All you need to know about the latest TikTok trend — ‘damp drinking’

Explaining the trend, a TikTok creator @hana.elson was quoted as saying by New York Post, damp lifestyle “is internalising the fact that drinking culture and your relationship with alcohol does not have to be black or white, all or nothing”.

“I’m not saying I’m sober, so please keep that in mind.” She shared that for her, a damp lifestyle started off by quitting hard alcohol and shots, but she “re-introduced hard alcohol only in a fun-drink format”.

The key with alcohol is moderation (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)

“I needed for me a way to understand that I didn’t have to either go to a bar and blackout or just stay home,” she said, adding that there’s a difference between “drinking to enjoy vs drinking to get drunk”.

Backing the trend, Dr Dilip Gude, Senior Consultant Physician, Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad said, “It is clear that drinking daily is definitely harmful in the long term. Drinking in moderation, such as less than 45ml per week of 42 per cent alcohols, such as whiskey, vodka, gin, brandy etc, may not be harmful. So the key with alcohol is moderation.”

He shared that daily drinking, even if it is less than 60 ml, has been shown to worsen the alcohol-mediated liver injury, worsen non-alcohol fatty liver disease, and cause a plethora of metabolic disorders, ranging from impaired glucose control leading to diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and even cancers. “Especially, binge drinking, that is drinking occasionally but during each time drinking more than 6 drinks each, does more harm than drinking in moderation,” he told indianexpress.com.

To gradually limit one’s alcohol intake, the expert recommended adding non-alcoholic drinks in between, drinking water in between, and limiting to 60 ml per occasion. “Focusing on healthy habits such as gardening, joining laughing clubs, exercise, and art may help one get their minds off of the routine of drinking,” he said.

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