During a lengthy conversation with neuroscientist Andrew Huberman on The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan opened up about a stretch of time when he noticed drinking was creeping into too many days of his week, prompting him to cut it out entirely for eight months.
The admission came up while the two were discussing genetics, cravings and how different people respond to stuff differently. Huberman had been talking about nicotine and caffeine dependence when Rogan pivoted to his own experience with drinking, describing how the habit had started stacking up in ways he didn’t like.
“When I took the 8 months off, I didn’t even miss alc[]hol,” Rogan said. “But then I went to dinner, had a margarita. I was like, ‘Ooh, I miss this. This is fun. This is nice.'”
He explained what pushed him to stop in the first place, pointing to a pattern where drinking on the podcast bled into drinking later in the day, day after day.
“My problem was I was stacking too many days where I was having a drink or two on the podcast and then I was having a drink or two at the club and then, you know, you do multiple days of that and you feel like crap and it was like affecting my workouts and I said, this is st[]pid,” he said.
What stood out to Rogan afterward was how little he actually craved drinking during the break, which reshaped how he thinks about drinking now. He said the eight months off taught him something about moderation rather than turning him into someone who avoids alcohol altogether.
“The key is like I just wanted to take some time off and just not feel like crap,” he said. “But when I did a drink or two, I’m like, okay, I see there is a benefit from social lubricant aspect. There’s a funness to a glass of wine or a glass of whiskey.”
Rogan was clear that his current approach isn’t about eliminating drinking but about staying aware of quantity and purpose. He said a couple of drinks can still make for a good time, but pushing past that point stops being enjoyable and starts being something else entirely.
“But the thing is, just understand what you’re doing and don’t beat your body up and try to do your best,” he said. “Take a lot of glutathione, mitigate whatever you’re doing to your body by actually consuming alc[]hol. And more likely, you don’t need as much as you’re going to drink. That’s the problem. But to have a good time, a couple drinks, you have a good time. Five, six drinks, it’s not really a good time anymore. You’re kind of plastered and you sound st[]pid.”
He also noted that he no longer drinks to the point of losing control the way he once did, describing his current relationship with drinking as occasional rather than routine.
“I don’t get drunk anymore,” he said. “I’ll have a drink or two but I don’t get drunk anymore.”
Rogan has previously been more blunt about his reasons for stepping away from drinking, questioning why someone who puts so much effort into his health would continue drinking regularly.
“What kind of a m[]ron who takes so good care of his body is poisoning himself a couple of days a week for fun?” he asked during an earlier conversation. That experience appears to have influenced how he now views drinking, with Rogan emphasizing moderation and being more conscious of how drinking affects his body and training.
