Are celebs leading the cultural shift toward sobriety?

Published February 17, 2025

Key Takeaways

Industry Buzz

“I love the idea of non-alcoholic beverages being ‘cool’ too.” — Dana Hunnes, PhD
“It's a slippery slope, because if someone is substituting an alcoholic beverage for a non-alcoholic beverage, if they have a use disorder, the patient might find that they need to seek other substances as well, because that compulsive activity is still there.” — Amy Richards, MD

Find more of your peers' perspectives and insights below.

Non-alcoholic (NA) drinks are the flavor of the moment, with many celebrities launching their own NA beverage lines.

Tom Holland, Katy Perry, and Blake Lively are just a few of the celebrities hawking NA beverages, and they could be partially responsible for changing the way Americans approach alcohol.^[]

“I love the idea of non-alcoholic beverages being ‘cool’ too,” says Dana Hunnes, PhD, Senior Dietitian Supervisor at RR-UCLA Medical Center. “There are several companies making wines and spirits that are non-alcoholic or have the alcohol removed. I think those are ‘safe’ and OK and can still help you feel the enjoyment of a glass of wine if that’s something you want to partake in.”

But NA drinks aren’t helpful for everyone

Research suggests that having non-alcoholic drinks available can significantly reduce alcohol consumption.^[] However, experts warn the drinks may not be appropriate for individuals dealing with a substance use disorder.

“It's a slippery slope, because if someone is substituting an alcoholic beverage for a non-alcoholic beverage, if they have a use disorder, the patient might find that they need to seek other substances as well, because that compulsive activity is still there,” Amy Richards, MD, an assistant clinical professor of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a board-certified addiction medicine specialist, tells MDLinx.

“I think it can be a great option for people as they're trying to change their habits or their routines, and that's probably [who] the target audience would be—the casual consumer, and not someone with a use disorder. But I do think people who do meet criteria for substance use disorder, specifically alcohol use disorder, should be reaching out to their physicians, because there are FDA-approved medications that are extremely effective at helping people to stop drinking alcohol.”

Alcohol habits are changing

Alcohol habits across the country have changed in recent years. Brian Pei Lim Lee, MD, a hepatologist with Keck Medicine of USC, says the COVID-19 pandemic was an important factor.

“Before the pandemic […] harmful drinking patterns were probably stable, if not even declining, but since the pandemic [there's] been a remarkable surge, both in any alcohol use and also heavy alcohol use. So to me, that's concerning. It doesn't appear that the pandemic-related increases have really declined in any way. If anything, they've been sustained or are higher,” he says.

"My hope is that with more awareness and with potentially policy interventions, we will see these numbers go down. But what's becoming quite clear is that it's not going down by itself."

— Brian Lee, MD

A 2020 survey among American adults found that 72% reported they consume at least one alcoholic drink per week—but if they’re having one, they’re likely having a few more.^[] In some groups, however, the popularity of drinking is waning.

“Fewer and fewer college-age people, for example, are choosing to drink alcohol on a regular basis. I think the public in general is more aware that there probably is not a safe amount of alcohol to consume, whereas maybe 10 to 15 years ago, people thought one glass of red wine a day could have some health benefits. But that has been debunked and is definitely not supported by any medical literature,” Dr. Richards says.