Sanaa Lathan Reveals She Stopped Drinking Three Years Ago

Sanaa Lathan is opening up about a personal decision.

The 49-year-old The Best Man star opened up about her decision to stop drinking in an interview with People.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Sanaa Lathan

Click inside to read more…

Sanaa spoke about why she made that decision in the interview.

“I stopped drinking about three years ago,” she revealed.

“Alcohol was not going well with me physically. Just, it was not working anymore. It affects everything, and that’s part of the reason why I stopped, because even if you’re going out a couple of times a week and you’re drinking, it was starting to affect me throughout the week. It wouldn’t be necessarily a hangover, but it definitely dimmed my energy. I didn’t feel as good. It was affecting anxiety,” she continued.

“You don’t realize how over time it gets your brain out of balance as well. And the more I educated myself on really what it does to you…I have a mother who has never drank, and she’s probably the funnest 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. So, I haven’t missed it. My life has definitely become more of a morning life, but I can still go out and have fun.”

She also discussed how meditation has played a part in managing stress.

“I grew up with a mother who taught me about meditation so, I did it on and off. The reason why I came to this practice was several years ago, I went through a lot of trauma. I had a best friend who died suddenly. She was not sick. It was completely unexpected. I didn’t process it. I was in a shock type of situation,” she revealed.

“I didn’t process it and just kept on being the strong girl, being a strong woman. And then several months later, I started having panic attacks. I didn’t know what a panic attack was. Little did I know that it’s a real thing, and I would get three to five a day, even if I was happy,” she continued.

“I went to the doctor and he was like, ‘This is a result of trauma that you did not process correctly. It’s when your body. It’s handling it.’ And he was like, ‘There’s medications, but you can try holistic things first.’ And I always tend to do the holistic thing first, before I go a traditional route. So I started [meditating], and as soon as I started, they went away. There’s so many benefits. And so, I’m a huge believer, a huge advocate.”

It was recently revealed that Sanaa Lathan is joining the cast of a big show!