No Alcohol: Is Longevity the End of Fun?
Between longevity and letting go – why we drink, what it costs, and whether freedom really needs a buzz.
“Come on, have another one. Are you sick? Or why can’t you drink anymore like you used to?” This was the question tossed at me during a recent city trip to Naples with my high school friends. It was a bachelor celebration, and the trip was packed with adventure – sailing, hiking a volcano, eating well, and swimming in coves. And, unsurprisingly, it involved plenty of alcohol. These trips often turn into multi-day drinking marathons, driven by a mix of shared nostalgia and collective momentum.
But this time, something was different: I did not want to keep up. It is not that I do not enjoy the effect of alcohol – I do. But over the past few years, I have become more aware of its toll – both in terms of long-term health risks and more immediate physiological and psychological aftershocks: exhaustion, anxiety, mental fog and an overall drop in well-being. That’s what made me hesitate – not some moral principle, but the concrete cost.
This shift in priorities did not happen overnight. My journey as a runner gradually steered me toward a more balanced lifestyle focused on performance, resilience, and well-being. I now train with a running coach and follow a structured routine. I eat a mostly plant-based diet, prioritize sleep, and take mental health seriously. I don’t fear aging, but I am deeply interested in staying functional, healthy, and fit for as long as possible. Scaling down alcohol makes sense to me because it can help me avoid chronic illness decades from now while also feeling better now. Drinking tends to leave me more anxious and tired, and over time, it drags on my energy and clarity. That’s not always worth it.
How Bad Is Alcohol Really?
We tend to believe that the dangers of alcohol only apply to heavy drinkers. But scientific research paints a more complex and sobering picture.
Alcohol is the seventh leading cause of death globally and causes more healthy years of life lost than all illicit drugs combined (Greger, 2023). And while it is true that the most severe effects stem from chronic heavy use, other recurring drinking patterns – even without daily intake – can still significantly increase mortality risk. A large genetic study published in Nature (Zhu & Schooling, 2024) found that doubling your weekly alcohol intake shortens life expectancy by about one year. Halving it adds a year.
So what about drinking five to ten beers on a single night once a month? That might sound relatively harmless, but studies show that if maintained over many years, infrequent binge drinking can reduce disease-free life by 3 to 6 years and cause measurable brain damage over time (Nyberg et al., 2022).
Still, nuance matters. Low levels of alcohol consumption – say, one or two drinks per week – appear to carry significantly lower risk than heavier, more regular use. So there can already be substantial benefits from cutting back. The bigger danger is often not one isolated drink – it is the normalization of drinking habits that escalate unnoticed. When “just one” becomes four, and “every now and then” becomes most nights, the risk landscape changes fundamentally.
Why We Still Drink
Let’s be honest: alcohol can be fun. It is part of countless memorable nights, deep conversations, and shared laughter. It helps us lower our guard, talk more freely, feel more connected, or even do something that, when sober, might feel just a bit too far out. Alcohol lowers our inhibitions, giving us the courage to take social risks and break free from routine. In our rule-driven, increasingly optimized world, alcohol offers unpredictability. And that is a rare thrill.
During our time in Napoli, I had long talks with friends – including several doctors – about exactly this contradiction. All of them were interested in health and longevity. They understood the risks of intoxication. And yet, none of them wanted to give up the social rituals that gave them joy. They spoke about the deep pleasure and meaning they found in companionship, group dynamics, laughter, and shared excess – valuable experiences they ranked nearly as highly as family or career.
I can relate to that. Sometimes, the point is to be unreasonable – to step outside the lines. To feel, just for a moment, as if anything were possible. Maybe that is why drinking has such a strong hold on our culture: because it offers a portal to unpredictability in a life that often feels choreographed.
There is even an anthropological explanation for it. Michael Easter describes it as the “scarcity loop”: The cycle of opportunity, unpredictable rewards, and fast repeatability is what shaped our hunter-gatherer existence – and our brains evolved to love it. Alcohol fits perfectly into this pattern: You drink at a party, something fun happens, your brain stores the reward – and the loop is reinforced. As a result, we don’t necessarily crave the alcohol itself. We crave what it symbolizes: connection, courage, the suspension of control.
But maybe we only believe that alcohol is essential to these moments because we have not tried enough alternatives. Could similar joy come from other intense shared experiences – like getting lost on a hike in the rain, plunging into a cold lake together, dancing at a sunrise festival, pulling an all-nighter to finish a group project, cooking a chaotic dinner, or building a bonfire on a windy beach? I am beginning to see just how much untapped potential there is. These moments can be just as deep, wild, and unforgettable – maybe even more so – than the ones fueled by alcohol. They are not a compromise. They are another kind of magic.
The Real Problem: Lack of Choice
The issue is not conscious and controlled alcohol consumption. If someone makes an informed decision and is willing to accept the risks, that is entirely legitimate. The real problem is that many people never get a real choice.
Why? Because we are embedded in social norms and group behaviors that make drinking often feel mandatory. Say no to a beer, and you're suddenly the odd one out. These collective habits are reinforced over years through shared traditions, emotional memories, and a sense of belonging. That makes it even harder to deviate from the norm. Saying no can feel like disconnecting from the group. Going along is always easier than having to explain yourself.
Add to that the scarcity loop, where our brains reinforce behavior based on unpredictable rewards, and it is easy to develop patterns that feel impossible to break. Not because you are an addict in the classic sense, but because the behavior has become so socially and neurologically ingrained.
And often, people simply do not know the facts. The risks of alcohol – even modest, infrequent use – are not well understood by the public. We assume that if everyone drinks, it must be fine. Worse, we lack a roadmap for how to change. We don’t know how to reduce our consumption without losing our social connections or our identity.
What Can You Do? (Without Losing the Fun)
Reducing alcohol doesn’t mean turning your back on fun. But it does mean building new strategies and healthy habits.
Here are a few ideas:
Start small. Try saying no once a week. Skip one round. Have water in between, and see how you feel.
Find your people. Hang out more often with friends who drink less – or who support your goals.
Set boundaries. Define for yourself what a good night looks like. Two drinks? No shots? Be clear.
Replace rituals. If Friday beers are a tradition, suggest an alternative: a run, a dinner, a board game night.
Communicate. Tell your friends what you are doing and why. Friction usually comes from confusion, not malice.
Do not moralize. Everyone is navigating this differently. Share facts, not judgment.
We can always reshape the narrative of what it means to have a good time. That doesn’t mean becoming the fun police. It just means showing that other modes of connection and release exist, and they can be just as rewarding – a great addition for anyone seeking new experiences (not just for health and outdoor nerds like me).
I still drink occasionally – usually just a few beers. No mixed drinks, no shots. I try to stay conscious of when, why, and how much. Sometimes I slip, but it happens less often.
I do not need to live forever (so far, this option is not on the table). But I do want to stay fit, present, and strong for as long as I can. For myself and for the people I care about.
If that means saying no to another round of beers on a warm Neapolitan night, I am okay with that.
Footnotes
¹ The study (Zhu & Schooling, 2024, Scientific Reports) found that each doubling of weekly alcohol intake – for example, going from 7 to 14 drinks per week – was linked to a loss of about 1.09 years of life expectancy. The analysis used a logarithmic scale (log₂), meaning the effect is relative: doubling from a higher baseline (e.g. 14 to 28 drinks) has the same estimated impact as doubling from a lower one (e.g. 7 to 14). The effect becomes more meaningful at higher levels of regular consumption, not at very low amounts. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-73333-8
² The estimate is based on large-scale longitudinal studies including the UK Biobank and the IPD‑Work Consortium. These found that infrequent binge drinking – typically defined as consuming more than 6 drinks on a single occasion, once or twice a month – was associated with a loss of 3 to 6 years of disease-free life expectancy when such patterns were maintained over decades. These drinking patterns were also linked to measurable structural changes in the brain, including reduced grey matter volume, especially in areas related to cognition and emotional regulation. The risk increases with frequency and duration, even if total weekly consumption appears moderate. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100417
Sources
Zhu, Liduzi Jiesisibieke & Schooling, C. M. (2024). Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Lifespan: a Mendelian randomization study in Europeans. Scientific Reports, 14, 25321. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-73333-8
World Health Organization (2024). Alcohol. Fact Sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol
Nyberg, S. T., Batty, G. D., Pentti, J., et al. (2022). Association of alcohol use with years lived without major chronic diseases: a multicohort study from the IPD‑Work consortium and UK Biobank. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 19, 100417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100417
Greger, M. (2023). How Not to Age: The Scientific Approach to Getting Healthier as You Get Older. Flatiron Books.
The Economist (2025, January). Thinking About the Demon Drink.
Easter, M. (2023). The Scarcity Brain: Fix Your Craving Mindset and Rewire Your Habits to Thrive with Enough. Rodale Books.