Should I Drink Less?

At the beginning of the quarantine, I started to indulge in having a glass or two of wine each day. In the months before the quarantine, I’d drink only when I went out. Not at home and not every day. “Should I drink less?” I wondered. 

My boyfriend wasn’t helping much. He would have maaaybe one small glass of coffee liquor on Saturday evening during our weekly Zoom catch-ups with friends. “My benchmark can’t be someone who’s so reasonable about things,” I figured. I needed some better point of reference. So I crossed my fingers and looked to the authorities for guidance as to what they say about alcohol drinking. 

What’s the Right Amount According to the Official Authorities?

I started googling and learned that what according to US standards is on the verge of heavy drinking is considered moderate drinking according to Czech standards. Shocking.

Let’s continue looking into Czechia, right? The article I found assured me that as a woman I should be fine with one to two glasses of wine, three to five times a week; on the other hand, Alex could totally extend his drinks to two or three, three to five times a week. So far so good. 

But then I looked into the official recommendation of the Czech ministry of health for the quarantine. I shouldn’t have. “Avoid alcohol,” it states clearly, “or at least reduce your alcohol consumption.” The Ministry continues to preach, “Limit salt intake, limit fat intake, limit sugar intake…” Whoa, do they think that I’ve been doing everything wrong on default? 

What Does the Doctor Say?

This clearly doesn’t take my individuality into account. But my close friend Klára, who is a doctor at the internal medicine department of the hospital in Slaný, will surely be much more insightful when it comes to the definition of moderate drinking.

“It’s tricky to talk about drinking in the Czech Republic, where a lot of people don’t even consider beer as alcohol. We generally drink too much,” Klára thinks. “Moderate drinking, in my opinion, means that you have drinking under control; you don’t drink to get wasted every time; you’re able to work and socialize with others; a glass of wine is not the first thing you do when you get home and you’re looking forward to doing so every day. You should be able to have fun without alcohol,“ she sums up.

“I was drinking more often at the beginning of the quarantine, then I realized I don’t feel well after drinking, so I’m giving my liver a little break,” she laughs. “It’s easy to pardon yourself with the French paradox, but I think everyday drinking is dangerous.”

“Two drinks a day for a skinny girl can lead after a few years to cirrhosis and that is deadly. Each person has a different metabolism and liver regenerative ability and you don’t know how much alcohol your liver can take. The liver can repair itself if you give it time. So I think all of us should do dry periods. I, myself, like having a glass of wine sometimes, and I also had a few crazy drinking years when I studied. But if we make breaks without alcohol and paracetamol – never mix those – for two consecutive weeks, two or three times a year, or a whole month without a drink once a year, our liver should repair. Unless you drink excessively the rest of the time of course. Then no dry period can save your liver.”

Me and Dr. Klára drinking moderately

Taking a Break from My Jackass Friend

If at any point in my life I’ve asked myself the question, “Should I drink less alcohol?” Even without needing to look around for guidelines and what other people say, the honest answer has always been, “Well… yes.” 

Alcohol is this jackass friend of mine who I love to hate. He seems to always show up at places I go, we have a lot of mutual friends… and boy, can he be so much fun to hang out with. Yet, he’ll forever remain this manipulative, toxic, son of a bitch. 

And I know that spending less time with my friend won’t make me a better person; if you are an asshole (or obviously an angel in my case), you were probably born like that. But I’ve decided that I’ll take a little break from him after hanging out almost every day during the quarantine.

Break With Me

My plan is to start on the first of June and go the month without a drink. Doing that should allow me to fully profit from the benefits of going dry for 30 days.

1. It should be a long enough time to help my liver recover. 
2. Since it takes about three weeks to break a habit, it should also be enough time to reset my relationship with alcohol and continue with one which will stop me from wondering if I should drink less.
3. It should also help me rethink my mindset that going to a pub or hanging out with friends means holding a drink in my hand.

I’d be happy if you joined me in a way which you think might bring some great benefits to you! You know what’s best for you so you make your own rules. You decide when is a good time for you and what it is that you’d like to do – whether it’s keeping up the same routine that has been working out for you well so far, or cutting back a drink or a couple each week or taking more alcohol-free days in the month or like me, taking the whole month off. I will keep you updated about my journey and I’d love to hear about yours, to know that there is someone else out there so that we can inspire each other and keep each other motivated.

I’ll share updates on my Facebook page, so go ahead and join the conversation!

Read about The Project That Helped Me Cope with Addictions