There are several short and long term benefits to cutting out the amount of alcohol in your diet and you’ll see some of these benefits immediately. Most people automatically think that the main benefit of going alcohol-free or cutting down alcohol is weight loss and while that’s a great benefit, there are a whole host of other advantages to drinking low-alcohol beers, wines and ciders.
Whether it benefits your mental health, physical health or even your financial health, they’re all great and can help a more balanced lifestyle. Here are some of the more surprising benefits of trying alcohol-free.
You Can Save Money by Going Alcohol-Free
There’s something of a misconception that alcohol-free drinks are more expensive than alcoholic ones. That’s not generally true! Alcohol-free beer and wine are cheaper than the alcoholic version. High street brands, like Becks Beer, is about 30% cheaper.
Wine can be a lot cheaper depending on what wine you drink. A bottle of McGuigan Zero alcohol-free wine comes in 20% cheaper than their regular alcoholic range. Then you’ll need to look at the savings you’ll make without alcohol overstimulating your desire to eat and the savings soon start to add up.
Alcohol-Free Drinks can rehydrate you
Having a beer or a glass of wine after a sporting activity is almost a right of passage, but alcohol is a diuretic, it increases the production of urine. So, you need to pee more and after sweating you’re dehydrated anyways.
Opting for an alcohol-free drink that is less than 2% ABV doesn’t increase your urine output. These definitions of alcohol-free may help you to understand what is non-alcoholic.
Add to that the fact that alcohol-free beer tends to contain electrolytes, which help you absorb fluid more easily and you’ll see that having an alcohol-free drink, or a low alcohol drink after activity will actually hydrate you rather than the opposite.
Go Alcohol-Free for the Vitamins and Minerals without the Hangover
You might be surprised to hear that beer contains a good amount of vitamins and minerals that are key to the good condition of your body.
The good news is that when the alcohol is removed from non-alcoholic beer, the vitamins and minerals stay in! So with low-alcohol beer, you’ll get Vitamin B2, 3, 6, 7, and 9 as well as Vitamin B12 too.
Then when it comes to minerals, calcium, iron, zinc and potassium are just four of the key minerals that low-alcohol beer brings you.
Alcohol-Free Beer Can give you a Reduced Risk of Osteoporosis
One of the key chemicals that strengthen bones is silicon it happens to be a big non-alcoholic ingredient of beer – its present in the hops and barley that make beer. Studies have shown that silicon consumed from the hops and barley in beer can even increase bone mineral density.
When beer is de-alcoholised, it does NOT remove the silicon. It’s a win-win. More bone density, no hangover.
Going Alcohol-Free Can Keep You Happier
There’s no doubt that an alcoholic drink can give you a high and make you feel happy in the short term, this happens when the alcohol temporarily boosts the serotonin levels in your bloodstream. However, when this serotonin drops (as the alcohol wears off) you get a drastic shift in mood, which can lead to depression.
Non-alcoholic drinks don’t have this effect and thus remove the oscillating mood swings, improving your mental health.
Going Alcohol-Free Can Stop Snoring
Have you ever noticed that when you drink alcohol you snore more? Well, you probably notice that when your significant other drinks they snore more.
This is because alcohol relaxes your muscles and stops the air from flowing smoothly in your mouth, nose and throat. So lower the alcohol and you remove this issue with snoring.
Add to that you’re unlikely to wake up either dry-mouthed needing a drink, or needing to go to the loo, and everyone gets a better night sleep all round!
Today’s choices
Today’s alcohol-free drinks are a long way away from the drinks that were available in the early days of non-alcoholic drinks. Alcohol-free today tastes almost like the real thing (and sometimes better) and there’s no need to sacrifice a taste you enjoy for a sugary sweet fake flavour.
Add to that, the fact that you get some great advantages that drinking alcohol-free drinks gives you and it seems like a winner to me. So, whether you prefer to drink wine, spirits, beer or cider, there are huge choices in alcohol-free ranges that give you clear benefits, including, it seems some surprising ones! It means you do not need to just drink coffee or fizzy pop if you go out and want to be alcohol-free.
