The Top 5 Hacks To Stay In Your Sweet Spot

Sweet Spot – Drinking zone when the positive, social benefits of alcohol exceed the negative aspects most people would rather avoid (e.g. getting sick, bad decisions, hangovers, etc.). This typically occurs at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .05 or under.

Here at the UA, not everyone drinks,but if you do, here are few easy hacks to help you stay in your sweet spot.

1) Know thy sweet spot. Pretty obvious, right? BAC is influenced by your sex, weight, how many drinks you have and how fast you drink them. Download a BAC app on your phone so you can plan ahead and drink smarter. From there, you can get a sense of how many drinks will keep you in the sweet spot for a defined period of time.

2) Have a plan. Experienced drinkers avoid alcohol’s ill effects by sticking to a set number of drinks. Have that magic number in mind before you go out and count as you go to stay on track.

3) Drink beer. You heard that right. Having drinks that contain less alcohol by volume means you spend more time socializing and less time praying to the porcelain god. Hard alcohol no doubt got its name because it can make it really, really hard to stay in your sweet spot.

4) Measure twice, drink once. Compared to beer, mixed drinks take a little more work on your part if you want to keep your social buzz. Why?Because if you don’t measure the alcohol correctly, you could easily windup with two or three standard drinks from a heavy pour, when you just needed one. Keep a standard-sized shot glass around to help, or check out your local dollar store – they often have pint glasses with guide lines on the side to help you mix like a pro.

5) Drink H2O. Water counteracts alcohol’s diuretic properties and can help fend off hangovers the next day. This magic elixir of life also helps moderate your BAC while you are drinking when you take water breaks. Did you know that 51% of UA freshmen did not drink alcohol in the past 30 days? (2018 Health & Wellness Survey, n=5,438)