Does summer = drinking? Besides the Christmas season, for most Americans this is our most liquid time of the year! Between holidays, barbecues, and vacations, there just always seems to be a cocktail or a beer within reach. At COAST, we’re all about promoting a healthy balance, but it’s important to keep in mind that according to the CDC, excessive overconsumption of alcohol can lead to a weaker immune system, high blood pressure, heart disease, mental health issues like depression and anxiety, dementia, cancer, and more. Yikes, that’s not the summer fun we’re looking for! But with moderation and a few optimization tips, we can live life, enjoy our poolside pina coladas, and mitigate the long-term and short-term effects of alcohol consumption.
Add in a glass of water in between each drink. In the summer months, it’s easy to get dehydrated…period, let along when we add alcohol consumption into the mix! Adding in a full glass of water in between cocktails not only prevents some of those yucky negative effects of drinking (hello, hangover!) by keeping you hydrated, but it also keeps your stomach full, making you less likely to overdo it throughout the evening.
Replace sugary syrups, mixers, and sodas with fresh fruit. Muddled berries add natural sweetness to your cocktails, and are abundant and in season in the summer months! This red, white and blue Berry Vodka Cocktail recipe is sugar-free, and perfect for 4th of July weekend. If you have more of a tart-loving palate, try citrus peels or juices for a kick.
Enjoy a summer mocktail. You don’t have to indulge in alcohol to enjoy a refreshing summer beverage! Of course we can always opt for the classics…a virgin mojito, an Arnold Palmer…but why not step outside the box and sneak in some gut health benefits with this Kombucha Agua Fresca? Often, we can feel socially pressured into drinking, but with a fun, tasty drink in hand, your friends won’t even know the difference, and you won’t feel like you’re missing out.
Add in an extra shot of COAST. We designed COAST to help you flush toxins, replace lost nutrients, and help bring back the balance between being social and being healthy. Not only does drinking alcohol drain vital nutrients, but it also breaks down in your body into a toxin called acetaldehyde. COAST increases the efficiency of your body to eliminate this toxin from your body before the significant damage is done. Then, it puts the good stuff back in, replacing vital resources that are lost during alcohol metabolism such as NAD+, vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids and electrolytes.