Sanaa Lathan is focused on improving her health and that means turning away from a popular party item: alcohol.
“I stopped drinking about three years ago. Alcohol was not going well with me physically. Just, it was not working anymore,” the 49-year-old actress told People on Wednesday, Aug. 4. “It was starting to affect me throughout the week.” She added, “It dimmed my energy. I didn’t feel as good. It was affecting anxiety.”
Lathan has apparently put some real thought and research into making her decision. “You don’t realize how over time it gets your brain out of balance as well.” She began to educate herself “on what it really does to you,” and said she’s been doing well without liquor. “I haven’t missed it,” Lathan said. “My life has definitely become more of a morning life, but I can still go out and have fun.”
The “Love and Basketball” star said her mother, Eleanor McCoy, was another influence in her choosing to let go of booze. “I have a mother who has never drank, and she’s probably the funniest person, the happiest person, because there’s this whole belief that you can only have fun with alcohol. I had to really reprogram that aspect, because it’s just all over in our culture.”
In addition to going on her health journey, Lathan has also been working on a new series called “Hit and Run.” The show tells the story of a happily married man whose wife is killed after being hit by a car. He then goes on the hunt to find out more details about her murder and instead uncovers unknown details about his wife. Lathan plays an investigative reporter who is also the man’s ex. “It’s such a page-turner and so engrossing,” Lathan told “Entertainment Tonight.”
“Hit and Run” premieres on Netflix this Friday, August 6.
