The Ultimate Guide to Alcohol Alternatives in 2023

As Jessica Jeboult from A Sober Girl’s Guide says, “Drinking alcohol to feel good is like setting your house on fire to feel warm.” This year, ditch the ethanol and opt for these healthy alcohol alternatives. Your body and mind will thank you!

Whether you are looking to cut back or give up alcohol for good, this list will help you to find alcohol alternatives that suit your needs.

No matter what propels you to drink—to relax, socialize, destress, feel good, or fall asleep—there are multiple alternatives for each.

What Are Alcohol Alternatives?

Alternatives to alcohol include not only non-alcoholic beverages, but other ways to change your state that are far more healthy.

In western culture, it’s perfectly acceptable, even encouraged, to turn to alcohol first when dealing with difficult emotions, in times of celebration, and just to put an end to our day. However, it is becoming less popular thanks to the sober-curious movement and popular figureheads in the world of biohacking and mental health.

By turning to alcohol alternatives, your future self will thank you.

Here are just a few reasons why:

Why Should You Drink Alcohol Alternatives?

As modern research keeps coming in, more and more findings show the link between alcohol and illness, disease, and other harmful impacts on your mind, body, and health.

Forget what your drunk uncle says, it’s finally been proven that zero amount of alcohol is good for you. (Source)

If you choose not to drink, it’s important not to stay home and avoid social settings or places where you would normally drink. You don’t have to feel left out. Alcohol alternatives make it easier to socialize and feel included. Whether you sip on a mocktail at a wedding or meet your friends at the gym instead of a bar, there is always a way to crowd out alcohol and live to the fullest.

Don’t believe me yet? I hope to convince you by the end of this article that there are so many better alternatives to alcohol (you can even get a buzz from some of them)!

First, here are just some reasons to consider cutting back or stopping drinking altogether. Knowing these drawbacks of drinking will make the alternatives seem way more favorable:

Avoid the Nasty Effects of a Hangover

Alcohol, for all the fun it is in the moment, always makes you pay the price once its effects start to wear off. When we drink alcohol, we rob our future selves of our happiness and dopamine.

Scientists still don’t really understand what causes hangovers or how to avoid them. However, it’s pretty obvious that hangovers are a sign that our body doesn’t like it when we imbibe poison!

If you use alcohol alternatives, you can avoid the nausea, anxiety, brain fog, and tiredness that follow on the day after drinking.

Promote a Healthy Gut-Liver-Brain Axis

Did you know that the gut, liver, and brain are deeply connected? The three communicate via nerve cells and chemical signaling.

This means that what we eat and drink can impact our feelings and even affects our neurochemistry. Gut health and brain health (mental health) are one and the same. That’s because, when you drink alcohol, you damage the lining of your gut since it kills both good and bad bacteria, resulting in dysbiosis. This alteration of the delicate flora that live in your gut reduces cognition and leads to a depressed mood. The more you drink, the more your brain craves alcohol, (since it’s addictive) which only makes this worse.

On the flip side, the good news is that if you improve your gut health, you can minimize cravings for alcohol and sugar. Take probiotics, prebiotics, and follow a gut-healthy diet for improved mood, digestion, and fewer cravings. Adding in low-sugar fermented foods like kefir and sauerkraut, which are full of probiotics, is also a great way to get started.

Alcohol Can Cause Cancer

Just like cigarettes, alcohol is a massive contributor to cancer rates across the world. However, most people, 70% of Americans, in fact, are unaware of the link that wine, beer, and spirits have to cancer. This is because our society is entrenched in drinking culture, with alcohol companies spending millions of dollars each year to keep the impression going that it’s a healthy way to socialize, and it’s fairly routine to drink regularly.

The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) has recently stated that alcohol is the third most substantial and modifiable risk factor for cancer after tobacco use and excess body fat.

AICR’s research shows that alcohol increases the risk of at least six cancers, including colorectal, breast, esophageal, liver, stomach, and oral cancers.

Women should be especially vigilant with their alcohol consumption. According to the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the risk of breast cancer increases among women who drink. Specifically, for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed per day, they increase their risk of cancer by four to 13%.

And the smoking gun? Alcohol increases tumor growth while suppressing molecules that inhibit tumor growth. (Source)

Alcohol Monopolizes Happy Chemicals While Worsening Anxiety and Depression

Alcohol, when used to unwind, can make us more stressed when we aren’t drinking. It’s a catch-22.

According to Stanford neuroscientist, Andrew Huberman, people who drink consistently (even in small amounts like one alcoholic beverage per night) experience increases in cortisol release from adrenal glands when they aren’t drinking. This produces more feelings of stress and anxiety when not drinking.

Emily Syphas, the founder of Sober and Social said it perfectly:

“At first we can feel more relaxed and confident as our body produces extra dopamine when we drink, this makes us feel good and gives us an initial buzz. However, afterwards our body will be depleted of it which can then lower our mood [below its regular baseline].”
– Emily Syphas, founder of Sober and Social

Are Alcohol Alternatives Only for Sober People?

While some folks choose not to drink alcohol at all, anyone can enjoy alcohol alternatives. Since the pandemic, alcoholism has increased, but so has people’s tendency to stop drinking or cut back.

Thankfully, the sober-curious movement spurred a new world of non-alcoholic beverages and alcohol alternatives.

In late 2021, NielsenIQ’s SVP of Account Development, Kim Cox, noted a 315% increase in non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic beverage e-commerce sales versus a 26% increase in regular alcoholic e-commerce sales in the same time period. (Forbes)

Anyone who wants to feel healthier, have more mental clarity and energy, and be more kind to their body should opt for alcohol-free (AF) drinks and activities. If not all the time, at least most of the time!

Okay… Let’s take a look at the extensive list of alcohol alternatives for any occasion and for anyone.

Alternative Beverages to Alcohol

Alcohol-Free Wine

These days, the number of grocers and retail chains that stock the shelves with alcohol-free wines is growing, from BevMo to Sprouts and Trader Joe’s.

But, I won’t sugarcoat it. As of now, critics agree that only a few non-alcoholic wines on the market taste like the real deal. They tend to be sweeter and have more added flavor to compensate for the lack of tannins and flavor from the alcohol itself.

It doesn’t mean they’re not good, but if you’re looking to be fooled and taste something identical to alcoholic wine, you will probably be disappointed!

However, the rise in sales of non-alcoholic wines doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

In 2022, a New Zealand non-alcoholic winemaker, Giesen, reported a 454% growth in shipments to the U.S. Increased sales indicate a growing consumer demand for quality alcohol-removed wines.

You might wonder, how is non-alcoholic wine made and is it 0% alcohol?

Alcohol-free wine is actually wine that has had the alcohol 100% removed. After fermentation, the alcohol can be removed in three ways: vacuum distillation, spinning-cone technology or reverse osmosis.

Alcohol-Free Beer

Similar to forward-thinking wine labels hopping on the non-alcoholic (NA) trend, major beer brands are producing alcohol-free options such as Heineken, AB InBev, and Molson Coors. Smaller brands and craft brewers are getting in on the action too, like Athletic Brewing.

While the interest in these drinks is on the upswing, the history of non-alcoholic beers actually goes back to prohibition times when alcoholic beverages containing over 0.5% alcohol were banned across the United States. To remain viable, breweries like Anheuser-Busch and Miller produced what was coined “near beer” or beer with only 0.5% alcohol, a negligible amount.

To put it into perspective of how low a concentration of alcohol that is, it’s about the same percentage of alcohol in freshly-squeezed orange juice.

While prohibition did not last long, non-alcoholic beers have become a staple for some international brands like Beck’s Non-Alcoholic (Becks Blue).

Just like non-alcoholic wines, booze-free beers start out as regular beer and undergo a process to de-alcoholize it via the same 3 methods: vaporization, distillation, or vacuum.

Top-rated alcohol-free beers:

Lucky Saint has been rated the #1 alcohol-free beer on Trustpilot in the U.K. It’s sugar-free and vegan, brewed with just four ingredients without additives or flavorings.
Athletic Brew – In the U.S, Athletic Brew is surging in popularity for its craft non-alcoholic beers that are vegan and veteran-friendly. They brew almost all types of “near beers” from its “Chelada Nada” to “Upside Dawn” golden to IPAs like “Blueberry Mosaic.” No matter what kind of beer you like, from light to dark, they’ve got an option for you.
WellBeing Brewery – “For recoverers and discoverers,” this brand of craft beer has the coolest looking art on the label and offers non-alcoholic stouts, wheats, dark ambers, and IPAs.

Since I do not eat gluten and beer usually has gluten, I’ve never tasted any of these alcohol-free beers (cue the tiny violin!). However, a cursory Google search has confirmed that there are indeed gluten-free, alcohol-free beers out there, as well.

What a time to be alive, am I right? 😛

Since starch is a necessary component of the fermentation process, crafting a gluten-free beer that still tastes like beer is a formidable undertaking. But, there is a brand I’m sure I’ll get around to trying and reviewing on this site, called Grüvi which offers a gluten-reduced Indian Pale Ale (IPA).

Non-Alcoholic Aperitifs and Spirits

Seedlip

The award-winning non-alcoholic spirit brand, Seedlip, is made with botanical ingredients and has a similar flavor profile to gin. The beverage line combines a love of nature and alchemy with the need for a more sophisticated, adult option for an alcohol alternative.

Ben Branson, the founder, was inspired by a 17th-century physician, John French, who documented his distillation of non-alcoholic herbal remedies. Due to its unique six-week maceration, distillation, filtration, and blending process, Seedlip is free from alcohol and sugar.

Today, this non-alcoholic spirit comes in three varieties, Seedlip Spice, Garden, and Grove, which can be used to create thousands of delicious mocktails. Simply add some imagination! On its website, you’ll find recipes like a “Seedlip toddy” a “cosNOpolitan” and an “espresso martiNO.”

De Soi

The hero to my teenage self, Katy Perry, is one of the co-founders of this new non-alcoholic beverage line, De Soi. So, you can imagine my excitement that Katy Perry endorses being alcohol-free or cutting back.

Katy Perry at the House of Blues circa 2009. (Crappy image quality due to the inferior camera phones we had back in the day!)

My first (real) concert ever was Katy Perry at the House of Blues in downtown San Diego during my sophomore year of high school. I remember being in the very front and she touched my hand!

Now that she is far too famous for playing in such a small venue, this is probably the closest I’ll ever get to her again. And I’m totally okay with that because De Soi tastes great!

Perry and De Soi cofounder, Morgan McLachlan, teamed up to make a drink that you can substitute for alcohol on any occasion. It comes in three flavors in either bottles or cans of spritzer. De Soi is a great alternative to alcohol because it contains adaptogens that help you chill out.

I’ve had the golden hour, which, at first tastes a bit bitter and acidic, but it’s complex, like an authentic aperitif. It certainly helped me to mellow out and relax, creating a bit of a warm and fuzzy feeling without the guilt!

Read my full De Soi review.

Kin Euphorics

One of the “cool kids” on the NA beverage block, Kin Euphorics drinks provide a bevy of botanical and nootropic ingredients including GABA, 5-HTP, and Rhodiola extract. Lower in calories than a traditional mocktail (and sugar-free), it will leave you with a nice body high and give you the feeling of an uplifted mood.

I tried two flavors of Kin Euphorics cans while on vacation in Kauai, where I came across it in a pressed juice shop, of all places! Sipping it while playing backgammon on our hotel patio overlooking the ocean, midway through my first can, I felt a boost of energy and a little more bubbly, relaxed, and sociable.

If you’re considering trying Kin Euphorics, one thing to note is that it is not recommended for people who take antidepressants, as the supplements it contains can react with medication.

Ritual Zero Proof

Ritual Zero Proof makes non-alcoholic wine and spirits that taste almost like the real thing. Unlike non-alcoholic beers and wines, Ritual Zero Proof is crafted instead of distilled, meaning it doesn’t start out as an alcoholic beverage.

Their tequila alternative, spiritless spirit, is made with agave nectar and is said to have all the flavor of tequila without the alcohol content (I will try it and let you know!).

Whether you’re looking for a non-alcoholic sangria or a virgin margarita, Ritual Zero Proof has something to whip one up easily.

Non-Alcoholic Cocktails and Mixed Drinks

If you order these on a night out, ask the bartender to use the same kind of glass as a traditional alcoholic beverage and no one will know the difference! You’ll even be able to fool yourself since drinking’s benefits are often psychological. By mimicking the real thing, you can trick your mind into believing you’re drinking and get the same benefits without the drawbacks.

If you don’t feel like drinking non-alcoholic wine or “near beer,” mocktails and alcohol-free mixed drinks are always go-to options. The best part about them is that you don’t have to go out of your way to make them. You can use ingredients you already have at home and that bartenders always have on hand. Check out these mocktail bar ideas.

Cranberry and Lime Soda

A refreshing classic, mix one-part soda with one-part cranberry juice and muddled lime. Add more soda than juice if you want it to be less sweet/bitter from the cranberry. This will also make it lower in calories, but way more fun than drinking plain ole’ water or fruit juice.

Virgin Mojito

Besides the rum, mojitos are made with mint, sugar, and lime (three ingredients that also taste perfectly delicious on their own), no alcohol required! Just add sparkling water.

Virgin Piña Colada

A piña colada is a popsicle in drink format—am I right? Who needs the rum to enjoy this delicious drink? You can still feel transported to that tropical poolside chaise lounge of your dreams. To enjoy a virgin piña colada, blend cream of coconut, ice, pineapple juice, frozen pineapple, and lime juice.

Little umbrella optional.

Teas

Former drinkers and people who are cutting back will often switch their daily nightcap from an alcoholic beverage to tea. I’ve found that switching my nightly wine to tea has made stopping drinking easier. I still enjoy that part of my daily routine that signals my brain that it’s time to unwind.

I now associate tea with my end-of-day reward (and a nibble of dark chocolate). This is awesome because instead of drinking ethanol, I’m getting all the health benefits of tea, like antioxidants, mood improvement, and better digestion.

And then there’s the possibility of getting tea drunk…

I’m not sayin’ it’s the goal, but did you know you can get “tea drunk”? If you drink enough green or white tea in one sitting, you can start to feel the psychoactive component of the tea plant, camellia sinensis.

Tea drunk can make you feel happy, inspired, creative, calm, and energetic while boosting mental clarity. Unlike alcohol, when you get drunk on tea, you won’t feel out of control or overdo it.

That said, let’s take a look at some teas that make the best alternatives to alcohol – whether you want to chill, fall asleep, or focus.

Hawthorn

One of the oldest known healing herbs, tea drinkers and non-alcoholic drink mixologists often turn to hawthorn for its calming effects and pro-heart health properties. The plant helps open up the blood vessels and is believed to provide immune and digestive support, improve your skin, and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.

Combining the hawthorn berry with its leaf and flower makes the perfect trifecta that can be made into a tea, tincture, or syrup. It’s also non-toxic and non-addictive.

For a refreshing mocktail, infuse a tablespoon of a hawthorn tincture that contains both the hawthorn plant’s berries and flowers into a cup of water. If you want, you can add some citrus like orange or lemon and a squeeze of honey.

Chamomile

Every time I think of chamomile, I hear Gwen Stefani singing, “I’m just sippin’ on chamomile, watching boys and girls and their sex appeal” in the classic No Doubt song, “Hey Baby.” I was a kid when it came out, but even then, I thought it was weird to be drinking tea at a party.

But, now, I get it! Chamomile relaxes you. It’s great for the “fly on the wall” with social anxiety.

Long before Gwen Stefani made it cool, chamomile has been used for over a thousand years as a soothing, therapeutic herb. The English word “chamomile” comes from the Greek word, khamaimēlon, meaning “earth apple”—a reference to chamomile’s characteristic apple-like sweetness.

Chamomile tea is naturally calming with a light, floral flavor and hint of natural sweetness.

If you are having trouble falling asleep at night, boosting your immune system, relaxing, or minimizing stress, a cup of chamomile tea may be just what you need.

Chamomile tea is a healthy alternative to alcohol for relaxation and a good night’s sleep because it can help you feel sleepy without all the toxins.

Turmeric Tea

You may know turmeric, AKA the “golden spice,” for its flavor and yellow color found in many Indian dishes. Rich in curcumin, some benefits of turmeric tea include improved digestion, heart health, and skin health. An adaptogen, it is also reported to lower inflammation, relieve joint pain, support weight loss, and regulate blood sugar.

Regulating your blood sugar is important because it can reduce your cravings for sugar. If you are used to drinking daily, your body is accustomed to getting sugar from alcohol. So, regulating your blood sugar with something like turmeric tea can help lessen cravings for alcohol.

I drank copious amounts of this tea while I had covid and I still drink it now and then to boost my immune system. You can mix turmeric tea with green tea for added antioxidants or add pepper, honey, lemon, or ginger for added flavor and health benefits.

Ginseng Tea

Korean ginseng tea comes from the root of ginseng and makes a great alternative to alcohol when you’re looking for a pick-me-up. It can help you stay focused and motivated without the jitters.

The healing properties of ginseng tea come from a chemical compound known as ginsenosides. These compounds are adaptogens, which means that they help the body adapt to changes in its environment and can have various positive effects on the body.

Ginseng tea can be an acquired taste, so, like any tea, you can add citrus or honey. I sometimes mix it with oolong tea to add more flavor and combine the health benefits of both teas.

Ginseng has traditionally been used to treat a number of ailments. It’s rumored to boost appetite, improve digestion, reduce asthma and arthritis symptoms, and even enhance sexual virility. If you experience headaches often, try ginseng, as well.

Kava Tea

If you’re looking for another tea that will get you buzzed or “drunk,” you can try the controversial kava, a mild narcotic and sedative. Made from the powder of a root, it is banned in some countries. So, I would exercise caution with it. Do your homework!

The jury is out on whether or not kava is okay for your liver. Fortunately, there is no evidence that it is habit-forming.

That said, it’s been around for almost 2,000 years, plays a part in coming-of-age rituals in many cultures, and it’s the national drink of Fiji.

I have yet to try it, but from what other people say, its effects are much like alcohol. It helps you relax and gives you a body high without impairing your motor skills! It also leaves you feeling fine the next day. This is because it has kavalactones, which can help increase neurotransmitters in your brain like GABA and dopamine, aka pleasure chemicals.

Like ginseng or mate, its earthy flavor is going to be a bit shocking at first. You can drink it with slices of fruit or mix it with coconut milk to make it delectable. Apparently, it can make your tongue and lips feel numb/tingly, which is normal.

Kanna Tea

Kanna, or kougoed, is a medicinal plant native to South Africa. The San and Khoikhoi tribes used it extensively for its psychoactive effects. Today, the plant is gaining interest worldwide because it relieves stress and promotes a sense of well-being.

Scientists are studying it today and learning of the several benefits that led these tribes to use it for their healing, social, and spiritual needs. The herb contains an alkaloid that may act as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and the tea also can give you a buzz.

Like the earthy chai tea, you can drink Kanna with milk, a little sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom for some extra flavor. Some people even smoke or chew Kanna for more significant effects.

Again, I am not a medical professional or a scientist, so please do your homework on how to prepare it. Understand the risks and potential side effects before trying Kanna!

Yerba Mate

alcohol alternatives mate — Photo by davide ragusa on Unsplash

Yerba mate is a tea that is native to South America. I got to know it intimately when I lived in Uruguay, the country that drinks it the most per capita. Uruguayans drink mate all day, every day. One time, I saw someone drinking it while going through airport security! Instead of being asked to dump it out, the security officer held their mate for them while they went through the X-ray and passed it back to them on the other side. That is how seriously the Uruguayan people honor and respect the ritual of drinking mate.

Mate energizes you without causing jitters or a mid-afternoon crash. “Yerba” means herb and “mate” refers to a gourd that it’s drunk out of. It also includes a metal straw called a “bombilla” which has a filter at the bottom so that you don’t end up getting bits of leaves in your mouth.

It takes a little preparation to set up the mate in the gourd and steep it just right. Then, you take your boiled water and put it in a thermos. You fill the gourd with enough water right before you take each sip.

In Uruguay, it’s common to prepare a mate when catching up with friends. You pass it around for everyone to take a sip. For this reason, I noticed that Uruguayans were less likely to drink alcohol during the day because they were all drinking mate instead!

In the U.S., you can find mate-infused drinks in a bottle or can like Guayakí. While they’re not the “real deal,” they’re much easier to drink since they’re ready-made.

Several other reported benefits of mate include weight loss support, reduced blood sugar levels, and protection against infections. For added health benefits, toss a piece of ginger into your thermos.

Coffee

I only have ONE friend who doesn’t love coffee. If you’re reading this, you are probably not like her, and are one of the 99% of adult humans who love coffee.

Coffee, instead of alcohol, is now my #1 go-to feel-good beverage. But, I only drink it in the morning. And I’m okay with both of those things. I guess that makes me a morning person!

These days, I go to bed clear-headed every night, and I look forward to morning approaching so I can have my cup of coffee. It seriously brings me so much joy and motivation to get out of bed.

While I drink my coffee, I do my “miracle morning” routine, which has been fundamental for improving my life and daily habits.

If you’re a coffee addict, you probably know it’s not just a morning bev! You can even order coffee at the bar on a night out. Like booze, it can give you that added boost to keep dancing, but it won’t make you feel crappy the next day.

Kombucha

Kombucha is a fermented beverage that adds kombucha culture to sweetened black tea. The culture is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, which produce acids that help to break down the sugar in the tea.

The result is a healthy, probiotic beverage with many nutritional benefits, including the ability to boost your immune system, detoxify your liver, and even improve digestion. Not only that, but kombucha helps with detoxification, and some studies have found that it may have cancer-fighting properties.

Commercial kombucha contains less than 0.5% alcohol, so no worries there about accidentally drinking alcohol. However, if your neighbor, Dave, invites you to try his kombucha, remember that home-brewed kombucha may contain up to 3% alcohol. And if you buy it at the store, make sure it’s not a hard kombucha, which seems to be gaining popularity. 😳

My friends and I drink kombucha in a wine glass when we’re together. It feels like we’re not missing a thing! You can also grab your favorite kombucha and use it as a flavorful base for a mocktail.

Flavored Sparkling Water

Have you been a fan of hard seltzers? There’s nothing wrong with alcohol-free sparkling water as an alternative! What I love about it is the fizz that’s like soda but better for you.

Since the breakout hit, La Croix, more copycat brands have flooded the market, taking up more space in grocery store aisles.

Best-tasting sparkling waters:

Waterloo – It’s not too sweet and has the best flavor.
AHA Sparkling Water, Citrus + Green Tea Flavored Water, with Caffeine – It keeps me buzzed after I finish my morning coffee.
Bubly – There are tons of flavors, some of which are caffeinated, and it’s available in almost every grocery store.
Soleil Raspberry Lime Sparkling water – A generic label, this is one of the best tasting sparkling waters for less!
Liquid Death – “Murder your thirst” with these tall-boy cans of water in sparkling, still, and flavored sparkling varieties. The brand seeks to eliminate plastic waste, donating a portion of profits to curb plastic pollution.

Like kombucha, you can make any virgin cocktail or mocktail with great flavored or plain sparkling water as a base!

Alternatives to Alcohol for Feeling Happy

A big reason why people turn to alcohol is for the momentary dopamine rush you can get from it, uplifting your mood. Of course, that is just one way to feel good, but there are limitless other ways to release dopamine that are far less detrimental to your health.

Here are just some ways you can feel good without alcohol.

Meditation

When we drink, we cut ourselves off from our intuition. Meditation helps us to tune in with our gut instincts and make better choices which can ultimately lead to a greater degree of well-being.

Regular meditation practice can eventually lead to experiencing a state of euphoria while doing it. Although it might take much more work to get there than feeling euphoric from alcohol, drugs or high-adrenaline activities, it’s a worthy pursuit!

That’s because dozens of scientific studies are demonstrating the benefits of meditation for dealing with anxiety, emotional health, focus, self-awareness, memory, sleep, addiction, etc.

I know that meditation can sound intimidating if you’ve never done it. It’s okay if you suck at it at first.

An easy way to start meditating is to sit comfortably and play one instrumental song and focus on your breath for the duration of that song.

It’s okay if you have thoughts that cause your attention to wander off. When you notice it, re-focus your attention on your breath. This is training your brain to improve its focus, which is what meditation is all about!

If you’re having trouble focusing on your breath, try box breathing: Inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, then wait another four seconds before the next inhale. You’ll be busy counting, forcing you to be more present!

Exercise

I don’t need to harp on the well-known benefits of exercise! Pretty much everyone knows how vital exercise is to our overall health and mood. The secondary benefits of exercise include higher-quality sleep, stress reduction, and improved energy levels. Exercise is a much better alternative to alcohol for all of those benefits, and it can be just as fun, if not more.

While exercising can be fun, it can also be more demanding than cracking open a beer to feel good.

But, anything worth doing isn’t easy. There aren’t any shortcuts to health.

A healthy mind and body due to exercise will naturally result in happier states of mind, more often, even when we aren’t exercising. With alcohol, we take a shortcut to feel good in the immediate term at the expense of our future health.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “I exercise a fair amount and don’t think it can be better than alcohol,” then I ask you to consider a few things:

What kind of exercise do you do? Is it fun? Do you feel like a kid again? Does it even feel like exercise?
Have you ever tried to stick to a real exercise routine for at least 6 weeks? How did you feel when you did?
Have you ever exercised while abstaining from alcohol? You might notice that you see way better results!

If you exercise regularly and in several forms, like going on runs, meeting up with friends for a weekly game of basketball, and throwing in a couple of hot yoga classes each week, I guarantee you will feel amazing. At the same time, you will crowd out alcohol with activities that are WAY better for your body, mind, and spirit!

Take a Class Where You Work with Your Hands

There is something almost meditative about using your hands to create something. I get into a nice flow state when I do art or yard work. I can also combine it with listening to music that energizes me or podcasts that inspire me.

Working on something with your hands brings you into the present moment and helps take your mind off whatever is stressing you out.

Some ideas to try:

Mosaic pottery
Ceramics
Sewing
Painting
Woodworking
Furniture reupholstering
Sculpting
Beading
Drawing
Cooking

Alternatives to Alcohol for Sleeping

If there is one thing I wish people would take away from this article is that alcohol is the WORST way to induce sleepiness, but it is most often abused! There are so many other alternative sleep aids that will help you without disrupting your delicate neurochemistry.

Why is alcohol harmful to sleep? An intricate and sophisticated system, our body is always looking to achieve homeostasis.

Since alcohol is a depressant, when we consume it, our body produces more stimulants to counteract it. This is why you might fall asleep at 10 p.m. after drinking wine and then wake up at 4 a.m. and not be able to fall back asleep (in a heightened state of panic and anxiety).

Depending on how much you drank, you might experience a hangover which will make you even more tired during the day (when you shouldn’t be).

So, if you are drinking alcohol regularly and suffering from poor sleep, you should first try abstaining from alcohol for one to two weeks to see if it improves.

If you still need help, here are some of the best alternatives to alcohol for sleep:

Drink Chamomile

As mentioned earlier, chamomile is a great way to wind down after a long day. I know for me, if I steep two chamomile tea bags in a cup of hot water, I’m ready to crawl into bed shortly after. It works like magic!

Read

Avid readers (like me) might not like me saying it, but reading can help you get ready for sleep! Not because books are boring, but because they offer respite from staring at screens with their blue light.

You can’t doom-scroll a book. Well, you can read a page and realize you weren’t paying attention, then have to “scroll” your eyes back to the top. Even so, your eyes and brain will thank you for reading words on a page over and over instead of checking TikTok. That’s because, unlike social media, which is shown to harm memory, reading helps to improve cognition over time.

Develop a Bedtime Ritual

Just like having a “miracle morning” ritual can set you up for a fantastic day, having a bedtime ritual can prepare your body and mind for sleep more efficiently than alcohol.

Here are some things you can incorporate into your daily and nighttime routine that can improve your chances of falling and staying asleep, backed by science:

Don’t ingest any caffeine after 2 p.m.
View the sunset to send a signal to your brain that it’s evening.
If you eat carbs, try to eat them mainly at night, since they release serotonin which can make you feel sleepy.
Take magnesium l-threonate or glycinate 2-3 hours before falling asleep.
Take a hot bath or shower before hopping into bed.
Don’t watch TV or look at your phone for 30 minutes before bed.
Journal to clear your mind and let go of the day’s stresses.
Sleep in a cold room.

Alternatives to Drinking Alcohol for Socializing and Dates

If you’re trying to cut back or ditch alcohol altogether, you might be drawn to new and different activities than before. If you’re used to drinking a glass or two of wine or beer on a first date, doing it dry might seem scary.

Instead of drinking, here are some other ways to socialize:

Go to a coffee shop
Go for a stroll or picnic at the park
Catch the sunset
Walk the beach or a trail
Host a game or trivia night
Visit a kava bar
Go bowling
Go old school and see a movie in theaters
Go to a comedy show
Take up a new hobby (pickleball anyone?)

This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding things you can do without alcohol! If your friends or first dates typically suggest meeting at breweries or boozy brunch spots, they might be excited about switching it up with one of these alternative ideas.

Like “Felix Felices” in Harry Potter, I wish there were some kind of potion to make us all more happy-go-lucky and confident.

Fortunately, I’ve found that your own body can produce those chemicals on its own. Without the booze. Having fun at social events with new people is not as hard as it seems without alcohol. Just think: you used to do it as a kid before you ever drank alcohol, all the time!

Leading up to my quitting, it started to bother me that I needed alcohol to take the edge off around a new group of people. I often drank more than I’d intended to and I blamed it on my nerves or just shrugged it off as a normal byproduct of “being social.”

When I quit, I signed up for a kickball league with friends. We were to be paired with strangers to form a team. This was the kind of league where everyone brings beers, shots, seltzers, you name it, and goes out after each game.

I was nervous about meeting my new teammates, but by the end of our first game, I had SO much fun. My new team members were even telling me how much they liked me! I thought, “Whoa, for not drinking, this is the best possible outcome I could have hoped for.”

My first real experience socializing with new people without alcohol had already shown me that people would like me for me. What a relief!

Where it used to be top of mind on these occasions, it’s not something I mull over. I see other people’s wine glasses and don’t even have a second thought about it. The thought of undoing how good my body and brain feel since removing alcohol from my system is not something I want to undo.

Crowd Out the Need to Drink with Alcohol Alternatives

Remember, drinking isn’t rebellious. Not drinking is rebellious! There are so many other, better ways to get a literal and proverbial buzz.

You will want to experiment and see what are the best alcohol alternatives for you. It all depends on what state you are trying to achieve – energized, calm, euphoric, etc.

And don’t get me wrong.

Of course, tea won’t sound as enjoyable as cracking open a can of ice-cold beer. Not at first, anyway. It won’t happen overnight, but eventually, your brain will release more happy chemicals when you replace alcohol with any of these alternatives.

Like I said in the beginning, drinking alcohol is like burning your house down to feel warm. Whatever you are getting from alcohol, you can get it from other alternatives! Over time, you can create new neural pathways that increase your pleasure from everything else.

What are some other things you use instead of alcohol? Let me know in the comments!

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