How to cut down on drinking

Practical steps from public health guidance and research. Sources checked October 13, 2026.

Small changes add up. NIAAA, the US government’s alcohol research institute, suggests picking two or three strategies to try over the next week or two, adding others as you need them, and trying something else if one approach doesn’t work¹.

1. Find your real starting point

Keep track of how much you drink, in whatever way works for you, and log each drink as you have it, which can help you slow down when you need to¹. Count in standard drinks or units rather than glasses, and measure drinks at home. Away from home, and especially with mixed drinks, you may be getting more alcohol than you think, and with wine it helps to ask not to have a glass topped up¹. The standard drink calculator converts any drink.

Tracking is worth the effort. A Cochrane review of 41 trials with more than 19,000 people found that those who used a digital tool to cut down drank about 23 g less alcohol a week, roughly 3 UK units, than people who had little or no help³. Tools that included goal setting, problem solving, understanding what leads to drinking and replacing drinking with something else were linked with larger reductions³.

2. Set a weekly target, with drink-free days

Decide how many days a week you will drink and how many drinks you will have on those days, and include some days when you don’t drink at all¹. The NHS suggests several drink-free days each week². A weekly target leaves room for a dinner out without turning one evening into a missed goal. Each country’s low-risk guideline is listed on the standard drinks page.

3. Decide the limit before the evening starts

Before you start drinking, set a limit on how much you’re going to drink².

4. Make each drink smaller or weaker

Choose smaller sizes, such as a bottle of beer instead of a pint or a small glass of wine instead of a large one, and swap strong beers and wines for lower-strength ones. The strength is printed on the label as ABV². Moving from a 250 ml glass of 13% wine to a 175 ml glass of 11% cuts the alcohol by about 40%.

5. Eat first, and alternate with water

Have something to eat and a glass of water before you drink, and alternate alcoholic drinks with water or other non-alcoholic drinks².

6. Know your triggers

Notice what sets off the urge to drink. If certain people or places lead you to drink when you don’t want to, try to avoid them. If it is an activity, a time of day or a feeling, plan something else to do instead. If drinking at home is the issue, keep little or no alcohol there¹. A record that notes the situation, such as work dinners, travel or stress, shows which ones go with your heavier days.

7. Have a way through an urge

When you can’t avoid a trigger and an urge hits, NIAAA suggests a few options¹:

• Remind yourself of your reasons for changing. Keep them written down or on your phone.
• Talk it through with someone you trust.
• Do something absorbing that doesn’t involve drinking, such as exercise or a hobby.
• Accept the feeling and ride it out without giving in, knowing it will crest like a wave and pass.

8. Have your “no” ready

You will be offered drinks when you don’t want one. Have a polite, convincing “No, thanks” ready. The faster you say it, the less likely you are to give in¹.

9. Tell the people around you

If friends and family know you are cutting down and that it matters to you, they can support you².

10. Fill the space alcohol took up

If drinking has taken up a lot of your time, fill it with activities, hobbies and friendships, new or renewed. If you have relied on alcohol to feel comfortable socially, manage your mood or cope with problems, look for other ways to deal with those parts of life¹. Many people pair drinking less with something they want more of, such as training, an earlier bedtime or more sleep.

When to get more help

Help from a professional works too. A Cochrane review of 34 trials, mostly in GP practices and emergency departments, found that people who had a brief intervention, a short structured conversation about their drinking, drank about 20 g less a week a year later than those who had little or none⁴.

For people with alcohol use disorder, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved three medications: naltrexone, acamprosate and disulfiram⁵. Treatment can be outpatient, including telehealth, and NIAAA’s Alcohol Treatment Navigator explains how to find good care⁵. Ask your doctor whether any of these suit you.

If you drink heavily every day, or feel shaky, sweaty, anxious or sick when you stop, stopping suddenly can be dangerous. Speak to a doctor first about cutting down safely. Find a confidential helpline.

How Wendlow helps

Wendlow is built around these steps. Your usual drinks are one tap away and converted to standard drinks or UK units. You set a weekly target and drink-free days, tag the situations behind each drink and, with Pro, plan an evening’s limit before it starts. It also shows what drinking less gives back, comparing your sleep, resting heart rate and HRV after alcohol-free days with drinking days. Why those numbers move. Everything stays on your devices. See how Wendlow works.

Sources

1. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Rethinking Drinking: tips to try. rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/thinking-about-change/tips-try
2. NHS. Tips on cutting down alcohol. www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/tips-on-cutting-down-alcohol/
3. Kaner EF, Beyer FR, Garnett C, et al. Personalised digital interventions for reducing hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption in community-dwelling populations. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011479.pub2
4. Kaner EF, Beyer FR, Muirhead C, et al. Effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions in primary care populations. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004148.pub4
5. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Rethinking Drinking: professional support. rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/thinking-about-change/professional-support

Written by the Wendlow team at Calverda LLC. Sources checked October 13, 2026.