Title is definitely true (america has a drinking problem), in a way. Excessive drinking is normalized, though not as common as problem drinkers think. Since college I always drank too much, but my real issue was that I assumed everybody drank as much as I did (maybe 20-30 drinks per week). Since I wasn't drinking as soon as I woke up or getting shakes without drinking, I thought I was fine. It wasn't until I realized that I drank waaayyy more than most people that I started working on reducing consumption. Thankfully I only drank that much because I just have fun being drunk or enjoy the taste - I've never used alcohol to cope with stress, anxiety, shyness, etc - so it was easy when I decided to go cold turkey for a month. So I'm sharing in hopes that I can help someone else realize they drink too much even if they don't think they do, and that it's totally doable to cut back.

Just in this one month, I've already noticed a huge difference in my life. It's amazing to wake up rested and energetic every day, never having that dread about a hangover, being groggy, or wondering if I did something embarrassing last night. I feel present in everything I do, rather than having my routine and my attention thrown off by alcohol. Saving calories makes my weight more stable and lets me indulge in more food if I want to. I'm saving tons of money, especially at restaurants. I'm already regaining the hyperactivity and excitement towards life and events that I had in grade school before I started drinking, because now I can look forward to stuff other than getting drunk. It feels great to go to parties, restaurants, watch a movie, go on a date, do anything, and not even think about alcohol. For me drinking was fun and easy, but now I've learned that drinking is shallow and comes at way too high of a cost compared compared to the deep joy of living sober and enjoying life for its own sake again.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend drinking less to anybody who does drink. You don't need to be black and white and think that it's either cold turkey or stay where you are. You don't need to worry about the "benefits" you get from red wine and whatever other stuff people love to talk about. Just try drinking less. Maybe don't drink on weekdays, set a maximum number you can drink in a day, take a 1-day break, take a 1-week break, start drinking lower-percentage drinks, set a maximum number of drinks per week, there are tons of options. I tried them all and over time I was able to consistently reduce how much I drank. I used to have trouble imagining not drinking during a weekend, and now I'm already having trouble imagining wanting to drink more than a few times a month at most.

Alcohol is like junk food or soda. It's fun and it's easy. But life is a lot better if you can break the habit and stop making it part of your life, or at least make it a once-in-a-blue-moon indulgence rather than a regular thing. Learn to love things with deeper and healthier value. If you don't control these things, there's the risk that you'll gradually get worse over time. You don't want to look at yourself in 20 years and realize you gained 50+ lbs and don't recognize yourself because you didn't take the chips or chocolate seriously. You don't want to look at yourself in 20 years and realize you have cirrhosis or heart disease because you didn't tone down the drinking. You don't have to be obese or an alcoholic to benefit from making healthy lifestyle changes.