CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Many who practice a sober curious lifestyle continue to indulge in Charleston’s prominent bar scene and holiday pop-up bars along King Street.

CBS reported Americans drink double their typical amount of alcohol during the holiday season, however, but over the last year, there’s been a trend of more young people drinking less.

Doctor Neil McDevitt, who is the director of Bariatric Services at Novant East Cooper Medical Center, says even though alcohol is part of our culture, it’s important to be mindful of yourself and your drinking habits as well as others who may be alcohol dependent or in recovery.

“And alcohol, whether we like it or not, is effectively a type of poison and our body has to detoxify that. So the alcohol affects our liver, our pancreas, it affects our entire body,” McDevitt says.

In fact, that’s one of the reasons Jessa Frances De La Rosa began a new lifestyle leaving alcohol behind.

“I did not start this journey because I had a quote-on-quote problem, it was more about me becoming conscious, aware of myself, of what I wanted, who I wanted to show up in the world as. You know it was a health choice,” De La Rosa says.

De La Rosa owns an alcohol-free beverage consulting company, Untoxicated, and she says when you know your why it makes the decision easier.

She also says knowing the right drink to have in the moment is helpful as well.

“When they see with that bubbly, with that little lime wedge, they don’t ask they think you have a vodka tonic for example,” De La Rosa says.

She says heading into this time of year where it may be common to overindulge in alcohol for weeks on end, it can lead to more serious problems.

“All of a sudden our ambitions are gone, right? So that can be nice in the moment, but what it does long-term is it creates more anxiety and more stress therefore we fall back on it again and again,” she says.

McDevitt says rather than cutting alcohol out, young people are finding ways to replace that feeling alcohol gives them whether it’s through movement or other forms of enjoyment during the holidays.

“They’re challenging kind of norms. You know it used to be that every holiday is surrounded by alcohol and drinking and the crux of everything. This generation is looking at so many other alternatives,” he says.

For those interested in alcohol alternative drinks:

– A local no/low alcohol boutique: Sechey

-Curious Elixirs

–Amethyst Spirits

For those in need of alcohol dependency support:

-988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

– Local Support Groups

– Beacon Recovery

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