Dry January: A New Year’s Resolution

As the confetti settles and the New Year begins, it’s time for me to consider a New Year’s Resolution. It can be a great way to focus on self-improvement and personal goals. Many aim to lose weight, eat healthier, start an exercise regimen, or get more sleep. Some, like me this year, will embark on a journey called “Dry January.”

Dry January is a popular health and wellness trend in which individuals commit to abstaining from alcohol for the entire month of January - probably because after all of the indulgences of the holiday season, most people are ready to abstain. And January seems like a good time to start.

It was a podcast that inspired me. Andy Ramage, a performance coach and author, was a guest on the podcast, Feel Better Live More with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. He spoke about the reasons why he gave up alcohol. He is clear that he is not anti-alcohol. He decided to abstain at first because he felt that he wasn’t consistent with his exercise routine and dietary choices and wanted to feel more vitality and productivity. He concluded that consuming alcohol might be the culprit in preventing him from achieving his goal of being his best self. 

After listening to the podcast, I thought I’d dig a little deeper. And what I found was that for people, like me, who drink moderately and don’t have alcohol dependency, reducing intake can be beneficial.

Better Sleep

Alcohol has a big impact on the quality of sleep. Do you find that when you’ve had a couple of glasses of wine, you tend to fall asleep right away but end up waking in the middle of the night? It is because alcohol is actually a sedative, and it interrupts your REM sleep, according to a study in the Journal of Neuroscience. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep plays a role in memory, emotional processing, brain development and dreaming. Most people need two hours of REM sleep each night. Without being in REM, the sleep that you think you are getting is not restorative. You wake up tired and groggy. It can also contribute toward increased sleep apnea and insomnia.

Clearer Skin

The toxins in alcohol can speed up your skin’s aging process, according to research in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology. It’s a diuretic and can lead to dehydration, drying out the skin. It also has the potential to increase estrogen and cortisol, and if you tend to consume sugary cocktails, it can lead to breakouts.

Weight Loss

Alcohol is full of empty calories, which can lead to weight gain if consumed on a regular basis. And drinking can lead to poor food choices which compounds the issue for those trying to lose weight. Not only that but it affects metabolism. The liver metabolizes the alcohol first since the body considers it a toxin. Fat burning is shut down for up to 12 to 36 hours while the liver metabolizes the alcohol. It also affects testosterone levels in both men and women. This can impair the ability to burn fat, so when you give up alcohol, it is easier to get rid of fat and lose weight. That’s a win.

Increased Energy and Performance

Alcohol is a depressant, so when it’s no longer in your system, your body has more energy. You’re not as sleepy the following day after consuming alcohol, so you are more likely to exercise and you’ll experience increased motivation. In addition, alcohol prevents your body from building muscle, as it inhibits signals to build proteins and reduces insulin resistance, which is a stimulator of muscle growth. 

Improved Mood

You don’t have to drink to excess to find that the morning after you’ve had a drink or two, you feel a bit anxious. Termed “hangxiety,” according to an article in Drinkaware, feeling dehydrated, disturbed sleep, and having low sugar levels are associated with drinking heavily the night before and can all contribute to anxiety. This may be due to alcohol’s effect on the amygdala, the area of your brain that regulates negative emotions. Brain imaging studies have found abnormalities in amygdala functioning in individuals with alcohol use disorder.

Decreased Health Risks

I read an article in Today.com about the health risks, especially to women, of consuming too much alcohol, and it was pretty compelling. Alcohol increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, and breast among women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns.

Dr. Krishna Aragam, a cardiologist and researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT co-authored a 2022 study that also found a trend of healthy lifestyle habits among light to moderate drinkers and concluded that any level of alcohol consumption increased the risk of cardiovascular disease. The risk increased exponentially with heavier drinking, defined as more than eight drinks per week.

Financial Savings

On average, a person will consume two drinks with dinner when dining out. At about $14 per drink, you’ll save quite a bit of money over the course of a month. If you go out to eat six times in a month, that’s a savings of close to $200. When you think about it, that savings compounded over a year’s time is the cost of a Caribbean cruise for two. And this doesn’t include the bottles of wine or six-packs of beer purchased for consumption at home.

Dry January Challenges

Even without a dependency on alcohol, giving up drinking for the month of January might have its challenges - mostly due to habit and peer pressure. 

Alcohol is everywhere - at work functions, sporting events, and social gatherings. It is the norm and ingrained in everyday life. Commercials, both online and in print, are abundant. And oftentimes, alcohol is the focal point of a party with signature cocktails being the star. 

Navigating social expectations can be tricky. Some, like Andy Ramage in the podcast previously mentioned, announced his intention to his co-workers. He was met with consternation, and co-workers proclaimed that his experiment would fail. Others are more quiet in their intention. With either approach, it is not inconceivable that others will remark about or cajole the nondrinker to partake. 

Being successful in Dry January depends on anticipating the social pressures and finding tactics to overcome them.

Successful Dry January Tactics

Find a friend who will embark on the journey with you. That way, you’ll have someone to back you up and keep you on the path in social settings. Don’t you find it easier to stick with an exercise program when doing it with someone else? When you feel like skipping a workout, that friend motivates you to go so they don’t have to go alone. Same with Dry January - it’s easier when you don’t have to go it alone.

There are plenty of alcohol-free alternatives out there now from Heineken Zero and Sam Adams Just the Haze to wines by FRE and Mionetto Sparkling. Social pressure is minimized because you look like you are holding a drink, and therefore are not drawing attention to the fact that you aren’t partaking like everyone else.

Before heading out to a social gathering, remind yourself why you are embarking on this journey in the first place and be prepared by rehearsing your response when confronted. Look at the restaurant’s drink menu from home first to see if they have mocktails. Mentally practice what you will say when the waiter or a friend asks what you’d like to drink or when a friend asks why you’re not drinking. 

Andy Ramage in his book, The 28-Day Alcohol-Free Challenge, details other inspiring and practical tips.

As I was thinking about a New Year’s Resolution, I thought I’d give Dry January a try. It’s a resolution that lasts just one month, and it will be interesting to see if I experience all of the benefits that I found in the research. So as I raise a glass—of sparkling water—to Dry January, I’ll celebrate the possibilities of a healthier, more mindful approach to life. Cheers to a month of sobriety!