Unveiling Gray Area Drinking: An Interview with Jolene Park

Jolene Park made the decision to stop drinking in 2014, without any dramatic rock bottom or dark story. As a nutritionist and wellness advocate, she had previously facilitated wellness challenges where she temporarily stopped drinking. However, she often found herself going back to drinking, believing that she could be a social drinker and have a glass of wine with friends. This back-and-forth cycle continued for years, with Jolene frequently consuming entire bottles of wine alone and feeling terrible the next day.

At the age of 43, she realized that she didn’t want to continue this pattern and decided to quit drinking for good. Drawing on her knowledge of functional nutrition and wellness, Jolene focused on regulating her blood sugar and nervous system to support her decision. Around a year into her sobriety, she began speaking about her experience on podcasts and even landed a TedTalk, emphasizing the physiological aspects of alcohol addiction that are often overlooked. This led to a focus within her own business focusing on gray area drinking.

In this episode, we will dive deeper into what gray area drinking is and why Jolene has made it her mission to educate healthcare practitioners on the nuances of this diagnosis.

Join me as we talk about:

[00:00] Introductions

[03:01] What prompted Jolene to shift her business to focus on gray area drinking?

[08:13] What is gray area drinking? How do you know if you fall into this category of drinkers?

[09:46] Is there actually a number of alcoholic drinks that is considered “safe”?

[13:56] What impact did having a TedTalk have on Jolene’s business and her mission to spread the word about gray area drinking?

[18:05] This is why Jolene is focused on educating health practitioners on the importance of not ignoring conversations patients want to have about their drinking habits.

[26:24] Jolene shares her most inspiring quote

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Connect with Jolene Park

• Website: Gray Area Drinkers
• TedTalk: Gray Area Drinking
• Podcast: Editing Our Drinking and Our Lives
• Facebook: Healthy Discoveries with Jolene Park
• Instagram: Jolene Park

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Watch the Interview

Read the transcript HERE

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