8 January 2022 | New Scientist | 35>There is no doubt that alcohol is a
harmful drug and that many people would
do themselves the power of good by drinking
less of it. Alcohol is a carcinogen with no level
of risk-free consumption. It also increases the
chance of liver disease, high blood pressure,
stroke, mental health conditions and
accidents. Diseases and injuries caused by
drinking it kill 3 million people a year globally.
One of the World Health Organization’s
recommendations for tackling this public
health challenge is for drinks companies
to reduce the amount of alcohol in their
beverages. Or, perhaps even better, to
remove it altogether.
That is now happening in a big way. In the
past few years, the quality and variety of zero
and low-alcohol beer, wine, cider and spirits
has boomed. “When I first gave up booze,
the choice was limited to pretty crappy beer
and even-worse wine,” says Amy*, a friend
of mine who quit drinking eight years ago
(*not her real name). “Over the years, things
have improved dramatically.”
“There’s been an explosion in the quality
in the last five years,” says Tom Hallett, who
runs the Steady Drinker website dedicated
to discovering the best nolo beers. “There’sI
T IS Thursday lunchtime, and I am already
on my third beer. I have also got a G&T
under my belt and there is rosé in the
fridge. Once I have glugged some of that, I may
treat myself to a negroni. After that, I had better
stop, because my cat has an appointment
at the vet and I need to drive him there.
Don’t worry, we will be perfectly safe.
If the police stop me and ask “have you
been drinking, sir?”, I will tell them the
truth: I haven’t. Unless you count the tenth
of a unit of alcohol in one of the beers.
All the drinks in my session were zero or
low alcohol, a rapidly growing sector known
in the business as “no and low” or just “nolo”.
Once something to be endured rather than
enjoyed, they are undergoing a revolution
in quality and a surge in popularity as
people sober up to the impacts of alcohol
consumption on their health and waistlines.
Before, I had never seen the point of a pint
with no punch. Now, I am attempting a dryish
January, propped up by my new drinking
buddies no and lo. But I have questions. Can
low and zero-alcohol drinks really help me cut
down, or will they ultimately reinforce my
drinking habits? Are they healthier than the
real thing? And can they ever taste as good?a lot out there that compares nicely to some
of the better full-strength beers.”
My haul was a just a small sample of what
is now on offer. The charity Alcohol Change
UK taste-tests a range of low and zero-alcohol
drinks. Its website features reviews of
almost 250 products, many of them low and
no-alcohol versions of household names.
“When big brands start launching alcohol-free
versions of old favourites, you kind of know
that sober drinking is no flash in the pan,”
says the website.
Whatever your poison, there is probably
now a zero-alcohol version of it. The nolo
beer market, for example, is already worth
$9.5 billion globally and is predicted to grow
7.5 per cent a year until 2026.
In principle, this is good news for our health.
“The theoretical evidence would strongly
suggest that if people do drink low-alcohol
beer that replaces other beer, then that would
lead to health gains,” says Peter Anderson,
a specialist in alcohol and health at Maastricht
University in the Netherlands.
Even when there is a tiny amount of
alcohol in a drink, it shouldn’t be a problem,
says Duane Mellor at Aston University in
Birmingham, UK. “All alcohol is harmful,“ If low-alcohol beer
is done right, there
could be something in
it beyond the benefits
of less alcohol”
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