I mean, Dry January sounds like temporary booze suicide, right? Especially in the middle of a Global Pandemic and a National Lock down, but it’s something I do every year and I decided that this year would be no different.
People choose to forego alcohol for the first 31 days of the year for a variety of reasons, from detoxing their bodies to simply saving money. For me it’s both, but mainly to prove to myself that i don’t need to reach for a glass of wine after a long day to make myself feel good. A way to challenge and change my relationship with alcohol.
From past experiences of Dry January the positives outweigh the negatives, and when I started researching the health benefits of stopping drinking, it made me even more determined to see this through, especially when there’s so much illness and disease around us at the moment.
So what are these so-called-benefits we talk about? What’s in it for you? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot, many of which can help in all aspects of your life, including massively increasing your productivity at work!
- Improved Sleep – more energy, better concentration, clearer thinking
- Improved Liver Function, reduces liver stiffness – Brilliant! Who wants a stiff liver?! (This stiffness is an early sign of liver disease, in case you were wondering.)
- More hydrated – better skin, less redness in face (rosacea)
- Improvement in memory – less forgetful, more focused
- Lower calorie intake – weight loss
- Saving money
- Reduced Blood Pressure – reduces heart problems and risk of stroke
- Less risk of developing certain cancers.
- Less at risk for Type 2 Diabetes
- Immune System reset – with reduced virus recovery time (prob an important one given the current pandemic)
- Increase your life expectancy!
So I know for me all of the above positives are a great reason to keep-on-going with Dry January. I’m looking forward to seeing how my mind and body feel when I don’t have any alcohol for a month (maybe longer), and what I can achieve in that time.
Some tips for those tough times – if you have a habit (like me) of reaching for a drink when the going gets tough, then “find a replacement” – whether it’s tea, a bottle of non alcoholic beer, a hot chocolate, (you get the picture). Have a drink – just make it non alcoholic, you got this!
Have you ever done Dry January, Are you doing Dry January at the moment? We would love to hear your experiences and tips!
