153 Gray Area Drinking with Jolene Park153 Gray Area Drinking with Jolene Park
You're Sober! Now What?
Tamar and Jolene Park talk about gray area drinking, sharing how high‑functioning people can quietly struggle with alcohol and what physiology‑based tools may help. The conversation covers brain chemistry, somatic practices and everyday strategies aimed at stopping drinking and staying stopped.
50:07•22 Nov 2021
High Achievers, Hidden Habits: Jolene Park on Gray Area Drinking
Episode Overview
- Gray area drinking sits between rare drinking and rock‑bottom addiction, where people can stop often but struggle to stay stopped.
- There is no safe or recommended health level of alcohol intake, and even small daily amounts are classed as risky by official guidelines.
- Supporting neurotransmitters like GABA with adequate protein, hydration and nutrients can reduce anxiety and lessen alcohol and sugar cravings.
- Somatic practices such as grounding through the feet and engaging the five senses help bring the nervous system into a calmer, more present state.
- Community, mentoring and honest reflection on early life patterns can support high‑achieving individuals in changing their coping habits around alcohol.
“"Gray area drinkers can and stop drinking, but they have a hard time staying stopped."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This episode focuses on exactly that, through Jolene Park’s experience with what she calls "gray area drinking" and the practical tools she uses to help people change their relationship with alcohol. Tamar kicks things off by talking about gratitude, codependency and the old family patterns that shaped her victim mindset.
That sets the tone for a chat that’s honest, relatable and very much aimed at people who function well on the outside but quietly worry about their drinking on the inside. Jolene shares how she spent years pouring herself "just one more" glass at home, cycling through 30‑day breaks under the guise of health challenges, and then going straight back to the same level of drinking.
She explains gray area drinking as the wide space between the stereotypical rock-bottom alcoholic and the person who has only a handful of drinks a year.
The key sign, she says, is that "gray area drinkers can and do stop drinking, but they have a hard time staying stopped." Drawing on 25 years of studying addiction science and her work as a functional nutritionist, Jolene talks through how low GABA, blood sugar swings and a revved‑up nervous system drive cravings for alcohol and sugar.
She outlines how protein, hydration, somatic practices like grounding, and paying attention to the five senses can begin to calm the body and give the brain what it was chasing in the bottle. The conversation also touches on high‑achieving entrepreneurs, workaholism, and the way early life adversity can fuel perfectionism and anxiety.
Throughout, the message is clear: you don’t need a dramatic rock bottom for your drinking to be worth addressing, and there are concrete, science‑based steps you can start taking. If you’ve ever wondered whether your "harmless" evening wine is something more, could this be the nudge you’ve been waiting for?
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