A glass of wine here, a beer there – and the hangover is waiting for you the next morning. This is how you manage to consume alcohol more consciously.
A glass of wine with dinner, a beer after work with colleagues and of course a sip of sparkling wine to toast at a party. But often it doesn’t stay that way and more drinks follow. In their book “Mindful Drinking – With Enjoyment to Healthy Measure” (Knesebeck) the authors Isabella Steiner and Katja Kauf deal with this problem among other things. In Berlin-Kreuzberg they operate the first non-alcoholic Späti in Germany, and they also sell non-alcoholic versions of popular drinks in their online shop “nüchtern.berlin”. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, Isabella Steiner explains, among other things, how the German drinking culture affects alcohol consumption and how one manages to consume more consciously.
In October some give up alcohol as part of the “Sober October” (German: sober October). Does it even make sense to stay away from alcohol for a month?
Isabella Steiner: Every day that is spent without alcohol is certainly a good decision. So I think it’s generally a good thing to avoid alcohol for an entire month. You could do without months like this if you knew and kept your own measure. That is the goal of “Mindful Drinking”: To know how much, when, with whom and why you drink.
Most people drink on some kind of autopilot without thinking too much about it. Out of routine or because it is part of it, to switch off, or out of enjoyment, because you don’t want to or can’t stop. If you have your alcohol consumption under control, you don’t have to radically quit.
What happens in our body when we abstain from alcohol for a long time? Are changes noticeable?
Steiner: Definitely. You benefit on different health levels, physically and mentally. We have devoted an entire chapter in the book to this topic, because one often only deals with the “loud symptoms” of a hangover: headaches, nausea, moodiness and dizziness. The interesting or the fatal is, however, that very few people know how organs, for example the brain, are affected. Organs do not cause problems immediately; they only report when it is usually too late. However, you notice relatively quickly that sleep, skin and also your mood get better if you keep your hands off the alcohol. For example, if you struggle with being overweight and drink beer every day, you will notice a change on the scales. Often people are unaware of how many calories there are in alcoholic drinks, cocktails and beer.
Is the German “drinking culture” special? How does it encourage people to drink?
Steiner: Germans like to drink a lot. It’s not a secret. Party and alcohol often go hand in hand. You’d think that drinking has become the norm. Anyone who’s ever tried to turn down a drink knows what I’m talking about. No matter what is to be celebrated, most of the time a bottle of champagne, wine or beer is necessary. It starts at the end of the day – for many on Monday.
As part of the “Mindful Drinking” movement, you advocate the conscious consumption of alcohol. You speak of a “healthy dose” without a hangover the next morning. When is consumption too much?
Steiner: That is very individual. Often one forgets that one is not the mirror of society. Just because I like this alcohol-free wine doesn’t mean that everyone likes it. Just because I drink three glasses of wine and can still walk straight afterwards doesn’t mean that the same goes for my counterpart. People often want a certain specification: what is right or wrong, what is good or bad. In the end, it’s always a question of balance, and it’s different for everyone. And that’s exactly what we stand for: We don’t want to convert people, we don’t want to be dogmatic and or start a call for everyone to stop drinking.
We want to create awareness of our own drinking habits and we want to encourage people to put their own drinking habits to the test. We want to show that there are now quite good, high-quality and equivalent alternatives – some of which taste like the original. Know your alternatives.
How Much Alcohol Should It Be? A glass of wine every evening, a bottle of beer on the weekend? Once a month?
Steiner: I don’t want to be pinned down on a recommendation. I know how much I can drink personally and when it’s over. A different measure applies here than for my business partner, so I don’t want to make a recommendation. The WHO has a clear position on this, which is often ridiculed. I don’t find it so unrealistic anymore and I also commute myself to it.
However, we do make recommendations for former alcoholics. Here we advise you to avoid alcohol-free products, as memories can be evoked by opening the bottle, pouring it and the similar taste – the way to the bottle of wine “with” is then not far. And we also recommend products that are completely alcohol-free for women who are pregnant and breastfeeding. There is a difference between “alcohol-free” and “without alcohol”. All other adults have to know or relearn their limits on their own.
How do you create awareness for your own consumption?
Steiner: Nowadays people track everything: calories, sleep, steps and a lot more. Then you add another factor: alcohol consumption. You just write down how much you drank and when for four weeks. This is a first step in the right direction to understand what you are talking and thinking about. Anyone who thinks “I drink too much” should check what amount is actually involved. In the second step, one should look at the eventualities: On which occasions were the corks popped, the bottle of wine drunk? Alone at Netflixen, in company in the club or with colleagues at work? A final step would be to consider why you were drinking. Reasons here would be, for example: Because it belongs, because I didn’t want to listen to any comments or because I couldn’t stand it without it. Funnily enough, the phrase “I can’t stand the relatives otherwise!” Is often heard during the Christmas season. That says it all already.
When I wrote the book, I realized that I no longer want to drink too much myself: whoever drinks, makes his body sick voluntarily. You have to let this thought sink in and afterwards it is not that difficult to stop and say no after the first cocktail or a glass of wine. Because I want to be healthy. I don’t want a headache, vomiting, or upset stomach. Being hungover is basically the same as being sick. Nobody really likes to talk about it. And then a drinking evening doesn’t sound so great either.
How do you manage to drop yourself off – at a party, for example – and let it go after an alcoholic drink?
Steiner: At large celebrations such as weddings, it’s easy: let yourself be poured, celebrate the couple without drinking and then just discreetly put the glass down at some point and bye. In smaller groups or work team dynamics, it is actually more difficult and, above all, exhausting. That’s why it’s so important that we finally start talking about it. Alcohol is a taboo subject in itself, nobody wants to think about it or talk about it. One is referred to directly as a fun brake, boring, or as uncool. A date without drinks is almost impossible here in Berlin.
What helps is that you bring an alcohol-free alternative to the party right away. This not only stimulates the mood, but you can also start a “comparison tasting” right away. It is precisely at such moments that you quickly notice who is more open to alternatives or who is more likely to confront. If everyone categorically rejects alcohol-free, you should always consider whether that is the right environment for you.
In addition, there are already bars, mainly in large cities, that have high-quality and equivalent drinks on the menu that do not contain alcohol. When in doubt: blame taking medication or say that you don’t want to mix drugs and alcohol. Definitely works in Berlin.
Why is it still sometimes considered “uncool” not to consume alcohol?
Steiner: Alcohol-free is mostly associated with water, virgin coladas, juice spritzers or soft drinks. Alcohol-free is also generally connoted as infantile. Adults drink alcohol. Children drink alcohol-free. In all of your youth and childhood you are brought up so that you can finally drink your first beer or wine at the age of 16. Alcohol is a matter of course at almost every festival, so that one grows up with the understanding that alcohol is part of everyday life.
How should one react to sayings like “Why don’t you drink anything”?
Steiner: Frontal back questions: “Why are you drinking?” And stay authentic: Because it doesn’t taste good or because I have an important presentation tomorrow. There are quite a few good reasons not to drink. However, it takes a lot of willpower, patience, and perseverance to spend an evening among drunk adults.
But above all, the good thing is when you go and have made it. That’s a pretty good feeling, you feel very strong. It’s worth it for that. The reaction of other people who say: “Oh, I couldn’t do that at all” is often funny. Or: “Oh, I actually drink very seldom.” Often people try to explain and justify themselves and I could imagine that many would secretly wish to remain strong once they made up their minds in advance: I’m not going to drink tonight.