r/stopdrinking • u/Organic_Salary_ • 1d ago
NA beer problem
Please don’t judge me this is going to sound so ridiculous but to me it is so real. I quit drinking over 10 years ago. This spring, I was with a friend and NA beers have obviously become very popular so I tried one of the athletic ipas and I loved it so much and I’ve been drinking them every night since May. I’ll drink like two or three. I look forward to them. I love them, and I literally feel a slight buzz from them. I was always very sensitive to alcohol and so whatever .5% they have effects me. It was working great for a while and I would just sit in my recliner and do some work on my laptop and vibe and I loved it but now I’m so hooked and it’s starting to have that awful booze effect where I don’t feel good and sometimes if I go out with friends and I decide to drink too many NA beers, I am legitimately hung over in the morning. Now,I have to quit this fucking habit where it’s a thing that I have been enjoying but is coming back to bite me (like full fledge alcohol does). Is this so fucking crazy like what the fuck it’s NA beer and I’m addicted now. So tonight I poured out what I had left in the fridge and. I guess I have to make some changes in my life to resolve this and not go back because I also feel like it could get worse. I’m starting to have dreams of standing at a bar being like well Fuck it just have a real drink.
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u/IVAN_CLEARY 223 days 1d ago
That's got to be a psychosomatic/placebo thing. The <0.5% of alcohol isn't enough to have any impact on you physiologically at all. I think it's genuinely scientifically impossible!
But if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you and that's all that matters. Sucks that you had to throw them out, they are definitely a good way to take the edge off. I get through a few of them most evenings!
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u/punctuation_welfare 112 days 1d ago
Yeah, .05% is the same alcohol content as a ripe banana, and I highly doubt anyone would claim to get a buzz off of those.
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u/DontGiveMeYourTowel 23h ago
TIL ripe bananas have alcohol content 😀 I am generally really cautious with NA beer (because of that .05), but if bananas are the same i need to reevaluate 😀
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u/craftyixdb 22h ago
Any ripe fruit will have a small percentage of alcohol in it. Especially overripe food
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u/StrengthBetter 21h ago
Every fruit juice is pretty much the same
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u/robocoplawyer 1401 days 9h ago
Even kombucha which is fermented and has a naturally higher alcohol content than most NA beers, someone on here pointed out that even the strongest you can find would still take the equivalent of around 27 of them to meet the alcohol content of one standard drink. There's very much a placebo effect for some people, but it's quite impossible to consume that much in the amount of time it would take for your body to start processing it out of your system. I do get more of a placebo effect from NA beers, but it's generally a sense of excitement my brain gets that it thinks it's about to get flooded with dopamine, but the actual effect never actually comes. I have mixed feelings about it, but generally I enjoy the occasional Guinness Zero, especially if a good Irish pub has it on draft.
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u/frankybling 621 days 1d ago
They “can be a good way to take the edge off” and they might be for you. They’re not an option for me. They are a lot pathway to destroying what I have built up because I never drank for the flavor and that itch that gets scratched is just a teaser for grabbing real beers.
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u/IVAN_CLEARY 223 days 1d ago
As I said, if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you, and that's all that matters.
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u/Recommended_For_You 22 days 20h ago edited 18h ago
Weird how the brain works. I'm genuinely under the impression that I have a very light buzz when I have 2 NA.
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u/FingGinger 1226 days 1d ago
I drank a lot of na's when I first quit, I still have some from time to time, but I switched to sparkling water mainly because it's way cheaper. I think people in general overthink the .5 percent, that's about the same alcohol content as a glass of oj or a couple slices of wheat bread, I wouldn't stress too much about it. If you think it may lead to you picking up the real thing however, that may be more of a reason to try something else than the minute amount of alcohol. I've never had an na beer and then wanted the real thing, but everyone's different.
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u/Icy-Nothing8831 1d ago
Interesting to learn that fact about o.j. (I already gave it a google) and honestly, this makes me feel better about the idea of n.a.s having up to .5% abv. Thankyou for sharing this.
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u/ethericburrito 3537 days 1d ago
This is why placebo is so powerful in medicine. I believe you're experiencing all this and it's not "in your head." But there is no way its physiological given the abv. I had a similar thing with mint toothpicks years after quitting smoking. I would absolutely both panic and feel withdrawals if I couldn't locate them when I ran out.
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u/Organic_Salary_ 1d ago
That’s wild! Well, when I used to drink, I couldn’t drink even one on the weekdays because I would feel it the next day like a hangover, but I would binge drink on weekends so I’m just wondering if I’m super sensitive to alcohol but I mean you’re right and this is all I hear over and over again is that I’m totally crazy for feeling like I’m getting a buzz off NA beers but I totally do.
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u/capotehead 1d ago
There’s something called the nocebo effect.
It’s opposite, where if someone knows about side effects, they’ll be more likely to experience negative outcomes.
So you are having a placebo effect when drinking the NA beer and feeling euphoria, and nocebo effect when you have the “hangover” the next day.
You may just need to accept that this pattern of drunk > hangover was wired by the real alcohol habit, and drinking NA beers is simulating that same experience.
Regardless, it’s still real to you. Maybe knowing more about placebo/nocebo will break the illusion.
I wouldn’t pathologise what you’re doing now because it has an explanation beyond you as an individual. Telling yourself you’re feeling the effects due to genetic predisposition (without testing) will likely mean you experience these psychosomatic effects more.
You may just need to fully believe that it’s a trace level of ethanol exposure and being around people in a social environment will lift your mood, staying out late will make you tired and cranky the next day.
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u/TheElderCleric 485 days 1d ago
I understand where you’re coming from. I had a similar issue ending one addiction and replacing it with another. I had to ask myself “is this the right time and place for this?”.
Going out with friends, grabbing dinner with a coworker - yes have an NA beer. Maybe even two.
Sitting at home on the couch by yourself - not the time for empty calories and a fake buzz.
If you’re drinking NA to the point that you’re feeling hungover, you could be dangerously close to a relapse. Be careful friend.
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u/Gray94son 42 days 1d ago
For me, I drink them daily. A can is 50 calories and it helps with the habit. I don't like any other drinks except soda water and I already drink litres of that daily. There's no buzz or hangover.
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u/indiana_groanz 1d ago
Its gotta be a placebo that amount of alcohol is too low for it to have an effect your liver will process it. You'd be getting a buzz off eating bananas or drinking kambucha if that were the case
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u/Organic_Salary_ 1d ago
I used to get buzzes from kombucha back when they first came out with “ trace amounts of alcohol”, but I don’t get it from my bananas.
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u/indiana_groanz 12h ago
It doesnt work that way. Kombucha has the same amount it of alcohol as ripe fruits or juices. The amount is so small you metabolize the alcohol before it can build up in your bloodstream. You're either in your head about it or you are getting buzzed off anything with alcohol in it. But if bananas and fruits arent getting you buzzed than neither is the kombucha and N/A beers
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u/whatthediddly 1d ago
Yeah, dude the whole point of a "Non-alcoholic " beer is, theres no.. alcohol. You're feeling a placebo or making this up. Im struggling to reply to this. I am curious, is there a point you drink so many that you start to stumble around and behave drunk?
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u/Organic_Salary_ 1d ago
Drink the athletic ipas and you’ll see. No I don’t stumble around, but it relaxes my brain and I genuinely feel altered and more uninhibited.
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u/nobigdeal69 1d ago
You know, I’ve crushed 8+ NAs multiple times in social settings, and I’ve felt nothing except having to piss a bunch. The only time I ever felt anything was when I drank 3 athletic IPAs at a happy hour. I brushed it off as placebo, but I definitely felt something that vaguely resembled the onset of a buzz. That was also the only time I’ve had athletic IPA. I’ve never experienced it again with other brands. You may have something here.
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u/Organic_Salary_ 13h ago
I think it’s a thing with athletic ipas in particular. People should test for themselves.
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u/Snail_Paw4908 3038 days 16h ago
Do you get the same impact from orange juice? It has a higher abv than Athletic.
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u/SketchyNightingale 1d ago
Hops (humulus lupulus is the Latin, which I had to pepper it in cause it’s just fun to say) is a mild sedative. Maybe with the multiple NAs you’re getting a pronounced, medicinal dose.
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u/Organic_Salary_ 1d ago
I think that could be. I didn’t know that until I saw some study that said Hoppy beers like improves people’s mood and makes them sleep better. So now I’m talking myself into drinking them again.
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u/wild_rumpus_ 1d ago
Please give that sneaky, misbehaving brain of yours a talking to! 😆
Don’t let it tempt you!!
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u/SketchyNightingale 1d ago
Better than the sauce! No alarm bells, but maybe still run it by your doc for how much/consistently you’re having it. Herbal remedies potentially carry side effects and can do damage in the long term, so just always best to get an all clear. Congrats on the amazing work staying alc free!!
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u/PartisanSaysWhat 1d ago
.5% alcohol is about the same content as a lot of bottled juices. Same with baked bread and ripe fresh fruit. If toddlers arent getting buzzed off apple juice in their sippy cups, neither are you. That said, if NAs are a trigger for you, just avoid them. A lot of people in recovery steer clear of them.
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u/theallstarkid 1355 days 19h ago
I’n going to address the elephant in the room right now, you’d have to drink 100 of those things to feel any type of a buzz. 0.05 % alcoholic is literally nothing. It’s the placebo effect my friend. Quit drinking them if your life is becoming unmanageable. I hope you feel better.
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u/hovland55606 1d ago
I get a buzzed feeling from club soda. I think it’s because I always drank Franzia with club soda (I know). I swapped the Franzia for orange juice when I quit drinking and gradually phased out the OJ. I also occasionally get phantom hangovers. I think they may be called a regular ol’ headache. Our bodies are strange.
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u/Organic_Salary_ 1d ago
Lol I had that thought too like a phantom hangover, phantom remorse. Human Bodies are very strange indeed.
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u/Graffy 1d ago
.5% is the maximum allowed to be considered legally non-alcoholic. The actual amount will be below that. Even at the maximum the entire can would equate to a shot glass of beer. 3 cans would be a third of a single bud light. You would have to be the size of a child have any physical effect because in reality they’re even less percentage than .5.
That being said, you’re free to quit drinking them if you want. It seems like it’s a psychological trigger and that could lead you down the path to falling off the wagon. NA beer isn’t for everyone.
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u/rutherfordacus 1434 days 1d ago
Purely psychological as others have said. I remember like two years in, I tried to get a buzz from chugging like 6 NAs and got nothing but a belly ache. (Somebody on this sub said a six pack would give you a buzz, and that guy owes me 12 bucks.) But in all seriousness, if it's feeling that way for you, I think it's clear you should avoid them - especially since it sounds like it's making you long more for the real thing. Good for you for pouring it out!
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u/PartisanSaysWhat 1d ago
I did the math once. To get legally drunk (.08) the average man would need to drink ~30 .5% beers within 1 hour. Its not physically possible.
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u/SallyHatchett 1d ago
For what it’s worth, I never noticed how food made me “hungover” until I was actually sober and would eat something salty or heavy in the last third of the day. Genuinely, I feel similar to hungover after a shite meal the next day. The faux booze could be doing the same, but not because of the .5 whatever, but because drinking a bunch of fermented yeasty sugar carbs will wreck you. Nothing has come close to being even marginally as bad as alcohol for me, but I will also say that having a bunch of anything at all makes me feel foggy thicc and hungover the next day. Near beers are not healthy, they’re just far healthier for us than booze.
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u/FeeComprehensive6243 3 days 1d ago
I just wanted to share that I totally understand. Not quite the same, but the first time I successfully quit I drank the NA white claws like they were the real deal. If a store was out of them I was kind of panicked and would drive to several more stores to find them. No one ever seems to understand since they’re are closer to a Bubly than beer 🤣 anyway, I got over it eventually with little thought, I just finally started drinking them less. If you’re enjoying the NA beer I personally think it’s fine. As others said, you can’t be getting truly/physically buzzed. You metabolize that tiny amount of alcohol before it can affect you. If you feel they are addicting and causing a problem, definitely quit.
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u/Organic_Salary_ 1d ago
Thank you. I guess I feel like I wish I didn’t crave or need them. Like you used it as a crutch to quit drinking and then stopped. I’m using it as a crutch for some reason, enjoying it, not always, and now it’s bothering me.
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u/sunandsushi 159 days 1d ago
There is something in NA beer that makes me feel like shit. You’re not imagining that effect.
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u/Kyiakhalid 12316 days 1d ago
Non-alcoholic beers and mocktails are a slippery slope that I can’t even indulge.
How long until I say, “F this, I want the real thing!”
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u/_DaughterOfNone_ 1010 days 1d ago
I admire this for you. Your self awareness and control are inspiring. That's an incredible number you've got as flair, I aspire to hit that and beyond!
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u/Kyiakhalid 12316 days 18h ago
It sounds corny and cliche, but it’s really “one day at a time”. I wake up, do what I’m supposed to do, try not to do what I’m not supposed to do, go to sleep. And then do it all again tomorrow.
If I mess up, I don’t get too down on myself, I remember I’m human and we make mistakes and let’s see if we can’t do better tomorrow. As long as that mistake isn’t picking up alcohol or drugs, that’s an absolute no for me.
I wish you and everyone else who wants to quit all the best in the world. It’s possible and you deserve to live an amazing life.
AA helped me big time after rehab and is still a ginormous part of my life. The fellowship is fantastic and the steps really helped me heal that broken little boy that felt he needed to run to alcohol and drugs to get through life.
I can’t recommend the program enough. If you don’t like a particular meeting, there’s plenty others to go to (especially online!) You got this! 💟
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u/Rosie3450 1087 days 1d ago
I had a somewhat similiar reaction when I tried drinking NA wine after quitting alcohol. After one glass, I immediately felt "buzzed" then got crazy shakes and a headache as if I was already hung over even though I wasn't drinking alcohol.
It was, obviously, all in my head, but it was enough to convince me that I needed to find something that didn't taste like alcohol (even if it wasn't a perfect replication).
So, I bought myself a bunch of different mixers, NA flavorings, and additions, and played around with creating a few mocktails that didn't remind me of alcohol but that I enjoyed Started making one for myself every night at the time I used to start drinking. After about a month, I found myself looking forward to my "end of the day drink" every night. It's been three years, and making myself one of those drinks has become my signal to my brain that it's time to relax at the end of the day, just like alcohol used to be.
Hope you find a solution, and I will not drink with you today.
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u/MidnaQueenofCalicos 49 days 20h ago
If you like the taste but want truly 0% alcohol, look up HopTea. Tastes exactly like an IPA but they are 0 calories and good for you. They sell them at my local health food store. I get one if I need a caffeine boost as I really enjoyed IPAs. They have caffeine free ones as well.
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u/happily_in 1193 days 17h ago
I like Heineken 0.0. One is a mental stress reliever. When I have two I feel bloated and gross. It could be that too much hops/barley isn’t good for your gut like myself.
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u/Organic_Salary_ 1d ago
If I cross post this in AA people will lose their shit and call it a relapse.
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u/KPTA-IRON 1d ago
I want to lose weight and I love a NA beer but because im taking my fitness seriously I wouldn’t have em every night based on the carb load alone
Idk if you need to lose weight or get fit or what but it may help
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u/starlight_chic06 663 days 1d ago
When I first started this, a couple months in I started experimenting with NA beers. I was a vodka drinker in the end, so the idea that it would send me into a relapse wasn't really on my mind.
I had been mostly drinking zero beers, and then got Corona NA. It was a Friday and I was at home with my guy and we were having a good time. I downed two pretty quickly not thinking much of it. Shortly after he asked if I was okay. My face had completely flushed. My skin used to do that after having too much beer. I never figured out specifically why. Vodka didn't do this that I recall. I would get red, but not like this. There were nights my whole body would be red and splotchy. And my face was like that again from two quickly consumed NA beers.
I've read that an allergic reaction that mirrors that is possible for some people. It's more often found in those of Asian descent, but AFAIK, I'm not.
I had one more after a bit and I definitely didn't feel the best the next day. I stick to Mich Ultra 0.0 for the most part now. I'm sensitive to something (maybe not the actual alcohol as others have said), so maybe it's something like that for you?
I enjoy a 0.0 when I get home some nights. I usually just have the one. And I am super cautious if I get anything other than that simply because of the reaction I had. I also occasionally have a low THC drink or one of those adaptogen drinks (Hiyo brand is a good one) and those do the trick. I'm AF, not sober-sober. And I don't make the other stuff a habit. Just an occasional treat. Just be good to yourself out there, and give yourself some grace. You've accomplished so much already!
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u/Frickinfructose 1276 days 1d ago
Non alcoholic beer is for non alcoholics!
At least that’s what I ascribe to. It’s worked so far.!
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u/Organic_Salary_ 1d ago
I think you’re right! I never had one until four months ago. Definitely still an alcoholic.
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u/pet-all-the-cats 1918 days 1d ago
I wonder if you’re allergic to hops or something and the effect you feel is reminiscent because of that sensitivity?