Summary

Jennifer Garner, influenced by her own health scare and the example of her ex-husband Ben Affleck, has decided to significantly reduce her alcohol intake at the age of 51 to protect her brain health and overall well-being.

Abstract

At 51, Jennifer Garner has made the decision to cut back on alcohol, not for physical health reasons, but to safeguard her cognitive function. Inspired by her previous marriage to Ben Affleck, a well-known figure in recovery from alcohol abuse, Garner's choice reflects a growing awareness of alcohol's negative impact on the brain. The article emphasizes the importance of quality sleep and the detrimental effects of alcohol on both physical and mental health, noting that quitting alcohol can lead to improved mental clarity, better sleep, and a reduction in injury risk during exercise. Garner's approach aligns with the broader theme of aging gracefully, both mentally and physically, as demonstrated by other celebrities like Ringo Starr, who have maintained their health and passions into their senior years by abstaining from alcohol.

Opinions

The author supports the decision to quit alcohol, highlighting personal benefits experienced after quitting, such as the disappearance of brain fog and improved sleep quality.
There is a strong emphasis on the importance of protecting the brain as part of the aging process, with the opinion that mental capacity is crucial for a high quality of life in old age.
The author suggests that small, unhealthy decisions can compound into significant negative outcomes in later life, while good health decisions can lead to prosperity.
Celebrity examples, including Ben Affleck and Ringo Starr, are used to illustrate the positive impact of sobriety on one's life and to inspire readers to consider the same path.
The article encourages readers to avoid alcohol to preserve their brain health and suggests that doing so can lead to a deeply happy and fulfilling life, regardless of age.

The 1 important reason Jennifer Garner is cutting alcohol at 51

Undoubtedly, age provides some extra impetus for people trying to quit alcohol.

It certainly did for me.

I quit last summer at age 41, and although my primary reason for doing so was that I was always too tired or moody to accomplish any of my goals, it was also getting hard to ignore the physical signs of my alcohol abuse.

The moodiness and fatigue were, in and of themselves, physical health symptoms.

Nothing is more important to your overall physical health than sleep, and nothing disrupts my sleep more than alcohol.

Sleep is also important for recovery from exercise, and I was constantly running into injuries that were keeping me out of the gym.

An MS scare that turned out to be spinal disc problems also got me thinking about our finite time on this planet and how I’d better start treating my body with more respect.

I wouldn’t be around as long as I wanted to be if I didn’t.

Jennifer Garner’s motivation

Not all health considerations are physical.

Take, for example, actor Jennifer Garner.

Earlier this week, she announced she was trying to cut way back on alcohol not for her body, but for her brain.

Here’s what she told Harper’s Bazaar:

“I think the more that comes out about alcohol, the more I’m just re-examining my own relationship with alcohol.

“The older I get, the more I want to protect my brain.

“I’ve never been somebody to drink more than a glass, but I did have a glass pretty regularly, and now I’ve just been stripping those away.”

I get this.

One of the top benefits I found after quitting alcohol was that the brain fog that made every mental task tougher than it should be suddenly disappeared.

I think there are probably a couple of contributors to that brain fog:

The aforementioned lack of quality sleep
The brain’s obsession with acquiring more alcohol

Once you start sleeping better and your mental bandwidth is freed up from always thinking about where, when, and how you’re going to drink that day, everything gets easier.

Nobody wants their senior years to be filled with physical challenges and mental deterioration, so it’s extremely important to get ahead of things while we can.

That’s what Garner is doing at 51.

She’s also more cognizant than most about the negative effects of alcohol.

She was married to Ben Affleck, perhaps the most famously sober person there is.

As I wrote last week, Affleck’s long battle and recovery from alcohol abuse are an inspiration to others.

Jennifer Garner (Image credit: Josh Jensen from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Aging gracefully

Quitting alcohol gives us the opportunity to age gracefully, both mentally and physically.

A few months ago, I wrote about how incredible former Beatle Ringo Starr looks and how spry he remains at age 82.

Sure, it’s great to still look good in your eighth decade.

More important, however, is having the mental capacity to continue living a high-quality life at that age.

As I wrote back then:

Not being an addict has kept Ringo looking young and vibrant in his 80s, but more importantly, it has given him the freedom and ability to continue to pursue his passions at the pace of a much younger man.

Just as making good health decisions every day will put you on a path to prosperity in every area of your life, making small, bad decisions will negatively compound into a pretty bleak existence in old age — if you make it there.

Ringo seems like a deeply happy, fun-loving, busy guy at 82, and he inspires me to stay on my current, non-drinking path.

Living that kind of life means protecting your brain.

Ringo knows. Jennifer Garner knows.

Will you do your precious brain a favor today and avoid alcohol?

Thank you very much for reading this post! If you enjoyed it, please give it some claps so others can find it!

Is this your last free Medium article? Subscribe today using my link ($5 a month, cancel any time) — I’ll get a lil’ kickback, and you’ll get all the awesome content Medium has to offer, risk-free!

My most-read stories

The latest from me

Get an email every time I publish so you don’t miss a story!