Let’s paint a picture. You’re trying to make change, a change that would benefit your life in many ways. Alcohol’s been a struggle, a burden, a major factor in holding you back. It’s time kick the habit, slowly step away from such a burden. You can’t quick it all at once, so you try and fill the void, substitute alcohol for a non-alcoholic beverage. Slowly but surely, you’re kicking the habit, bettering your life, putting yourself, your mind, and your body in a better situation…or are you?
Many individuals turn to non-alcoholic beer as a way to cut back on drinking. Whether the individual is dealing with alcohol addiction and alcohol use disorder, or they’re just trying to scale back on their recreational habits, those same individuals don’t generally think about the dangers of non-alcoholic beer, and what could occur with continued consumption. Here we will explore the potential dangers of non-alcoholic beer and what you might expect, and prepare yourself for when switching over to non-alcoholic options.
The danger level on this one is moderate but still a fact that many individual are not aware of. When something is labeled ‘non-alcoholic’ in the United States, the FDA allows for up to 0.5% alcohol. This a considerably small amount of alcohol, especially in relation to a typical beer, but one individuals might not have been aware of. Although this is a small amount of alcohol, there are still several groups of individuals who may be leery of consuming non-alcoholic beers given this fact. Pregnant woman generally should not consume any alcohol while pregnant as alcohol consumption is a leading cause of birth defects and complications. Non-alcoholic might have seemed like an appropriate approach, but it’s probably best for pregnant women to avoid this beverage. Those who abstain from alcohol for religious, personal, and/or moral obligations do so firmly and typically without exception. Don’t get down on yourself if this has been your path, but you have consumed the occasional non-alcoholic beer at social gatherings. The technical wording of these beverages is misleading but you too would also likely avoid non-alcoholic beer and switch to ‘alcohol free’ beverages in the future. Lastly, but certainly not least, those individuals who have battled through alcohol addiction, overcome their alcohol use disorder and have worked so hard to remove this harmful substance from their life. This likely fits in with the above group of individuals who abstain from alcohol for personal reasons, but allowing the substance of alcohol, even in minor increments gives weight, hooks, and may reignite cravings for those individuals.
Overcoming addiction of any kind takes effort. Each form of addiction comes with their own set of challenges and hurdles to get over. For alcohol, there are also many, but the fact that it’s a legal act to consume alcohol, and that in many circles and settings it is a way of social interaction with either colleagues, family members, or friends, and may feel unavoidable at times. For these individuals, a non-alcoholic beer might seem like the perfect replacement to avoid alcohol consumption without avoid some of those activities associated. Aside from the fact we covered previously, that there is still a small amount of alcohol left in these non-alcoholic beers, there are still elements that make this a difficult substitute for recovering alcoholics. Non-alcoholic beer was created with the intention to mimic the same tastes, smells, and carbonation of a regular beer just without the alcoholic effects. These elements will like recall cravings and moments of alcohol consumption. Think you can overcome it? No one is here to doubt the individual, and many may be able to avoid a resurgence of cravings for true alcohol consumption, but a 2016 study in California revealed that smell alone may be enough to trigger cravings and subsequent relapses in certain individuals with alcohol use disorder. Couple that statistic with another, according to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 90% of alcoholics will experience one relapse over the course of fours years following their last drink.
This is the danger of non-alcoholic beers that you might not have been expecting. That’s right, non-alcoholic beers on average have double the carbs and up 20x the amount of sugar as a regular alcoholic beer. Due to the process of making a non-alcoholic beer, the alcohol is removed and then liquid is added back into the original beer, but carbonation, sugars and other flavoring is added in as well, leading to the large amounts of carbohydrates and sugar. This effectively leads to substituting out one harmful substance for one of a different variety. In analysis on Healthline, using data from the U.S. Department Of Agriculture, an average regular beer has 12.8 grams of carbs and 0 grams of sugar per 12 ounces, while a non-alcoholic beer contains an average of 28.5 grams of carbs and 28.5 grams of sugar for the same 12 ounces. This makes non-alcoholic beer a questionable substitute for any individual but those suffering from obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease or any other conditions negatively impacted by large amounts of carbohydrates and/or sugars should probably avoid non-alcoholic beverages.
Choosing to drink non-alcoholic beers is a personal decision and may very well be better than the alternative. This article was simply intended to inform those interested in non-alcoholic beers of the potential dangers associated when partaking in their consumption. We hope this information was helpful in better understanding some of the possible effect of non-alcoholic beer consumption. If you or a loved one needs any additional assistance with alcohol addiction treatment services, please reach out to Long Island Center for Recovery at 631-728-3100, and we’d be happy to assist you or your loved ones in any way possible.
References:
Ron D, Barak S. Molecular mechanisms underlying alcohol-drinking behaviours. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2016;17(9):576-591. doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.85
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, No. 6 PH 277, October 1989
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