Pros and Cons of Tapering Off Alcohol Intake

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Pros and Cons of Tapering Off Alcohol Intake

Whether you’re a daily imbiber, heavy drinker, or frequent binge drinker, you’re likely to experience withdrawal symptoms when you quit. Unfortunately, there’s little to no evidence that tapering off reduces the effects of alcohol withdrawal, some of which can be severe or even life-threatening. Quitting with proper medical supervision may be more important than whether you stop gradually or all at once.

Strategies for Tapering Off Alcohol

  • Gradually reduce the number of drinks you usually drink. For example, if you typically drink five glasses of wine every day, try cutting back your intake to four glasses for several days. Then, work to reduce your intake to three glasses, and so on.
  • Space out your drinks. Limit yourself to one drink per hour, for example, or substitute a glass of water, juice, or other non-alcoholic beverage between each alcoholic drink.
  • Dilute your drinks. Mix progressively weaker drinks with less alcohol.
  • Change to an alcoholic beverage you don’t like. For example, switch from wine (which you like) to beer (which you don’t). The rationale is simply that you’re less likely to drink much of a beverage if you don’t enjoy its taste or flavor.
  • Download an alcohol reduction app. Research has found that using digital interventions can help reduce alcohol consumption. Some apps work by increasing your awareness of how much alcohol you’re consuming; others use neuroscience to help you quit.

Challenges of Tapering Off Alcohol

For some drinkers, cutting down on the amount of alcohol they drink simply does not work. They may cut back for a short period of time, โปรโมชั่นพิเศษจาก UFABET สมัครตอนนี้ รับโบนัสทันที but soon find themselves back to drinking at their usual level. This is especially true of heavy drinkers who are surrounded by the triggers that encourage drinking and lack the support needed to encourage change.

Those who find that they cannot taper off the number of drinks for any significant length of time have likely developed alcohol use disorder. A condition commonly known as alcoholism. For others, simply cutting back the number of drinks can bring on alcohol withdrawal symptoms, making it more difficult to stop.