With every new year, people look into the past and ask themselves: ”How can I better myself for the coming year? “ Some decide to set up a gym membership others, look into healthier eating habits but more and more are now looking into taking part in a month-long sobriety challenge known as “Dry January”.
What is Dry January?
This event is viewed as a temporary test of willpower followed by a return to old drinking habits when the month ends. While some decide to do just that, return to their old drinking habits, others find themselves continuing this dry spell well into February and often longer.
Studies show that people who participated in Dry January and other sobriety challenges frequently experience lasting benefits. Often, they drink less in the long run and make other sustained changes to their drinking habits that lead to striking improvements in their health and well-being.
So why does Dry January seems to have lasting effects? A month of sobriety, while it can sound like a difficult endeavour for some, it is not so long that it seems like an unreachable goal. Yet, it is long enough that it provides opportunities to form new habits, like turning down alcohol in social settings, which in the long run can be empowering. Taking a break from alcohol can also trigger immediate health benefits, like weight loss, better sleep, and a boost to your mood and energy levels, which can reinforce the new habit.
According to Richard de Visser, a psychologist at Brighton and Sussex Medical School in England, experiencing these improvements can motivate you to continue drinking less in the days, even months to come.
“It becomes a reinforcing message instead of a punishing message,” he said. “Instead of public health people wagging their fingers and saying, ‘Don’t drink it’s bad for you,’ They often don’t realize how much stopping drinking will improve their sleep, or their concentration, or even just their levels of energy in the morning.”
From “Hazardous” to “Low Risk”
In a study published in BMJ Open, a team of researchers in the US and London recruited a group of 94 healthy men and women who were willing to give up alcohol for one month. They compared them to a similar control group of 47 people who continued drinking. Both groups consisted of people who were moderate to heavy drinkers, drinking on average about 2.5 drinks a day.
The researchers found that people who gave up alcohol had significant improvements in their metabolic health, despite making little to no changes to their diet, smoking or exercise levels. On average they lost about four and a half pounds, their blood pressure dropped, and they had a “dramatic” reduction in their levels of insulin resistance, a marker for Type 2 diabetes risk. They also experienced sharp reductions in cancer-related growth factors, a particularly important finding, the researchers noted, because even low levels of alcohol consumption can increase the risk of many cancers. None of these improvements were seen in the control group.
The researchers then followed up with the participants six to eight months later to see how they were doing. The group that was abstinent for one month had maintained a “significant reduction” in their alcohol consumption, while the control group did not. Using a screening tool that can identify problematic drinking behaviours, the researchers determined that the abstinence group’s drinking habits had changed from “hazardous” to “low-risk,” while the control group’s habits stayed about the same.
Money saving and better sleep quality
In a separate study, researchers followed thousands of Dry January participants to see if the challenge would lead to long-lasting changes. They found that in general, people who took part in Dry January were still drinking considerably less the following August.
Before the challenge, on average, the number of days on which the participants would drink fell from 4.3 times per week to 3.3 times half a year later. The amount that they drank on each occasion fell and they got drunk less frequently.
Before Dry January, they got drunk on average 3.4 times a month but, by the following August, the number had fallen down to 2.1 times a month.
Most people take who take part in sobriety challenges return to drinking afterward. But many are surprised by the benefits they experienced during their month of abstinence. More money in the bank that they could spend on a new hobby or that piece of clothing that has been looking at them through a shopping glass. Most individuals also reported better sleep, losing weight and having more energy and a better ability to concentrate. It also bears to mention that participants reported a sense of achievement and gained more control over their drinking.
The main objective of Dry January is not long-term sobriety, it’s long-term control. It’s identifying the triggers that make you want to drink and gaining control over them, learning how good it is not to drink and gives you the power of choice for the rest of the year.
How to succeed in a Dry month
With the knowledge of what a Dry month could potentially do to your health and well-being, you might think to yourself let’s give this a try. We want you to succeed in your goals of a Dry month so here are our top tips to get you to realize and accomplish this goal:
Bring in the crew. As we all know, it is always better to do things with friends, so why not suggest Dry January to your group of friends and see if any would like to join you on this journey? Having someone in the same mindset about something can help you, and them, stay true to your goal. Motivation and support are key to the realization of common goals. What if no one wants to join? Fret not, there are many online communities geared towards achieving the same goal you are and while you’re there, you might even make new friends!
Find a new favourite drink. Swapping an alcoholic drink for a nonalcoholic one, a sparkling drink with lemon zest for example could help eliminate mindless drinking.
Manage your drinking triggers. If going out with friends mean going to the bar to catch up, playing a round of golf with the boys or having a girl’s night triggers you into saying you/we will be drinking tonight, suggest an activity that does not give your brain those triggers. A hike, going to the movies or even having dinner at a restaurant that offers nonalcoholic versions of your favourite drinks!
Fill your piggy bank. Track how much money you save without drinking. If, for example, you spend 40$ per week on alcoholic drinks, instead put it in your piggy bank and at the end of the month see how much you saved! You can even track it daily and weekly. Seeing extra money can motivate you to keep going all the way to the end of the month.
Dry(ish) January. If going completely sober for one month seems like a daunting task, there is no shame in dipping your toes in until you are ready. Set yourself some goals like, no drinking during the week or weekends even say I will drink half as much for this month as I usually do.
With Dry January gaining popularity, more resources will be dedicated to it which will make it easier for everyone to reach their goals of a sober month lifestyle. Why not give it a shot and see how your health and well-being can improve in just one small month?
