Alcohol, Abstinence & Alternatives

Another Carnival season is behind us, and for many, it's a time for fasting and abstinence. In 2016, registered dietitian Molly Kimball wrote an article challenging New Orleanians to give up all alcohol from Ash Wednesday until Easter as a way to reboot and learn how alcohol affects our bodies.

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Another Carnival season is behind us, and for many, it's a time for fasting and abstinence. In 2016, registered dietitian Molly Kimball wrote an article challenging New Orleanians to give up all alcohol from Ash Wednesday until Easter as a way to reboot and learn how alcohol affects our bodies. In the years since, the #AlcoholFreeFor40 Challenge has grown, with Ochsner Eat Fit programs across the state hosting this community initiative. Molly visits our studio to talk about how the challenge has evolved and the impact it has had on the lives of some participants.

Then, we speak with Dylan Lintern, President of NOLA Brewing Company. On Ash Wednesday, NOLA Brewing released their first canned non-alcoholic beverage, Hop’d Tea. Poppy and Dylan sample both sparkling tea flavors—Oolong and Rose-Hip Hibiscus—healthy alternatives for fans of the company's brews.

Finally, how can you have a cocktail lounge when there's not a drop of alcohol involved? To answer that question, we meet Lorelei Bandrovschi, founder and owner of Listen Bar in New York City. Listen Bar is one of a growing number of a booze-free bars popping up across the country that's mixing up the way people are thinking about drinking.