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Rejigging our alcohol consumption can help adapt to our current situation and prepare for the challenges ahead.

The easing of lockdowns is not the end or the beginning of the end. It is just, perhaps, the end of the beginning. 

The UK still faces the deepest depression for perhaps 300 years, according to the Bank of England.

The political futures currently proposed by the UK and elsewhere are far from certain to improve the outlook.

We can only respond to world events such as these as best we can, trying to minimise damage and hasten recovery.

We need to brace for lower income, unemployment, curtailed freedoms and thousands of premature deaths.

One way to be ready as we can be for hard times is to adopt healthy, cost-saving choices early, including low-risk drinking.

This simple suggestion is strongly advocated by the WHO, though precious few governments have given it airtime.

Alcohol use weakens our immune system and judgement, and our capacity to cope with emotional challenges.

We can use the tranquility many of us now have in abundance to do this. There may be other times for it, but not better ones.

We are now free of one enormous challenge faced by people trying to cut down drinking: social pressure.

The UK’s low-risk consistently drinking under 14 UK units (140ml) a week of alcohol is a reasonable target. 

Achieving this can help improve our better mental and physical health while slashing costs ahead of a downturn.

We can get help from our GP and from a wide range of organisations set up to support and assist.

Good news is set to be short supply. But, in its absence, we can at least celebrate and take the chance to act on good ideas. ■

There are maybe 770,000 part-time and full-time jobs connected with alcohol business in the UK, according to an IAS estimate. And there are about 638.000 people who are alcohol dependent, meaning they experience side effects when not inebriated. ■

Alcohol price controls should be among the steps used to reduce high alcohol consumption to prevent or delay two out of five dementia cases, says a new report from a Lancet commission.

The report also suggests “increased awareness of levels and risks of [alcohol] overconsumption” among 13 recommendations to reduce the risk or delay onset of dementia. A parallel study estimates £4bn ($5bn) annual savings in England.

“Healthy lifestyles that involve regular exercise, not smoking, cognitive activity in midlife… and avoiding excess alcohol can not only lower dementia risk but may also push back dementia onset,” said lead author Professor Gill Livingston of University College London.

“Overall, reduction of excessive alcohol or sustained light drinking is associated with a lower dementia risk than is excessive alcohol. A lack of clear evidence exists that not drinking alcohol increases the risk of dementia,” the report says.

Vision loss and high cholesterol were also added to 12 potentially modifiable risk factors identified in the previous iteration of the report in 2020. ■

Supermodel, wellness guru and single mum Alison Canavan shares how her problematic relationship with alcohol intertwined with stellar international success and her longstanding Buddhist practice. She shares what she learned and what she has carried into her new alcohol-free life in LA. ■

Policies and individual choices are normally seen as completely separate, but in reality they merge. So why not ring in the New Year by road-testing some effective alcohol strategies at home?

We all set some rules, or policies, for our homes, for example. Few let outdoor shoes go beyond a certain threshold. Weaponry, road vehicles, fire, smoke and harmful chemicals also typically have their perimeters.

These are not prohibitions. They are regulations. By crossing borders we can have access to all of the things verboten in some places. Out there is a target-shooting, tanker driver who only smokes when scrubbed up, unarmed on the veranda.

The regulatory systems of our private lives often operate on the basis of unwritten policies picked up from parents, partners, and common sense. They offer an easy way to keep a safe, livable and inexpensive environment. 

These policies are typically adopted and applied without any democratic mandate. But we will also, sometimes, decide to set new policies, often through a process of thought, negotiation and compromise.

So why not consider adding evidence-based alcohol policies to the mix. We might take, for instance, government policies reckoned to curb harm at a population level as a starting point: increase the price, and reduce availability and marketing.

A few calculations might allow us to set a minimum unit price. This we might do by identifying products which are below it. Or we might levy a alcohol per unit “tax”, setting aside revenue for household running costs and infrastructure.

Implementation of these might be complicated. Perhaps an easier option would be reducing alcohol availability. We might bar keeping alcohol at home; Or to limit the stockpile; Or not put what we have in the fridge; Or, maybe, not to buy online. 

Limiting home availability would have a knock-on effect. It bumps up the price of alcohol at home, imposing on inhabitants the cost of leaving the house to buy it. This also gives us a chance for second thoughts. 

Reducing marketing exposure is trickier, because alcohol advertising targets us without our consent. But we can reduce it, by putting alcohol brands out of sight at home. We can also filter some online ads. And we can try to avoid alcohol retail.

Harmful levels of drinking are best addressed with the aid of medical advice. But making our own environments less alcohol loaded makes low-risk drinking the easy option. And home drinking is the source of the bulk of alcohol harm.

We all set and live by policies to create environments which are safe and best serve our needs. We need politicians to do this for us in environments we share. ■