Grabbing a drink with friends can be a great time. Enjoying each others’ company, sharing war stories, pursuing new romantic relationships, and enjoying the energy of the social environment may be a foundational social ritual. The alcohol seems to function as a social lubricant lowering some inhibitions and there is a camaraderie in sharing drinks with people. However, if you are a designated driver or you just don’t want to imbibe for whatever reason, its not a lot of fun to be the odd man out.
Maybe this is just a bridge too far and I am asking for discipline, logic, and reason in an environment where there isn’t much and maybe there shouldn’t be. Still it has always made me wonder why we pour poison down our throats, dumb ourselves down, and numb ourselves when we are engaged in what should be more joyful and meaningful engagements. Maybe the purpose is to self-medicate and numb ourselves to the world for a while. So bear with me as I think out loud and go down this potentially unpopular bunny trail.
If we break down the “positive” physiological, psychological, and social effects of consuming alcohol, it probably can be summarized as: relaxation, warmth, and lowering inhibitions (beer googles and liquid courage). Additionally, the alcohol itself is going to supply you with 7 calories per gram of alcohol, plus any remaining sugars from the fermentation process will deliver 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate. The alcohol and carbohydrates might not only provide you with some nice short-term energy but also with empty calories along with some unwanted weight gain. The other negative effects might include: dizziness, mood changes, slurred speech followed by headache, nausea, fatigue, etc. By the way, to combat some of the negative effects of drinking alcohol load up on vitamin C and other antioxidants (before, during, and after), stay hydrated (before during and after, because alcohol is a diuretic), and eat a good breakfast and dinner for that matter.
The downside in joining the drinking crowd, even with the antioxidants, hydration, and food, is that your body still needs to metabolize and/or flush out the primarily toxic alcohol. You also don’t need to take onboard additional weight gain from those empty calories. I can assure you that it is easy to drink (alcohol-related or not) a lot of calories.
I’m just spit-balling here but what if we replaced those alcoholic drinks with something that provided similar or even better positive benefits without the negative effects in the same social setting. (No I’m not talking about weed. Also, I am not talking about Red Bull with Vodka. That is the opposite of what I am thinking and probably just amplifying the stupidity.) What if we tailored a pre-workout/nootropic-like drink that allowed for the energy, warmth, lowering of inhibitions through confidence and other means. What if this was actually beneficial to your machine? (Not all energy drinks, nootropics, or pre-workouts are beneficial to your machine, so craft or choose wisely.) With that, let’s also include vitamin C, other antioxidants, and vasodilators that could have a nitric oxide effect. By using such a concoction, you might enjoy your night much better since you wouldn’t be dizzy, slow reacting, moody, and slurring your speech. Your additional mental clarity will help you stand above the speech-slurring fools. You might even be the life of the party, but with some dignity. Your training and diet wouldn’t be derailed so much in the following days. With respect to your romantic pursuits, without the beer googles you might make better choices. (Plus, find some real courage and talk to that girl you don’t need frickin’ alcohol to do that). Also, if your romantic pursuits have a favorable result (let’s say with your wife) wouldn’t it be nice to have the energy, focus, intensity, and ah, mmmmm,… greater blood flow? I would also be careful not to overdo the caffeine and other stimulants because that will make you feel like crap as well. That said, as you dial-in and temper the stimulants, I am sure that you will find something positive to do to metabolize that new-found energy.
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