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Hello and welcome to Low no

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Drinker FAQ , a weekly look

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at the world of low no light drinks , drinkers

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and drinking , where , each week , I'll help

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you to find , understand and enjoy

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the amazing drinks that allow us all to

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live a life less intoxicated

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. I'm Denise Hamilton-Mace and I am the founder

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, editor and host of all things Low

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no Drinker this week's FAQ

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. Does zebra striping and

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bookending actually work

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? Okay , so let's

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start at the beginning and have a look at what

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these terms actually mean and

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, indeed , where they even came from . So

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in 2024 , the

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research company CAM partnered

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with alcohol-free beer company

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Lucky Saint to develop a report

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in which they unveiled

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these two terms to describe the

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way that they see people

0:51

are drinking and using alcohol-free

0:54

drinks when they go out . So these

0:56

are not new concepts . Cam didn't come

0:58

up with them , lucky Saint didn't create

1:00

them , but they did sort of coin

1:03

the term . Basically

1:05

, zebra striping refers

1:08

to the act of drinking

1:10

one alcohol-free drink

1:12

for every alcohol-full drink that

1:14

you consume . So imagine

1:16

you are off down the pub and

1:18

you meet up with your friends and you get the

1:20

first round in and everybody's having a pint

1:23

or wine or a cocktail , whatever it is that

1:25

you're having . You have your first drink and your

1:27

first drink has got alcohol in it

1:29

. So for your next drink you

1:31

would drink an alcohol-free drink

1:34

. Now this doesn't just mean the

1:36

general advice of having a glass of water

1:38

in between every drink , which is good advice , but

1:40

that's not specifically what zebra

1:42

striping refers to . It refers to

1:44

the fact that the next drink that you have might

1:47

be that lucky saint , or it might

1:49

be a rebel's zero gin

1:51

and tonic , or it might be

1:53

a ready to drink alcohol-free

1:55

mocktail Anything

1:57

that is in that sort of alcohol-free , non-alcoholic

2:00

drink space . Then , after

2:02

that drink , the next drink you would have would

2:04

be permitted or allowed

2:06

to have alcohol in it . So you would

2:08

just be alternating between alcohol full

2:11

and alcohol free drinks throughout

2:13

the evening . Okay , so that's zebra

2:15

striping . Bookending

2:17

is something slightly different but

2:19

similar . So bookending refers

2:22

to the act of going out to that same

2:24

pub with that same group of friends on the same night out

2:26

. But when you get to the pub , that

2:28

first drink that you have would

2:30

be an alcohol free drink Again

2:33

, not just water , but an alcohol

2:35

free , adult alternative drink

2:37

. You would then go about your

2:39

evening and consume alcohol to

2:41

your heart's content , and your last

2:44

drink of the night before you go would

2:46

again be an alcohol-free

2:48

drink . So you started and ended

2:50

the evening with an alcohol-free drink , hence

2:53

the term bookending . Okay

2:55

, so pretty straightforward when you

2:58

break them down . The question

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then is do these techniques

3:02

actually work ? Are they

3:04

effective for people who are looking

3:07

at reducing their alcohol intake

3:09

? Will they help you to drink less

3:11

on a night out ? It's very difficult

3:13

to answer this question with any sort

3:15

of scientific accuracy

3:17

. There isn't any definitive

3:20

data that states that this

3:22

group of people went out and zebra striped

3:24

and had this result of their drinking experience

3:27

, and this group of people bookended and they felt

3:29

like this . This is one

3:31

of those situations where all

3:33

the talk you hear about it is very

3:35

much anecdotal and unfortunately

3:38

, I know people hate this phrase , but it

3:40

really does depend . This is going

3:42

to have to be one of those times when you try the good

3:44

old-fashioned suck it and see , approach and

3:46

see if it works for you . Me

3:50

personally , I think that something

3:53

like zebra striping could be really

3:55

great for those people who

3:57

are the type of person

4:00

who is very organized

4:02

, has very good self-control

4:04

, who is quite happy

4:06

to plan ahead and is

4:09

very good at knowing what's

4:11

coming up and being prepared for it and ready

4:13

to say this is my plan of action for the evening . This

4:15

is exactly where I'm going to go . These are the drinks that

4:17

are on offer . First of all , I'm going to have this

4:19

this is my alcohol full drink and this is

4:21

my alcohol free option , and

4:24

this is what I'm going to stick to for the evening

4:26

. If you're that kind of person , then

4:28

something like zebra striping could

4:30

and should , work really , really well for you

4:32

. If , however , you're a little bit more If , however

4:34

, you're a little bit more like me and

4:36

you're a little bit more I don't want

4:38

to call myself scatterbrained , because that

4:40

would be an insult to myself but

4:43

if you are a little bit more

4:45

, let's say , laissez-faire in your approach

4:48

to your night out or what you're doing

4:50

, something like zebra striping

4:52

does possibly present

4:54

some challenges , because

4:57

the problem with alcohol

4:59

is that it impairs

5:01

your decision-making abilities

5:04

. As you know , this is

5:06

not a sobriety podcast . This is not recovery . This is

5:08

not anti-alcohol . I'm not saying you shouldn't have a drink

5:10

, by all means . If that's what you decide to do , then

5:12

good on you . You do things your

5:15

way . If you do decide

5:17

to drink alcohol and you are

5:19

then following that alcoholic drink with a non-alcoholic

5:21

drink , that's probably going to work really

5:24

well for your first couple of drinks . However

5:26

, once you've had a couple of alcohol-full

5:29

beverages , your ability to

5:31

make rational and helpful

5:33

and forward-plan planning decisions

5:36

begins to diminish . This

5:38

is just a statement of fact . It is the way that alcohol

5:40

affects the brain . It affects your inhibitions

5:42

, it affects your decision-making

5:44

processes . So something

5:46

like zebra striping is a really , really good

5:48

thing to do , for the start of the evening

5:50

perhaps , or if you know you're only going to

5:52

be out for a little while . However , if you're

5:55

out for a longer time , if you're out with friends

5:57

for over a few hours , my

6:00

guess is that this is going to be slightly

6:03

harder for you to manage

6:05

and maintain . Now

6:07

again , this depends on the type of person you

6:09

are and how organized

6:11

you can be and how much self-control

6:14

you're skilled at

6:17

exerting . But if you are

6:19

looking at changing your relationship with

6:21

alcohol , the likelihood is

6:23

that once you've had a couple of drinks

6:25

in you , you are the type of person

6:27

who might just throw caution to the wind

6:30

and say , ah , screw it , I'm out anyway

6:32

, let's have a few more . So

6:35

can zebra striping work

6:37

? Of course it can work . It absolutely can

6:39

work . And if you're the kind of person that it works for

6:41

, then I think that's absolutely fantastic and you should

6:43

continue to do it and tell

6:45

your friends about it and share it with the world

6:47

, because any techniques that we find that help us

6:49

look at our relationship with alcohol in a

6:51

positive light are worth talking about and

6:54

worth sharing . But

6:59

I don't necessarily think it's something that's going to work for everyone , and that's why

7:01

I say it's got to be a suck it and see kind of situation . You have to be prepared

7:03

to give these things a try . So go on out

7:06

for your evening , go out for your meal or for

7:08

whatever it is that you're doing , and give it

7:10

a go At the end of the night

7:12

or possibly the next morning , depending on how

7:14

it's . I would really encourage

7:17

you to have a really honest chat with

7:19

yourself and think about just how

7:21

effective that routine

7:24

or that system or that process or

7:26

that framework has been for

7:28

you . Did it produce the results that

7:30

you wanted ? Were you able

7:32

to stick to your one

7:34

alcohol for one alcohol free routine

7:37

or system , or did you find

7:40

it challenging ? Did you find that after

7:42

your third drink it all went out the window

7:44

? Did you find it a bit stressful

7:46

? You know always having to remember

7:48

what drink you had next and to be

7:50

restricted to what you can have afterwards . Zebra

7:53

striping , for me , falls into what I call

7:55

an active moderation technique

7:57

, and active moderation can

8:00

work for many people . Active moderation

8:02

I've spoken about it many times before

8:04

, but that's what I consider to be things like a dry January

8:06

or sober October , or setting yourself a

8:08

rule to say that I don't drink Monday

8:10

to Thursday but I can drink Friday to

8:12

Saturday , for example . Passive

8:15

moderation , which is where you've

8:17

actually gone beyond the need to

8:19

set yourself rules and you've actually decided

8:22

to live a lifestyle of

8:24

moderation , in that your choices around

8:26

drinking are based on how you feel and

8:29

what you're trying to achieve with your life , rather

8:31

than a set of structured rules , is

8:34

to me , a more successful

8:37

way of venturing down this

8:39

mindful drinking path in the

8:41

long term . But zebra striping could

8:44

well work for you in the short term

8:46

. If it helps you to kickstart that

8:48

passive moderation approach . If it helps

8:50

you to kickstart your changing of your drinking

8:52

habits , then it's a really good thing

8:54

to try . You're going to have to figure

8:57

this one out for yourself . It's just

8:59

one of those situations that nobody else can

9:01

really give you the answer

9:03

to . Now the other

9:05

side of this is the bookending

9:07

and whether or not that will work . Again

9:10

, it's one of those things where I think if you're

9:12

out for a shorter evening or shorter

9:15

time , then bookending is probably going

9:17

to work really , really well . If you're going

9:19

out , for example , for a lunch or

9:21

a meal and you're going to have an alcohol-free

9:24

drink to start the evening , you'll have a nice

9:26

aperitif to get yourself ready for your meal , and

9:28

then perhaps you have a glass of wine with your dinner

9:31

or your lunch , and then you end

9:33

the evening with an alcohol-free cocktail

9:35

, that could work really really well

9:37

, and I can see that being really successful for

9:39

a lot of people . If

9:42

, however , you're going on a more exuberant

9:45

, shall we say , night out and

9:48

you're likely to be out for a few hours , having

9:50

one alcohol-free drink at the start

9:52

of the evening , one alcohol-free drink

9:54

at the end of the evening , but having

9:57

seven or eight alcohol-full

9:59

drinks in between , is going to

10:01

make something like bookending less effective

10:04

. In fact , by the time you get to the end of an

10:06

evening like that , you're probably not going to be

10:08

making the best decisions for

10:10

yourself and thinking about something as

10:12

controlled or regimented

10:14

as having an alcohol-free

10:17

drink to end your evening is likely

10:19

to either not happen at all or to

10:21

not have very much of an effect on

10:23

all the alcohol-free drinks you've had beforehand

10:26

. So I definitely see a place

10:28

for both of these in a

10:30

moderating lifestyle . I definitely

10:32

think that they have benefits to them and

10:35

that they can help people change

10:37

the way that they drink . To someone who might

10:39

be thinking , oh my god , I don't want to have to go out and drink

10:41

as much as I do when I'm normally with my group

10:43

of friends , doing something like zebra

10:45

striping or bookending can give you

10:47

a sense of positivity about the night , because

10:49

you know you've got a plan that's going to

10:52

mean that you're likely to drink a lot

10:54

less . You have to know yourself

10:56

to do something like this successfully , though , and

10:58

you have to be able to be honest with yourself

11:00

. If you know that you are the type

11:02

of person that , once you've had one

11:05

or maybe two alcohol full

11:07

drinks , that you are unlikely

11:09

to stick to your plans and that you're

11:11

going to throw all caution to the wind , then

11:14

you know that that's not going to work for you . So

11:16

be honest with yourself , because nobody else can do it for

11:18

you , and just decide if this is really something

11:20

that's going to work for you . And if you do go

11:22

out and give this a try , I'd love to know

11:24

how it works for you . Please

11:27

do let me know about your experiences

11:29

when you are out searching for low

11:31

, no and light alcohol drinks that you can enjoy

11:33

with your friends in social situations , good

11:36

or bad . I'd love to know what experiences

11:38

you are having and how I can help you

11:40

with those . So don't forget . The

11:42

easiest way to contact me is just to

11:44

reply to one of my newsletters

11:46

, which I send out on a weekly

11:49

basis for you , and the easiest way to

11:51

get on the mailing list for the newsletter is to

11:53

head to lonodrinkermagazinecom

11:55

, forward , slash free gifts and

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download one of the amazing freebies

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Nation New Citizen Quick Start

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Guide , which is full of really useful guides

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like what is a unit , what is

12:09

ABV and where do I find great

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Lono and light alcohol

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. That's it for now . Cheers to

12:40

a life less intoxicated .