New year, new you, right? And that means making healthy choices wherever you go—even if you’re somewhere you normally wouldn’t be making the healthiest of choices, such as the bar. Health experts emphasize that drinking can be part of a healthy lifestyle if it’s done in moderation.
Moderation, of course, being the keyword. That means no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men. While your drink of choice—whether you prefer wine, beer, or liquor—may offer some marginal health benefits, those are offset by health risks when consumed in excess. In the short term, excess drinking leads to dangers like impaired judgment and coordination, while long-term heavy drinking causes health problems like cirrhosis, high blood pressure, malnutrition, and even cancer.
However, the healthiest option of all is likely to be abstaining. And more businesses are recognizing the interest in alcohol-free outings by designing options for people who aren’t drinking. In recent years, sober bars (that is, bars that don’t serve alcohol) have become popular, providing the social atmosphere you would get from a bar along with an extensive drink menu of specialty choices designed to be enjoyed without alcohol.
Even if you can’t find a sober bar near you, or if you’re going out with friends who want to drink, ask the bartender what kind of mocktail they can make. The bartender might surprise you with something great! And if not, a club soda with lemon is an easy option—nobody even needs to know it’s alcohol-free if you don’t want to tell them.
But if you’re safely sticking to just one drink, here’s what you can order at the bar and still feel as if you’re making a healthy choice:
Red wine: You’ve probably heard before that red wine is a good source of antioxidants. This is true, but don’t get excited too fast—no doctors are recommending that you take up drinking wine to get the antioxidants. You’re better off just eating grapes, the skin of which contains the antioxidant known as resveratrol, which can help maintain healthy blood pressure and prevent type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. When these grapes are crushed and fermented, the resulting wine has this resveratrol, too. Wine also contains polyphenols, which support the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and improve your digestive health. (Avoid: White wine if you’re expecting to get antioxidants. Because white wine is fermented from just the grapes without their skin and stems, it doesn’t contain any plant compounds like the resveratrol found in red wine.)
Light Beer: Like wine, beer contains antioxidants, specifically in the form of flavonoids that come from the barley and hops used to make it. Beer also contains trace amounts of some nutrients, including vitamin B, iron, and calcium. Light beers tend to be lower in calories—sometimes less than 100 calories per drink.(Avoid: Craft beers, even if you like the adventurousness of trying new flavors. Craft beers often contain a much higher alcohol content compared with other beers, so it’s difficult to drink in moderation. One craft beer could have the alcohol equivalent of three or four light beers, and it might contain somewhere between 300 and 500 calories, too.)
A Simple Vodka Cocktail: Cocktail drinker? Try to keep it simple. The more ingredients added to a cocktail, the harder it is to taste the alcohol (and thus the harder it is to moderate your consumption). The sugar and calories can also add up. But vodka, the lowest in calories of all the liquors, has been shown to temper blood sugar levels and even improve sleep quality and improve oral health. A cosmopolitan, which is made simply from vodka, lime juice, and a splash of cranberry, will set you back only about 100 calories per drink. (Avoid: Any cocktails from pre-made mixers, which frequently contain large amounts of sugar—margaritas, daquiris, and other ultra-sweetened fruity drinks are the worst offenders.)
