According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, adults of legal drinking age should consume alcohol in moderation. For men, it’s up to two drinks per day and for women, the limit comes down to just one drink per day. But we often fail to determine how much booze is excess for us and as a result, start getting drunk! Consuming excess amounts of alcohol not only results in various physical illnesses but increases the risks of injuries, violence and so on. So what should you do to avoid getting drunk? Try to follow these three simple tips.
1. Stay mindful
If you think about it, getting drunk ultimately comes down to the amount of alcohol you actually drink. There are people who start the night thinking they will have just a couple of drinks and end up drinking excessively the whole night long! No matter what kind of alcohol you consume, drinking large quantities quickly and ultimately getting drunk will always lead to adverse effects on your health. If you too belong to this league, try mindfulness training. It’s an effective method to combat this issue. You can also try to think up ideas according to what works the best for you to lower your alcohol intake so that you can avoid getting drunk!
2. Slow down your alcohol intake
Your blood alcohol concentration or BAC stands for the percent of alcohol in your bloodstream. The more you drink, the higher your BAC, which simply means you run more risk of getting drunk. Though the alcohol tolerance level varies from one person to another, it’s a general consideration that your liver can only process one standard drink every hour. So you need to slow down your drinking to one drink each hour. There are various methods you can try to attain this goal. First, drink non-alcoholic beverages along with alcoholic drinks. Second, choose a drink having a lower alcohol concentration such as beer rather than liquor. Opting for this alternative approach would eventually lower your total alcohol consumption and help you to avoid getting drunk.
3. Try to say no!
There are various factors that determine how much alcohol you can consume without getting drunk. But to avoid excess drinking, you must say “no” when you’ve had enough. Ideally, you need to keep count of your drinks instead of keeping pace with others. Also, drinking sessions sometimes derail your plans for not getting drunk, especially if you’re with your friends. In that case, it would be a good idea to go for sipping instead of gulping. Joining other activities after the drinking sessions would also be another effective way to avoid excess drinking or getting drunk.
Always remember that even if you can drink throughout the night without getting drunk, you’ll still suffer from physical hazards the next morning. The key lies in following safe drinking habits. So, put to use the above mentioned tips and focus on the things that would help limit your drinks. One of the biggest perks of not getting drunk is you’ll be able to avoid the physical discomforts that are typical after effects of excess drinking or getting drunk.
