Alcohol is not good for us. 5 tips to stay safe(r) if you drink

By Andrea Kane, CNN

Editor’s note: The podcast Chasing Life With Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the medical science behind some of life’s mysteries big and small. You can listen to episodes here.

(CNN) — The holidays and New Year’s Eve are fast approaching, and for many, that means alcohol-infused festivities and gatherings to navigate.

We’re quickly learning that alcohol’s effects on the human body are not good, to say the least. There were 2.6 million deaths worldwide attributable to alcohol consumption in 2019, according to the World Health Organization. That count includes deaths from conditions caused by alcohol — such as heart disease, liver disease and many different types of cancer — as well as deaths from the consequences of alcohol-fueled events like falls, drownings, traffic accidents and suicide.

And that statistic was from before Covid-19, when the stress and isolation of the pandemic resulted in alcohol use going up — and staying up.

Perhaps it’s no wonder that many people have become “sober curious,” expanding the popularity of sober bars, crafted mocktails and months dedicated to the pursuit, such as Dry January and Sober October.

Whether you choose to drink or not is an individual decision. Personal history, family history, tolerance for the physical short-term consequences (losing control, being drunk, blacking out or being hungover), long-term health concerns, and even whether you like the taste of alcohol, all factor into it.

One reason some people may turn to alcohol is because it’s perceived as a social lubricant.

“They tell us, ‘I’m more funny,’ ‘I’m less shy,’ ‘I’m more confident,’ ‘I’m more outgoing,’ ‘I’m more flirty,’” Dr. Jason Kilmer, an associate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on his podcast Chasing Life recently.

But Kilmer, who has studied and worked on preventing alcohol and drug use disorders among college students for two decades, said that an innovative experiment, conducted at the University of Washington’s Behavioral Alcohol Research, or BAR, Laboratory, showed that it’s actually not true that drinking boosts your interactions.

“Alcohol does a lot of things: the reaction time impact, the motor coordination impact, the impact on judgment — these are all legitimate pharmacological effects of alcohol,” he said.

“But the social or interpersonal things we get from drinking are so much more due to our mindset, our expectations, our beliefs, where we are and who we’re with, and so much less to do with the contents of the cup in our hand.”

You can listen to the full episode here.

For the study experiment, students recruited to the BAR lab who were 21 and older (and had signed a consent form) were divided into four groups. Members of one group were told they were getting drinks with alcohol, and they did; participants in a second group were told they were getting alcohol-free drinks, and they did.

So far so good. The twist came with the remaining groups: Students in the third group were told they were getting drinks with alcohol but were served alcohol-free drinks instead, and those in the last group were told they were getting alcohol-free drinks but were served drinks with alcohol.

Study participants who were given alcoholic drinks received a specific amount of alcohol, based on sex and weight, that would get them to a 0.06% blood alcohol level, Kilmer said.

“That’s a big dose in one drink; that’s three-quarters of the way to the legal limit,” he said. “That’s enough to keep someone at a positive blood alcohol level almost four hours once they hit that peak.”

The researchers observed them interacting in the BAR lab for an hour. The results were surprising.

The reaction of participants in the two groups in which beliefs matched what was served were as expected. In the first group, “it looks like a bunch of college students drinking: the volume of the group increases, people interact a lot more,” Kilmer said.

The second group, with no alcohol, was more subdued. “It’s a much quieter group, much less interaction. At best, it looks like a bunch of students who don’t know each other who are asked to hang out and drink water together for an hour,” he explained.

The “groundbreaking findings,” Kilmer said, was with the next two groups.

For those who thought they were getting alcohol but didn’t, the group dynamic appeared quite active, according to Kilmer. “The volume of the group has increased, people are interacting a lot more, people are shoving tables together and playing drinking games with water,” he said. “Some people report feeling physical effects.”

The fourth group, which had people who thought they were getting alcohol-free drinks, lacked those social interactions.“They got the alcohol (but) none of that great social stuff happened,” he said. “Twenty-minute mark: Everyone’s sitting around going, ‘When’s this dumb study gonna get done?’”

Kilmer said that by the 40-minute mark, when the physical effects of alcohol kick in — alcohol depresses, or slows down, the central nervous system — participants in the fourth group attributed what they were feeling not to drunkenness but to other things, such as getting a poor night’s sleep, being in an overly warm room or being clumsy.

As for all the social benefits, “it’s not coming from the alcohol to start with,” Kilmer said. “It’s probably really fun to be out with the people you’re out with, away from work or school or stress.”

Some people may still be reluctant to release their grip on that jumbo-size party cup, beer bottle or glass of wine. For them, Kilmer has these five tips to reduce alcohol’s harms.

Reduce or refuse alcohol

Drink less — or not at all.

“Certainly, if someone is trying to avoid any unwanted effects, choosing an alcohol-free option might be the path they select,” Kilmer said via email.

If you do make the choice to drink, he suggested lessening alcohol’s impact by alternating each alcoholic drink with a glass of water. “This will help with pacing as well as rehydrating,” he noted.

Rehydrating will also lower your chances of a hangover the next day.

Don’t drink on an empty stomach

The prevailing wisdom to eat before or while drinking is on the money.

“When we drink on an empty stomach, alcohol is absorbed more quickly into the bloodstream (and can result in a higher blood alcohol concentration),” Kilmer said. “Food will slow down the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream.”

So go ahead and order those nachos — in this instance, they really are good for you!

Count servings, not glasses

Keep track of the number of “standard” drinks you consume, not just the number of empty glasses on the table, Kilmer advised.

“A mixed drink with two measured shots of hard alcohol might come in one glass but is treated by the body as two standard drinks,” he said. “Same with a large glass of wine — that will likely be more than one (standard) drink.”

In the US, one “standard” drink contains roughly 14 grams of pure alcohol. That equals about 12 ounces of regular beer (at 5% alcohol; some light beers have less) or 5 ounces of wine (at 12% alcohol) or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits (at 40% alcohol or 80 proof).

Bubbles equal trouble

Be aware of the role of effervescence, Kilmer said.

“The more bubbly a drink is, the more quickly it gets absorbed,” he said. “This is why people say they feel champagne so quickly.”

The same holds true for carbonated mixers, he noted. A vodka tonic will hit you quicker than a vodka cranberry.

This information can be relevant if you are drinking champagne or another sparkling or carbonated beverage at a holiday event or an office party.

Keep your eyes on your drink

Know what’s in your glass.

“If you’re truly trying to reduce risks or harms, do not accept a drink if you don’t know what is in it,” said Kilmer, pointing out that one drink “could represent a much more potent drink” if it contains more than the standard serving of alcohol.

It is also important to not leave your drink unattended, he said.

“Sadly, it is possible that someone could try and slip something into someone’s unattended drink,” he said.

Bonus tips

Kilmer has two other tips worth mentioning.

The first is a reminder about drinking and driving. “Take steps to have a safe transportation plan in place,” he said, if you intend to drink.

The second is to be aware of mixing alcohol with other substances.

“Noteworthy for states that have legalized cannabis, be mindful not to use alcohol and cannabis such that the effects overlap,” he advised. “This causes a drug interaction called ‘potentiation’ in which, from a drug effects standpoint, 1 plus 1 is greater than 2.”

We hope these tips help you stay safe if you choose to drink. Listen to the full episode here. And join us next week on the Chasing Life podcast to hear a conversation between Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Francis Collins, the former head of the National Institutes of Health.

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CNN Audio’s Grace Walker contributed to this report.