Dry January make you feel better? How to avoid drink all year, or lower your alcohol consumption, and reap the health benefits – experts’ tips
- The no-alcohol challenge delivers benefits including improved sleep, better focus and memory, and quicker reflexes – you might want to continue it through 2022
- To continue avoiding alcohol or limiting how much you drink, understand the pros and cons of drinking, plan activities without it and learn how to say no
Did you start Dry January after having a few too many cocktails during the holidays? Are you coming up on a month of swapping out a glass of wine for a non-alcoholic alternative?
Dry January, the annual no-alcohol challenge, offers a reprieve, a reset, a chance to reflect on the influence alcohol has on our lives. People vow to trade the haze of a hangover for 31 days of mental clarity.
The popular trend can have a range of health benefits, doctors say. That includes feeling more alert and well rested.
“That’s a lot of the reasons why people engage in Dry January and this journey to begin with, because there are little things that bother them about the way that alcohol makes them feel,” says Dr Dawn Sugarman, a research psychologist at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts in the United States and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
“It’s really examining your relationship with alcohol.”
Experts say there are a few steps you can take to keep healthy habits going all year. Here are some tactics you can use, whether you want to cut out alcohol completely or scale back on drinking.