Jennifer Garner says she is cutting back on alcohol: 'The older I get, the more I want to protect my brain'

Jennifer Garner opens up about her drinking habits. (Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
Jennifer Garner opens up about her drinking habits. (Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images) (Leon Bennett via Getty Images)

Jennifer Garner is reevaluating her relationship with alcohol.

In her new Food Diaries episode from Harper’s BAZAAR, the 13 Going on 30 actress spoke about how she’s chosen to cut back on drinking.

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

Garner, who is starring in Apple TV+ series The Last Thing He Told Me, has spoken about wanting to cut back on alcohol before. In a 2021 Instagram Live with Judy Greer, she said she previously felt like her wine habit was “not an issue because I never get drunk.”

“But then I started thinking; I’m having a little bit every night, and especially during the pandemic, and so isn’t it something we should talk about?” she continued.

Dr. George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), previously spoke to Yahoo Life about the new sober curious trend, in which people significantly reduce their alcohol intake. Cutting back, he said, “can give a person a chance to evaluate their relationship with alcohol and cultivate alternatives for relaxing, socializing, coping and other reasons why people drink."

“Some people might discover that their alcohol use was irritating their stomach, disrupting their sleep, contributing to weight gain, or that they relied more on alcohol for stress relief than they thought,” he noted.

The Once Upon a Farm co-founder isn’t the only star who is reevaluating her relationship with alcohol. In March, Bella Hadid took to TikTok to celebrate being five months alcohol free. The model even has her own non-alcoholic beverage brand called Kin Euphorics. That same month, Katy Perry said she and her partner Orlando Bloom had made a pact to go without alcohol and just reached the five-week mark.

While Garner may be skipping the glass of wine most nights, she did tell Harper’s BAZAAR that she treats herself in other ways.

“I do have a big sweet tooth, and I also have a big salty tooth, and I have a big everything tooth,” she said, adding that she’s learned how to make homemade chocolate magic shell. “If it’s in my house, I’m having a bowl of ice cream with magic shell.”

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