This is not the usual essay about craft beer and brewing but instead the exact opposite: abstaining from beer, or more broadly from alcohol in general. Several issues have arisen lately that, for some, call into question different aspects about drinking habits, drinking culture, and the effects of drinking on our health and well-being.
To begin, I am not a health professional nor offer any clinical advice on any level. Neither am I a counselor on substance abuse or dependency, and nothing offered in this space should ever be taken as a recommendation without first consulting a medical professional with regard to personal physical and mental health issues. This discussion is just that, a simple exploration of a few topical trends and ideas. More information is always better, even if we dislike or disagree with that information.
The Clinical Risks of Alcohol
Several news items have appeared over the past month about new research regarding the health effects of alcohol (no distinction between beer, wine or liquor). New research released in December led the US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to issue a statement just after the first of this year to recommend amending the warning label mandated on alcohol products. This research calls into question the supposed benign health effects of moderate alcohol consumption in an otherwise healthy diet.
The new studies have linked alcohol consumption, even low to moderate levels within previously acceptable guidelines, to the development of some cancers (breast, mouth, throat) and other malignancies, and suggest that no safe level of consumption exists. These concerns were voiced by the Surgeon General as reason to update the current warnings for alcohol that appear on every label, which presently include advisories against consumption by pregnant persons or for those driving or operating heavy machinery.
Likewise, other recent research has been published just now reflective of health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that indicates greater risks of alcohol consumption for middle-aged consumers (age 35 to 50). The body becomes less able to metabolize alcohol as we age, which can lead to heavier adverse effects that can magnify the effects of cancer, heart disease, blood sugar management, hypertension and other chronic conditions, including cognitive impairment and quality of sleep. The normal declines associated with aging make sensitivity and recovery greater for those in midlife compared to the same levels of consumption in one’s 20s.
Whatever the reason for abstaining from alcohol (and there are many), the choice should be respected and supported by those around you.
As with many issues of nutrition and health, these results will have to be reviewed and considered against the complexity that is folded into diet, activity and lifestyle. Many previous studies have reflected on the moderate health benefits of a low level of alcohol consumption for prevention of heart attack and stroke, specifically by raising levels of HDL (the “good” cholesterol) in the blood. Dietary and nutritional guidelines will need to be resolved with this latest data through continued studies.
One for the New Year
No doubt, most of us have made resolutions for New Year’s Day at some point in our lives, and not a few of those promises surrounded personal health and our own eating and drinking habits. Whether it is an overindulgence through the recent stretch of holidays (more so in 2024 than usual, with Hanukkah overlapping both Christmas and NYE) or the appeal of a “fresh” calendar year, January 1st is a popular time to reevaluate and possibly reset consumption norms that some may have allowed to slide.
Popular among alcohol imbibers is the concept of “Dry January,” or abstaining from alcohol for the first month of the year in a semi-Lenten practice. Many adopt this as simply a way to save money after a holiday spending binge; some use it in conjunction with other overall health resolutions related to diet and exercise. Others use it as a personal reality check, to make sure their own drinking habits have not become problematic or unable to be curtailed per deeper alcohol dependencies.
Only the consumer is able to properly assess and manage their own relationship with alcohol, craft beer or otherwise—and know when to seek help. Taking a hiatus once in a while is also not a terrible idea, allowing one’s body and wallet to catch up with our indulgent modern lifestyles. This month seemed an opportune time for this topic personally, as recent medications have forced a cause for a pause in my own normal alcohol habits. Whatever the reason for abstaining from any alcohol product (and there are many), the choice should be respected and supported by those around you who choose differently.
Rise of the Craft NA Products
Part of a greater trend among the craft brewing market has been the emergence of a nonalcoholic (NA) craft beverage segment, which has been on an upward slope for a couple of years. Once relegated to only the major national corporate breweries, NA options for craft beer have started to appear on shelves alongside a brewery’s conventional beers, and not just the lighter, fizzy styles. Some of the larger craft breweries have developed full product lines for a variety of NA styles of craft beers, with a select few devoted exclusively to NA products.
This embrace of the near-beer by craft brewers has been in response to an overall national decline in craft beer consumption even among the loyal consumers, a trend that does not yet have a clear explanation. Theories have stretched from a change in consuming habits brought about from the pandemic to simple economics (craft beer prices are at an all-time high, as are the cost of ingredients and materials). One idea advanced is related to the issues discussed previously, that of health concerns and a change in lifestyle and drinking habits. Offering an NA option allows breweries to expand their product lines and reach consumers they may not otherwise.
The recent rise in craft NA products and so-called “mocktails” has been wide enough commercially to merit its own focus, so more in-depth analysis is reserved for a separate piece. Suffice to say that current NA options have been reasonably successful in both sales and quality of product using a variety of techniques to produce low-alcohol craft beverages (technically, “NA” implies any level of alcohol below ABV 0.5%) at least on par with the quality of some full-alcohol craft beer offerings.
Whatever the reason for consuming less alcohol, this data collectively gives us reason to pause and consider our personal habits, at least for a little while. But overall, I am an advocate for a robust enjoyment of one’s alcoholic beverage of preference—even if that preference is for no alcohol at all. PH
