PODCAST - My Favorite Alcohol Substitutes (What I Drink Instead of Alcohol)
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I'm your host Johnny Ha, an ultra runner endurance athlete, and yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer nor run a marathon, let alone a hundred K ultra. I prove them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned from breathing techniques to mindset shifts to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals, despite limitations, let's get started.
So you are sold on the fact that you should drastically decrease your alcohol intake, if not eliminate it all together.
But you're [00:01:00] wondering ~to yourself, ~what ~the heck ~am I gonna do ~when I'm ~in a social situation, when I'm hanging out with friends, when I wanna celebrate something, if I don't have alcohol to celebrate with? Well, my friend, you are asking the exact right question, which is why today I'm gonna share with you my favorite alcohol substitutes. This is exactly what I drink instead of alcohol. Now having a substitute is extremely important. A recent study in Japan showed that when people committed to staying alcohol free are given an alternative to drink, they are 71% more likely to stay alcohol free. Substitute having a substitute to your favorite drink. Equals sustainability. If you just decide to stop drinking alcohol and you [00:02:00] don't substitute it with anything, you don't replace it with anything, you are 71% less likely to achieve your goals.
This is why having a substitute is so important for your journey, and that's why I'm sharing with you my favorite substitutes today. I'm gonna take you on a little bit of a journey. Okay. My alcohol free lifestyle all started when I was about 22, 23 years old. I was earning my MBA at the University of Denver, ~and ~I remember being at my mentor's house during my MBA program. ~At the beginning of the program, ~we were able to select someone to ~mentor us throughout.~
Mentor us to help ~us really ~customize our program and help us get a job that we really want to when we graduated. Well, I selected this amazing individual named Peter, and I did because I studied accounting and film during undergrad, and ~ultimately ~was doing my MBA ~because I wanted ~[00:03:00] to go into the film industry. Hence why I am in this YouTube video today.
I love film. I love video. It's been a passion of mine forever. ~Well, other than, well, ~along with Peter really helping me figure out what I wanted to do with my life, he had another extremely important influence on me and at the right time in my life, he introduced me to kombucha. I never had kombucha before and I knew nothing about it. ~I had no idea what this was. ~What happened was on a, at least a quarterly basis,~ it might have even been more often, is ~we would get together.
~So ~I would get together with Peter and he was mentoring a couple other individuals as well. So the group of us would get together and we'd either go somewhere or he'd ~actually ~have us over at his house. And Peter had also been a big advocate of alcohol free living, so he was getting into kombucha to make a similar change in his life. When I learned about kombucha, I learned that it had less than half a percent of alcohol. My favorite kombucha, by the way, [00:04:00] is made by synergy and. It really was the perfect beverage to introduce into my life. I partied a lot, my junior and senior year of college, and I went and started doing my MBA immediately after I graduated. So I was still partying pretty significantly. So the fact that when he invited us over to his house, he had some beer, but he shared with us, he's like, Hey, you can have a beer if you want. Or ~really, I'm not gonna have a beer. ~I'm gonna have a kombucha.
Would you like one? And I'm like, that sounds great. This guy is really cool. He's in the film industry, you know, he is my mentor and he's offering me a kombucha. Yes, I'm gonna have a kombucha. I remember that first night I had ~a ~raspberry chia seed kombucha. Which was very interesting too, because I hadn't really ever had chia seeds ~in my life ~before.
At least I hadn't ever really seen them, and they were in the kombucha. Well, I loved the kombucha. Ended up having a second one, and after that I was [00:05:00] sold. I started integrating kombucha into my life, and kombucha for the next decade became a staple to helping me transition from drinking alcohol to being alcohol free.
~Now. With that being said, ~kombucha does, depending on the brand, depending on the batch, ~it does ~have alcohol in it, but it is negligible ~and most kombuchas are gonna say that it has less than point. I.~
~And, and ~most kombuchas ~are gonna ~say ~that ~they have less than 0.5% alcohol content. ~So ~this is important ~to note because ~depending on your relationship with alcohol, maybe you are very dependent on it. Maybe you are an alcoholic. ~Well, in that case, ~I've heard from alcoholics, ~some alcoholics have shared that.~
They can't have kombucha because of that. Even when ~you're looking at, maybe ~you're watching this video 'cause maybe you're pregnant. ~I have also heard that ~some people don't have kombucha during pregnancy because ~there still could be, even the ~trace amounts of alcohol ~could affect the, ~could affect the baby.
~So ~when we're looking at kombucha, we're looking at it as a substitute for alcohol. But ~we're also looking at it as, hey, ~there's still ~technically could be ~a little bit of alcohol in this. ~So, so ~depending on your [00:06:00] relationship with alcohol and the season of your life ~that you're in. So depending on what, so depending on what your relationship is with alcohol and the season in your life that you're in, you may want to be, you may want to be cautious with, ~you may want to be cautious with kombucha.
Some ~other ~things to note with kombucha. ~This is something that as I, my health journey has developed over the years is you gotta ~be careful with the sugar content because great, we're drinking kombucha now instead of alcohol. But if there's a ton of sugar in the kombucha that you are drinking, then you're hurting yourself in a different way, which is why I like to partake in kombuchas that don't have any.
Added sugar or just have low added sugar, like a couple of grams I'm okay with, but if I'm seeing the entire sugar content ~of the kombucha ~is added, I don't like that. ~So ~my rule is ~really, I want ~less than four grams of added sugar in the entire portion. So this is extremely important to note, well, I thank Peter for introducing me to Kombucha at the right time in my life. Fast forward about a decade [00:07:00] later ~and ~sparkling water entered my life. It was around the time of December, 2022 when I ~had ~finished the Honolulu Marathon, and it was the worst marathon I've ever ran. It wasn't the slowest. My first marathon I ever ran was the slowest. Took me over six hours, but it was the worst.
And it was the worst because I had ran a four and a half hour marathon at a mile above sea level. About nine months before I ran ~the Honolulu Marathon and ~the Honolulu Marathon. I ran at sea level and it took me over five hours. Well, what happened was I had gained a bunch of weight. I weighed around 195 pounds when I ran the Honolulu Marathon.
And at the time, ~you know, ~I was drinking a lot less. You know, I'm a decade from ~really ~having kombucha. Introduced into my life. ~And yeah, I was drinking sparkling water as well. ~I ~really ~started drinking sparkling [00:08:00] water around 2019 or 2020, and I ~just ~really liked the bubbles ~and ~to this day, sparkling water may be my favorite alternative or substitute to drinking alcohol.
I prefer ~it ~to ~really ~drink in anything now. I love water as well, but sparkling water, something about it that I ~absolutely ~love. ~So what I decided ~after I ran that race ~is I really wanted to, ~I ~really ~wanted to lose at least 30 pounds, and I wanted to do it quickly
because I wanted to run my first 50 mile Ultra in September, 2023. So part of that was figuring out ways to cut calories ~in my life. Well, you know how I shared with you that ~kombucha, even though it's very good for you, and I actually forgot to mention that the probiotics ~in kombucha ~make it extremely powerful for your body.
The probiotics in kombucha help with your digestion, help with keeping yourself healthy, which if you drink kombucha or not, you really should integrate probiotics into your life. And guess what? There are actually sparkling water [00:09:00] now that have probiotics integrated because of how powerful probiotics are.
Well, regardless of that, I was drinking a lot of kombucha. ~Like I'm talking about having ~32 to 48 ounces a day, which from a health perspective, I've heard just based on some of the founders of some of these kombucha companies, that they drink a gallon or more per day and they have amazing health benefits from it.
~Well, if you're trying to cut weight, then like me in. ~Well, if you're trying to cut weight and you're trying to do it quickly, like ~I was ~in 90 days or less. Well, first of all, I have my Healthy Living Guide with my three pillars of healthy Living Movement tracking and accountability.
I highly recommend you pick that up is linked in the description and in the show notes if you're listening to this as a podcast, and it really is the three pillars I use to lose 30 plus pounds in 90 days or less. And really big part of that was tracking. Tracking my caloric intake. Well. Sparkling water.
It doesn't have calories in it, and if it does, you'll see it on there. There's some sparkling waters that have calories, and I don't like those [00:10:00] sparkling waters. I like the ones that don't have calories in it. I like the purest sparkling water that's just sparkling water. It doesn't have natural flavors or any of this stuff, and that is the sparkling water I recommend to you.
Now, I still like to go and pick up some of my favorite sparkling water flavors. I love ginger and I love strawberry basil, and ~I also like just different random ones, like ~black cherry, stuff like that. But natural flavors also aren't necessarily the healthiest for you.
It's a nice way of saying something that isn't very healthy for you is in the drink or substance regardless. When I look at sparkling water. There are zero cals but Johnny, I've seen sparkling waters where there's like 10 or 15 calories. Well, that's ~still ~negligible, but you can see ~right on the sparkling water if how, but you can see right ~on the sparkling water how many calories are in it.
~So ~I started integrating sparkling water. I decreased my kombucha intake. I actually started mixing kombucha with sparkling water, and that's how I would drink it. I cut my kombucha intake from 32 to 40 ounces a [00:11:00] day to less than 16 ounces a day. ~And ~now ~to this day, ~I only drink about one kombucha a week.
I ~probably ~drink 16 to 32 ounces of kombucha per week. ~I drink a lot of sparkling water though. ~I drink a lot of sparkling water though, and this may be my favorite alcohol substitute that I'm sharing with you today. Now my favorite thing about sparkling water are the bubbles. ~And uh, ~by the way, if you're waiting for me to say soda as an alternative to drinking alcohol, I'm not going to. Sorry. ~Spoiler alert, ~soda is not on the list, but if you are ~into soda and you're ~looking for a substitute to soda, ~then ~kombucha and sparkling water are amazing substitutes.
My favorite thing about soda, by the way, I didn't drink soda very much as a kid. My parents kept me away from it, but I definitely had a time of my life where I really liked Sprite and Rooter. But my favorite part about Sprite and Rooter wasn't actually the taste. It was the bubbles. ~And ~I have tasted Sprite ~and ~Root Beer ~and even ~Pepsi and Coke ~in my, in the last few years and I, ~in the [00:12:00] last few years.
And oh my gosh, there is so much sugar. ~It's so sweet. ~It's too sweet for me. The bubbles are amazing though. ~And that's why I, and that's why, ~and that's why sparkling water is so amazing ~'cause you get the bubbles without the sugar with. Because you get the bubbles without the sugar. ~'cause you get the bubbles without the sugar.
~Now fast forward a little bit longer and I around 2024. Okay. Now, ~fast forward a few more months, and this is probably 2023, and I really started getting into herbal tea and specifically as a ritual replacement to alcohol. This is another part of this whole process of entangling ourselves with alcohol.
It's not just how we feel. It's not just the taste. It's not just the bubbles, it's the ritual of it, and that's really where Herbal Tea has helped me so much. The ritual of sitting down and having a drink with another person, with my fiance, with my friends. Well, tea is a great way to do that. And [00:13:00] herbal tea specifically, I really like chamomile and sleepy time.
It's another great way to promote sleep. Cameo and sleepy time are extremely powerful. And natural sleep aids that along with the ritual of sitting down and having a drink with someone that takes some time to brew. Literally you warm up the ~hot ~water. You take either your tea bag or maybe you have loose leaf tea and you prepare that loose leaf tea in a pot.
Or maybe you have one of those little things. You put the loose leaf tea in and then you pour the water over. And then you may like your tea at different strengths. Maybe one of your friends likes it steeped for two minutes. Another ~one likes it ~for four minutes. Another ~one ~doesn't care. ~Just keep the bag in there.~
There's a ritual to this, ~and this is something that I've been able to, ~I never really drank every night, but I ~do ~drink tea every night, ~and ~it's an amazing ritual ~that. And it's amazing ritual that makes me feel, and it's amazing social ritual where I get ~to connect with others [00:14:00] by drinking tea. I highly recommend ~that you integrate this into your alco.~
~I highly recommend that ~you integrate some sort of ritual replacement, like drinking herbal tea into your life. ~Into your life.~
~Hello? Hello. Looking good. Looking good.~
Fast forward about another year, year and a half. I was alcohol free for about four or five months. I had just finished my first ~a ~hundred K race and ~I ~won it, and I was trying to make a decision if I was gonna introduce alcohol back into my life. Four or five months without, it wasn't really missing it, but I was thinking ahead going into the holidays and during the holidays.
I typically like to have a nice beer. I really like beer, love the taste of beer, and I wanted something so, so I decided that one day, you know what, I'm gonna go look for some NA beer. So I went to the biggest liquor store that I know nearby. [00:15:00] Huge, massive. It's like a Costco basically for liquor. And ~I ~asked ~them, Hey, ~where's your na beer section?
~And in the back of the. And ~I followed the guy ~all the way ~to the back, right corner, ~and ~they ~actually ~had a decent selection. Now the place is huge and maybe this section took up a, you know, 30 feet by however tall the refrigerator was. But it was a largest NA beer selection I'd ever seen.
And right next to it, ~there ~was ~actually ~an NA Spirits section and a ~little ~bit of NA wine. ~Well, I went through, ~I got my phone out and I started doing some research. What are the best na beers that exist? Like what's the best Na IPA? And I came up with a brand called Athletic, and I was like, okay, you know, I'll try it.
So I bought a couple six packs ~of it, ~went back home, tried it, and I was like, oh my God, this is amazing. I know how. I'm not gonna drink any alcohol through the holidays. I'm just gonna bring NA beer to every event and drink that. A beer is the cherry. [00:16:00] On top of everything I've shared with you today, everything else I've shared actually has health benefits.
~Kombucha. We have probiotics. There are kombucha, we have probiotics. There's kombucha. We have probiotics, ~kombucha. We have probiotics, sparkling water. It's hydrating. ~It's literally water that's carbonated. ~Herbal tea. Depending on what herbal tea you have, there are health benefits. Any beer, there really aren't any health benefits that I know of other than I guess there's some carbs in there that you can burn.
~But ~this is ~what I like to think of. A neutral. ~A neutral substitute. ~That ~you can celebrate with. ~Or ~if you're gonna drink beer every week, drink na beer every week. ~It, I, I use, ~I take na beer to social situations. People can't even tell you're not drinking regular beer. This is a great way to reward yourself to celebrate and still get that taste of beer. ~So ~these are my four substitutes that I recommend to anyone who's curious about being alcohol free or anyone who wants the next step, now that you've made that decision that, Hey, [00:17:00] alcohol, I know it's bad, but how can I really help myself to achieve my goal of staying away from alcohol?
~Well, ~by having a substitute ~like I shared, ~you are 71% more likely to stay alcohol free.
And really what I love about all these substitutes is they do three things for me. One, they allow me to stay social. ~All four of these, I mean, ~even when I was introduced to kombucha, it was in a social setting. Every week I play d and d with. My fiance and my best friends, and the one thing that we all ~want to ~drink ~is ~kombucha.
We kick off every session by opening a big bottle of kombucha and sharing it. We close every session with ~drinking ~herbal tea. This is our ritual ~we get. ~To stay social. I go to a party. ~I ~bring a six pack of NA beer. I ~go ~play poker. ~I ~bring a six pack of na beer. I also ~typically ~carry a 12 pack of sparkling water ~with me ~to these social engagements.
[00:18:00] Hey, friend, I wanted to take a moment to ask you a quick question. Are you struggling to lose weight due to your asthma? If so, I get it. I used to run marathons and still kept gaining weight. It wasn't until I learned about the three pillars of healthy living that everything changed,
so I put together a healthy living guide that you can access absolutely free by clicking the link in the description. This guide shares these amazing three pillars of healthy living that you can easily integrate into your life. To start losing weight and live healthier today. Click the link [00:19:00] in the description or go to athlete with asthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your free copy.
Now let's get back to the rest of the show.
by having these substitutes, I get to stay social. I also get to enjoy. The ritual. Oh, I love the sound of opening up a sparkling water, of opening up an NA beer that just amazing, and I love holding it in a social situation. The ritual, this is so important when you're looking to have sustainable change in your life, it is important to know that we build habits or rituals, so we need to replace the bad habit.
With a new habit, with a [00:20:00] good habit, with a positive habit to our life, and that's what these substitutes empower me to do. Number three, I get to nourish, not numb. Kombucha, probiotics good for gut health, antioxidants and polyphenols. The tase and fermentation process produce these compounds which help protect cells from damage and reduce inflammation, support metabolism, liver and heart markers, good alternative to sugary drinks. Then we go into sparkling water.
Hydration. It's just as hydrating as water
fullness and appetite. Some studies suggest ~that ~carbonated water can increase ~the feeling of ~fullness more than still water, which might help moderate caloric intake or snacking digestive aid. In some cases for individuals with mild constipation or indigestion, spark water has sometimes been shown to ease symptoms like stomach pain or regular bowel movements, ~so to substitute ~alcohol substitute, ~and we go to ~herbal tea.
Relaxation, stress and sleep. Some herbal [00:21:00] teas are popular for calming ~or ~or sleep promoting effects, digestive support, antioxidant, cardiovascular, metabolic support. nA beer., Lower calories and fewer alcohol related harms ~nourish your body, not numb Your body, nourish your body, not numb your body. ~Nourish your body, not numb your body. ~I invite you to ~integrate one of these four or another healthy alternative ~into your life today and I'll s healthy alternative to alcohol ~into your life today, and I'll see you in the next episode.
Thanks for tuning in to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may have. Remember, your health and wellness journey isn't about perfection. It is about progress. So I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals, and if you found something helpful here, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep [00:22:00] challenging yourself and redefining what's possible.
