better Rhodes. I picked four different reds and one white to try. I’ve only tried one of the red blends, and while the taste was actually pretty identical to wine, but I still felt some effects afterward (cue sad face). This made me start doing a lot of research on wine, and it turns out wine contains A LOT of histamines because of the fermentation process. Reds have substantially more than whites, and rosés fall somewhere in the middle. I am starting to think that I cannot have any reds at all, but I ordered these wine “wands” that are supposed to be able to remove (or at least significantly minimize) histamines- I will update this post once I know more! Still, it gives me hope that I will find something, and I have several more to try from that order before I continue my search.

If you are considering stopping alcohol, or at least cutting back on alcohol, I think it is a great idea. The ideas surrounding it are mostly social and emotional, and I think learning to be in those situations without that crutch is a good skill to teach yourself. It’s not always an easy journey, and sometimes it does feel a little lonely (or like you’re missing out on something) but your body today and your body tomorrow will both thank you for making a choice with your health in mind. AND now that so many more people are wanting to start this journey, there are new options popping up every day. Please let me know what great non-alcoholic brands you have found so I can keep trying new ones!