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A new year means a fresh start for many people; out with the old, in with the new. Some people may want to add positive behaviors in their lives, like eating more healthy foods or spending more time exercising. Others may want to stop certain behaviors like spending less time on social media or staying up all night.
The desire to change completely and instantly is admirable but not sustainable. The pressure to become a completely new person in a short amount of time can sometimes make us crash and burn under the stress of being perfect we put ourselves under. Some of our habits, however we feel about them, give us some sort of benefit. It can be a hard transition to drop it completely and lose out on some of those benefits.
With health being one of the things people focus on for their New Year’s Resolution, a way to ease into a more balanced approach to health goals is Dry January. Rather than encouraging people to do away with certain behaviors completely, it's short-term challenge to pause drinking for only one month. Coming from a holiday season with many celebrations that can include alcohol, a fresh start can help your body reset.
There are many reasons why people choose to drink recreationally. People choose to use alcohol to destress, cope with mental health symptoms, socialize and fit in, to pair with food, for the taste and creativity of a well-made drink, believing it is part of the adult cultural experiences or simply just for fun. While alcohol continues to be one of the most popular substances, some people are making different choices around alcohol.
Gallup conducted three, three year-long surveys about drinking behavior over the past 20 years: in 2001-2003, 2011-2013, and 2021-2023. Adults 18 to 34, usually one of the age groups with the highest rates of drinking, have reported fewer instances of drinking in general. Of the respondents to this poll that drank, those 18-54 reported less excessive drinking in the 2021-2023 survey compared to the 2001-2003 survey.
Choosing to drink in moderation can keep someone away from some of the harms that come from excessive drinking. Even without meaning to, some people may consume enough alcohol on frequent enough occasions and long enough to have adverse experiences like arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat, memory problems outside of drinking episodes, elevated blood pressure, not feeling well rested even after getting enough hours of sleep and gastrointestinal problems such as acid reflux.
When you make different choices around alcohol you can reap some positive benefits. Some of these benefits can be experienced from reductions in drinking, not necessarily stopping altogether. However, the less you drink, the stronger the benefits of cutting back or taking a break will be. If you do choose to take a pause you can experience an increase in some of the following:
Sleep quality and feeling well rested
Having a hangover can make starting the days after a night of drinking harder, giving you less time to enjoy other recreational activities or fulfill responsibilities. While alcohol can help you fall asleep, it shortens the amount of time you spend in REM, the deep restorative phase. As little as one drink can decrease your sleep quality by almost 10%.
Extra spending money
Whether you go out to drink, or buy something to have at home, alcohol costs can add up, especially since almost every state has an alcohol tax. If you bought and gave gifts in the past few weeks, a few extra dollars in your bank account wouldn’t hurt. Even something like an extra $20 could go towards a nice lunch, takeout on a night you don’t feel like cooking or an Uber/Lyft when you’re running late.
Academic and occupational performance
Alcohol affects sleep, making you less likely to be well-rested, and can also cause hangovers when consumed at a certain level, typically at the binge threshold (4+ drinks for people assigned female at birth, 5+ drinks for people assigned male at birth). For those in the workforce, the next day grogginess from a hangover or poor sleep quality or needing to skip work can affect how you show up at work. It may even lead to calling out, reducing the number of days for a well-planned vacation or an unplanned emergency. For those in school, one study found that skipping class was the mediating factor in the negative relationship between students’ alcohol use and lower GPAs. This means that students who drank to the point where they had to skip class, were more likely to have lower grades.
Improved mental health symptoms
Some people use alcohol to cope with mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression. However, alcohol slows the body down and can affect other processes in the body that regulate mood. Dopamine, the reward and motivation neurotransmitter, is released when people drink alcohol, making people want to drink it more and more to feel the release of dopamine. If drunk often, the body doesn’t produce its own anymore in response to the external source and when you stop drinking the lack of dopamine can make someone feel worse. Alcohol also impacts the release of serotonin, which plays a role in sleep, mood and hunger. Sleep issues, increased or decreased appetite and low mood are some of the symptoms of depression.
As a depressant alcohol can reduce feelings of anxiety. Think of the initial buzz when people have their first drink. But again, with continued use, feelings of anxiety can become stronger during the times tha tyou aren’t drinking when the processes of regulating anxiety are further disrupted by alcohol.
Hydration
Fewer drinks can increase hydration and improve skin, hair, and oral health. It also can increase energy for all actions from day-to-day activities to physical activity and performance. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes you urinate more often, losing water and flushing out nutrients. Frequent drinking occasions can bring bigger issues related to dehydration like fatigue, irritability, and headaches.
Tips for Having a Successful Dry January
Approach it with curiosity
Participating in Dry January does not mean that you are an alcoholic, that there is something wrong with you or you never have to drink again. These thoughts can frame the event as something shameful. It is an invitation to see what things could change if you make different choices around alcohol. The best way to see what things could change and what benefits you could experience is to try to abstain from drinking for a while.
Weigh and remember the pros
You may have gotten some benefits from alcohol and that’s valid. And you can find other ways to keep some of those pros while introducing other pros from switching it up. If socializing is important to you, try finding new ways to meet and talk to people. If relaxing is something you’ll miss consider learning relaxation techniques to help yourself wind down.
Consider non-alcoholic alternatives
There are zero-proof and non-alcoholic (no more than 0.5% ABV) canned mocktails, wines, spirits and beers. Some are non-alcoholic versions of popular alcoholic drinks like Henieken 0.0, or brands dedicated to non-alcoholic and zero-proof beverages like Athletic Brewing for non-alcoholic beer or Ritual Zero Proof spirits.
Tap into social support
Join friends who also want to make a change, even if it's around something else. Some friendly competition to see who can stick to their goals longer can motivate you to the end of the month or beyond if that’s something you’d like to do.
And the most important one: Don’t be too hard on yourself if you have a slip-up
The point of Dry January isn’t to be perfect. It's to explore finding a balance, being more mindful, and switching up what it means to be moderate. A drink here or there isn't the end of the world, but exploring the reasons behind those instances. If anything this will help you be more mindful of your choices and help you to continue to find balance and Dry January and beyond.
