Knowing what’s in your dink is important. Pouring your own drinks or ordering singles from the bar will help you.
- Mixing your own drinks helps you know how much and what’s in it
- BYOB to a house party can help you from drinking more than you want to
- Avoid top-ups (you can lose track of how much or what’s in your cup)
- Stay in control of your drink at all times
#2 – Plan
Plan a safe night before you start drinking. Everyone wants to have some fun, but a few simple things can help you:
- Plan who you are going with
- Plan how many or how much you want to drink
- Plan how much you want to spend $$
- Plan for a safe ride home (avoid walking alone, use the Safe Walk program at your campus)\
- designated driver (yes, this goes for biking too)
- cab, ride share, or bus
- friends couch
#3 – Eat & Drink Water
Set yourself up before you start drinking. Grabbing that pizza, bowl of pasta and bottle of water will help you in the long haul.
- Eat before and while you are drinking. It will help you from feeling sick later on because the alcohol you consume will be absorbed slower than had you not eaten
- Alcohol dehydrates you. Alternating non-alcoholic drinks (H2O is best) between alcohol drinks will help you stay hydrated (#DYK that nasty hangover pounding headache is a sign of dehydration)
#4 – Count & Pace Yourself
Keeping track of the number of drinks you consume is important. Limit yourself to 1 drink every 60-90 minutes. This can help you pace yourself for a good night.
- If it tastes good, sip it. If it doesn’t, why are you even drinking it?
- Give your body time to digest the alcohol. It needs 60 mins to process a “standard drink” so if you don’t know what that is, plan for 90 mins between each drink
- Know your own limits (every drink and everyone is different)
- Pace yourself by alternating each drink with water
- Avoid playing drinking games
- Stick to your PLAN
#5 – Don’t Mix
Mixing alcohol with anything is just a bad idea. Yes that includes energy drinks, cannabis, caffeine, medication, and illegal drugs.
- Cannabis affects everyone differently and will have different levels of impairment depending on the type and amount and how it is consumed
- It is illegal for a bartender to mix alcohol with an energy drink
- Caffeine is an upper and alcohol is a downer
- Alcohol can change how the medication (prescription or over the counter) reacts in your body
References
DrinkSmart. (n.d.). #DrinkSmartTIPS. DrinkSmart. Retrieved from https://drinksmart.ca/drinksmarttips/
DrinkSmart. (n.d.). #DrinkSmartTIPS image. DrinkSmart. Retrieved from https://drinksmart.ca/drinksmarttips/
