Tips on How to Drink Alcohol and Stay Sober

You’ve been in those situations. I know I have. You only drink in social situations. And, you find yourself in a social situation where you’re expected to drink more alcohol than you really want to. Whether it be an office party where the boss keeps pushing drinks at you and encouraging you to “Relax!”, or a business meeting where the client is downing them one after another. He or she doesn’t like to drink alone, so you’re bought a drink everytime they get a new one. For situations like these, you need to know how to drink alcohol and stay sober.

1. Eat Before the Event
Drinking any amount of an alcoholic beverage on an empty stomach is just asking for trouble. Not only will the alcohol be absorbed quickly into your system, but this practice can also harm your stomach lining. So, if you want to drink and stay sober, eat an hour before you begin to drink. The best foods to eat are proteins like eggs, cheese, nuts, boiled potatoes, two tablespoons of olive or sunflower oil, pickles, and other salty foods.

2. Choose the Drink With the Lowest Alcohol Content
Typically, it takes the human body an hour to get rid of a half ounce of alcohol. Drink more alcohol than that in the same time, and the excess alcohol will start to affect your brain. What contains a half ounce of alcohol? A twelve-ounce can of beer, a half cup of wine, and a shot of hard liquor.

3. Stay With the Same Drink
Whatever alcoholic drink you choose to drink, drink the same thing all evening. Mixing beer, wine, vodka, whiskey, gin, or other alcoholic beverages together will certainly make you drunk. (And give you a killer hangover in the morning!)

Even though they’re not alcoholic beverages, if you want to stay sober, avoid drinking carbonated drinks like soda, too. The carbonation helps carry the alcohol to your bloodstream quicker. Pass up carbonated wines and champagne too.

4. Nibble Throughout the Event
As you drink alcohol, make sure that you nibble more foods throughout the evening. Again, the best foods are proteins like eggs, cheese, nuts, boiled potatoes, pickles, and other salty foods.

Keeping at least a little food in your stomach will help you stay sober. The food will help absorb the alcohol. Eating will also help protect your stomach lining from the strong alcohol.

5. Use the Old “Lose It Trick”
If you’re able to move around the event, you can always set your alcoholic drink down and conveniently “forget” to pick it up. Or, pour your drink, or at least part of it, down the drain. This trick, of course, will give the illusion that you’re drinking when you’re not.

6. Stay Active While You Drink
If you sit or stay in the same place, you can’t use the “Lose It Trick.” Even more, if you remain seated, you won’t feel the full effects of the alcohol. That means you won’t be able to gauge your true condition.

Mingle if you can, or at least stay mentally active by chatting with others.

7. Avoid the “One for the Road”
Drinking just one alcoholic drink and then getting behind the wheel of a car can spell trouble in more ways than one. Even one drink will affect your driving. Stretch your drinking out so that it’s been at least an hour before it’s time to leave. And even then, make sure you’re able to drive safely. Or, call a cab or hitch a ride with someone else who is completely sober. It’s not worth getting pulled over by a police officer and getting charged with a DUI. And, it’s not worth risking your life and others by driving while you’re intoxicated.