Advent 12: The Truth About That First Drink

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On Day Twelve of the Mindful Drinking Advent Series, we explore the magic of that first sip — the exhale, the shoulder-drop, the tiny moment of relief we’ve spent years associating with alcohol. 

This episode explains why the first and second drinks do the heavy lifting, and why everything after that is just chasing a feeling your brain can no longer deliver. 

Learn to slow down, savour, stop at one or two, and switch to low/no or functional drinks that keep the ritual without the consequences. 

A practical, science-backed guide to staying in control while still enjoying the moment. 

Ep#45 - 5 brand new functional spirits from Smiling Wolf

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Welcome to day 12 of our mindful drinking audio advent here on the Mindful Drinking and Moderation in Midlife podcast with me, Denise Hamilton Mace. Good to see you again. Today we are talking about that first sip moment because it's special, isn't it? It's always the best. Now, today is kindly sponsored by the wonderful people over at Smiling Wolf, the functional spirit and cocktail brand. And I'm going to tell you a bit more about them and their exclusive discount offer at the end of today's mindful moment. But I want to focus in on why that first sip is so important and why brands like Smiling Wolf are working really hard to help us recreate that moment. There have been a lot of studies by people who wear uh nice white lab coats and carry clipboards and things. And they have discovered that after the first or second drink of an evening, the thing that we were hoping to use that drink for actually becomes harder to find. So, what do we use that first drink for? Well, usually it's a signal, isn't it? It's a signifier that you've made it to the end of the day. Maybe you've had a stressful day, maybe it's just been really busy, and you want to relax and you want to unwind. And we've spent so long by the time we reach midlife recognizing and associating relaxation with alcohol. And you go to the pub or you head home and you pour a glass and you have that first sip of that first drink. And that's the moment that your shoulders relax, you exhale, you feel like the weight of the world is starting to come off you. And it's a lovely feeling, and it's one that we try to recreate. And so we have our second drink. And the second drink is usually pretty good as well. You're feeling a bit more relaxed, uh, the conversation is flowing if you're out with friends, um, and there's just enough of a buzz to be warm and open, um, especially in this weather, nice and warm, uh, but not too sloppy. You haven't started to go down that path to an area that you might not want to visit yet. But what happens when we have the third drink and the fourth drink and the fifth drink? So those are the drinks that are chasing the feeling that we got from the first or sometimes second drink. These studies have shown that our GABA receptors, which is where we start to feel that joy, that relaxation, that nice buzz, as they call it, and by the time we hit our third and fourth drink, we're actually getting diminishing returns on our GABA receptors, on the parts of our brain that recognize that this is a benefit to us. And whilst we chase that feeling that we had from the first and second drink, what we actually end up is feeling uh a little bit foggier, perhaps a little less in control, maybe getting a little bit louder, all the things that we all know happen when you've had a few drinks. So what if instead then you could stop at one or two? What if you took messages like this and started to internalize the fact that you know that after that second drink, you're actually just chasing diminishing returns of alcohol and then not you're not getting anything more from having more alcohol. It's not serving you in a way that's going to help you with whatever was making you want to have it in the first place. So, what do you do in these situations? Well, first and foremost, you need to slow down. You need to savour your drinks and not swig them. Just because that first sip gives you that feeling of relief, it doesn't mean that by swigging the rest of the drink as quickly as you're possible and jumping on to the second and third, you're going to get more of that. In fact, the quicker you drink, the more of a shock it is to your system, and your body starts to uh react in a negative way as it tries to balance out this new influx of this chemical that's coming in, and it's got to figure out what to do with it all. You could make a conscious decision to stop at one or two. Now, I know this is often easier said than done, and that's one of the reasons why you're here. A large part of that is by finding out information like this from shows like mine and from other resources and really starting to internalize that as part of your belief system so that you know that there is a reason why you should stop at one or two, not just because it's something that you think you should do. After you have stopped at one or two, doesn't mean that you can't still enjoy yourself. This is when you switch to alcohol-free drinks or low-no and light drinks, so that you can keep that ritual, you can keep that feeling. And actually, once the alcohol has done whatever it was that you wanted it to do for you, there's no need to keep having it. So you may as well switch to an alcohol-free drink that tastes the same, that feels the same, that makes you feel like you're still part of the group, but doesn't give you any of the negativities that you'll get the next morning. And of course, this is where functional drinks really come into their own. Drinks that have been designed specifically to recreate that one or two drink feeling. Now, there are a lot of brands out there that are doing this at the moment. Uh, in the States, the functional drinks movement is huge, and here in the UK, it is growing daily. There are lots of fabulous brands out there, and one of those brands is today's sponsor, Smiling Wolf. Now, Smiling Wolf makes a range of functional spirits and RTDs that's ready-to-drink cocktails in a can. I had the pleasure of interviewing their founder, Hamilton Lowe, a few months ago now. Uh, that was back in episode 45, I believe, and I will link to that in the show notes for you. Smiling Wolf is a selection of alcohol-free functional beverages that create that one or two drink feeling but with no alcohol at all. And they've just launched their range of alcohol-free cocktails in a can, which include a Negroni, a GT, a spritz, and a mojito. I've tried the Mojito and it is absolutely delicious and perfect for this time of year. When you open today's email for your advent, you will find an exclusive discount code for you to go and try some for yourself. And I would love to know what you think of them once you do. So make sure you drop me a line and let me know. That's it for today. I will see you tomorrow for day 13. And until then, of course, cheers to a Christmas less intoxicated.