Karen and I are certainly not teetotalers. We enjoy an occasional drink now and then—a gin and tonic, maybe, or a glass of wine with dinner.
But when a beloved friend showed up at our door in early December, looking like her 40-ish, stylish, former self, and proclaiming she hadn’t had a drink for several weeks post her knee replacement…well, I took notice.
I was tipping the scales, going into typical Pacific Northwest winter hibernation mode, when one can count on packing on a few more pounds before the dawn of spring. In a word, I was convicted.
So Karen and I embraced the cliché of a “dry January” and stopped all alcohol consumption. Now, I knew that alone wouldn’t cut it for me. Portion control, Mikey, I told myself. Put your fork down earlier rather than later.
Six weeks later, I was one belt-notch down and still heading lower. My clothes started to fit better, always my barometer for weight loss. Karen, beautiful package as she’s always been, lost a few as well.
I don’t think I can ascribe my shedding of 12 pounds so far just to drinking. But our new habit did cause me to focus on a growing trend that’s taking hold across the U.S.
It seems alcohol consumption is falling, significantly, and GenZers and Baby Boomers are driving the decline. As I pondered this, I came to an interesting observation.
GenZ is starting with restraint…
and Boomers are arriving at restraint.
In other words, GenZ is choosing sobriety on the front end of life, while many Boomers are embracing it on the back end. One practice is preventative; the other is corrective. Together, they seem to be reshaping the culture around alcohol.
GenZ is drinking less than Millennials and GenX did at the same age, motivated by mental health, clarity, fitness, and control. They’re less interested in alcohol as a social centerpiece.
Aging Boomers, on the other hand, are motivated by health concerns, longevity, and interactions with medications. We’re often reflecting on (or correcting) our earlier lifestyle patterns.
Put together, there appears to be a cultural shift away from excess, a rethinking of what freedom and enjoyment actually look like, and a shared recognition—across generations—that some habits don’t deliver what they promised.
Different generations, different starting points. Same emerging conclusion: minimal alcohol consumption has its benefits.
Consider stats from a recent Gallup poll (2025), reported by CBS News and other media outlets.
Only 54% of U.S. adults say they drink alcohol, a record low, fueled by a growing belief that even moderate alcohol consumption is a health risk.
Fifty-three percent now say moderate drinking is a health risk, a significant uptick from 28% in 2015. Much of this increase is attributed to young adults who believe “one or two drinks a day” can cause health hazards. But older Americans are catching on as well, as indicated by a new scientific consensus that refutes an earlier conclusion that moderate drinking has some benefits.
To wit, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said this in January 2025:
“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States—greater than the 13,500 alcohol-related traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S.—yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk.”
America’s wine industry is suffering from oversupply and falling demand—one of its most painful downturns in decades—largely due to these trends. More than $1 billion in lost U.S. wine revenue last year and a roughly 6 million-case drop in production, according to industry data and reports.
Am I suggesting that we nip all alcohol drinking in the bud? Will Karen and I be canceling our memberships at the two local wineries we so enjoy, especially in the summer?
Nope.
Those of us with a few more miles down life’s twisting road are familiar with the ever-shifting medical recommendations that change habits every decade or so. Think of this. In the 1910s, Karen’s grandma took the advice of doctors and started smoking to calm anxieties over her husband’s combat involvement in World War I.
Her grandma later died of emphysema. Go figure.
Next week we’ll celebrate Karen’s 75th birthday at a restaurant in nearby Port Ludlow—water view table, lots of memories shared—joyful that the Good Lord has graced us with another year together.
And yes, we’ll clink our glasses together with a toast, filled with whatever wine variety my bride chooses.
Leave A Comment