Studies show Dry Jan benefits last longer than a month

[pixy0stix]

The benefits of ‘Dry January’ last longer than a month, studies show - (gift link) wapo.st/3Glvtbn

Do you, or will you, participate in Dry January this year?

[pixy0stix]

I rarely, if ever, drink. That being said, I'm debating if I should do a weed free January.

[heygrey]

I do. Or at the very least, a significantly reduced amount. I always have SAD in the deep winter and alcohol makes that worse for me. I may still have 1 drink with friends here and there, but I’m much more conscious of my consumption.

[lucybrown]

I participated last January and ended up not drinking at all in 2022. It wasn't necessarily intentional, but after seeing the negative impact on my mental health, I decided to take a break. The benefits have been clear. Less anxiety/depression, better sleep, reduced inflammation, etc.. It was a little weird navigating the social aspects initially, but overall, the impact has been positive.

I miss it a little and don't think I'll stay sober forever. But, I also don't have plans to resume anytime soon.

[penguingrrl]

I may do it. I’ve found my drinking creeping up a bit as we’ve gone through a horrifically stressful time at home. Now we have major construction beginning in January, which is also going to be stressful (but is necessary work on our old house). It would probably benefit me not to drink wine daily.

[gretchenindisguise]

I think I'll do it this year. I've done it before and it was nice. I drank way too much at a party two weeks ago, so I've already been cutting back but doing a whole month is probably a good idea.

[Scout'sHonor]

I probably should cut back at the very least. This year definitely caused an increase in drinking. Maybe if I stick to my beer & knitting group night and one other during the week. I do love the taste of beer and wine, so it's hard.

[mrsd2006]

I don't drink enough to make a difference. I may try to do a coke (cola) free January.

[AJL]

I don't drink often at all. Maybe a drink every four or five months. But maybe I should go without diet soda for the month?

[seeyalater52]

I don’t typically drink so I’m going to say I get those benefits during the rest of the year, but I’m off from work and love to drink cocoa with Bailey’s so I’m definitely not starting the new year off dry.

[livinitup]

pixy0stix Great article thanks for sharing/gifting. Yes, I am looking forward to Dry January.

[Tacocat]

I’ve never done a dry January but I think I will attempt to this year. My company holiday party is on the 7th, so that will be my only planned drinking evening. I hope I notice a difference! My good friend is planning to also so we can do some fun no alcohol nights together

[Velar Fricative]

I believe that. I didn’t do a Dry January but did do things like Whole 30 that cut out alcohol anyway and felt good enough to drink only rarely. It also made me realize my previous drinking was really problematic.

[cattledogkisses]

I was never a big drinker to start with, but I cut back even more this past year. Not for any particular reason, other than it disrupts my sleep and I don't like the way it makes me feel. More and more restaurants seem to be rolling out mocktail menus, so I've been enjoying some of those when we go out, and otherwise just sticking to flavored seltzer mostly at parties. So far no one has been weird about it or given me a hard time.

[okla]

I really cut back on my drinking starting in April. Like going from 4-5 nights a week to once or twice a month. I’ve yet to go a straight month drink free, and I’m planning on doing Dry January.

[tiramisu]

I really don't drink much as it is and when I do, it's almost always in moderation. So I'm not planning on doing a Dry January, though I think it can be really beneficial. I've tried giving up deep fried food for lent, since I know I feel better when I do, but that's been hard. It has helped me cut down, though, so I know that learning to go without can be really beneficial.

[mrsukyankee]

No. Partially because it's my H's 50th birthday in Jan and partially because I've already cut out soda this year as well as cut back on alcohol. So, I'll do a light mist January.

I'm also attempting to get more variety of veg, fruit, grains, nuts and seeds into my diet so I figure that will be quite helpful.

[eddy]

Yes I am firmly doing Dry January with no cheating. In the past it had turned into Dryish Jan.

I need to reset drinking habits and hopefully drop a bit weight. I am very committed and hope it carries into Dry Feb as well. But I will tske it 4 weeks at a time.

[rubytue]

Dec 27, 2022 12:52:34 GMT -5 AJL said:

I don't drink often at all. Maybe a drink every four or five months. But maybe I should go without diet soda for the month?

This is me. Completely.

[lilac05]

Dec 27, 2022 15:41:45 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Dec 27, 2022 12:52:34 GMT -5 AJL said:

I don't drink often at all. Maybe a drink every four or five months. But maybe I should go without diet soda for the month?

This is me. Completely.

Same here. Diet Coke is my vice of choice. I could go the rest of my life without alcohol and not miss it…but Diet Coke is another story. This sounds like a good January challenge.

[rubytue]

AJL, lilac05, let’s do it! No Diet Coke for a month! Think of the money we’d save with the current prices!

[erbear]

Dec 27, 2022 12:23:09 GMT -5 Scout'sHonor said:

I probably should cut back at the very least. This year definitely caused an increase in drinking. Maybe if I stick to my beer & knitting group night and one other during the week. I do love the taste of beer and wine, so it's hard.

This is me, exactly. So much of what we do socially involves beer and wine, not to get drunk, but as something we really enjoy for fun. I’m planning to cut way back though in the new year.

[TR]

Dec 27, 2022 12:52:34 GMT -5 AJL said:

I don't drink often at all. Maybe a drink every four or five months. But maybe I should go without diet soda for the month?

Yeah, I had always kind of scoffed at Dry January, like, how hard is it to go a month without drinking?? But then I considered going a month without dessert (my personal vice) and I was like ohhhhhhhh.

[heygrey]

Dec 27, 2022 15:55:44 GMT -5 erbear said:

This is me, exactly. So much of what we do socially involves beer and wine, not to get drunk, but as something we really enjoy for fun. I’m planning to cut way back though in the new year.

So much of our socializing is centred around food and alcohol. I live in a wine region and we also have a big craft brewery scene. H is friends with a lot of guys in the brewery industry so we get invited to events or even casually going to someone's house there is always a new beer to try. 

When H and I want to reset we just nix alcohol at home when it's just us. If we're with friends we'll have a drink, or H will have a couple and I volunteer to DD. I need that this year. I just feel sluggish and gross right now. Less alcohol and more sleep will help a lot.

[glitzy07]

I did a modified version of Dry January last year, where I only drank alcohol if I was out in a public social setting. So dinner or drinks out with friends, but not just drinking wine on my sister's couch. I think I drank maybe 2-3x all month and it really did make a difference in my sleeping, plus I was working out more consistently than I ever had before.

I'm planning to do about three weeks or so of Dry January this year. We do have an out of town weekend the last weekend of the month that will include drinking with lots of friends, but I'm planning not to drink until then (the 27th). My dad died in November and he was an alcoholic, which absolutely played a role in his death. I've always been pretty careful about my consumption because of family history, but the wine consumption has creeped up steadily this last year and I know that I have some other things I need to focus on (mental health/anxiety stuff) that will likely be better off without the wine as often.

Thank you for sharing the article. I saw it linked on FB earlier today and was interested, but am not a subscriber.

[BlondeSpiders]

The opposite, actually. I've never been much of a drinker, and even less a wine drinker.

But in this past year I have discovered so many more yummy wines that I'm really enjoying. I received several bottles as gifts this year, so I am acquiring bottles faster than I can drink them. This led me to buy a small wine fridge with my Christmas bonus.

That being said, my only real resolution next year is to drink more wine.

[erbear]

Dec 27, 2022 17:17:21 GMT -5 heygrey said:

Dec 27, 2022 15:55:44 GMT -5 erbear said:

This is me, exactly. So much of what we do socially involves beer and wine, not to get drunk, but as something we really enjoy for fun. I’m planning to cut way back though in the new year.

So much of our socializing is centred around food and alcohol. I live in a wine region and we also have a big craft brewery scene. H is friends with a lot of guys in the brewery industry so we get invited to events or even casually going to someone's house there is always a new beer to try. 

When H and I want to reset we just nix alcohol at home when it's just us. If we're with friends we'll have a drink, or H will have a couple and I volunteer to DD. I need that this year. I just feel sluggish and gross right now. Less alcohol and more sleep will help a lot.

This is a good idea, thank you for this. We also live in a large craft brewery city and it's one of the things we bond over -- we love to try new ones out. I like the idea of not drinking at home when it's just us. We could do that.

[Velar Fricative]

Yes, the social setting rule is helpful for me. My problematic drinking centered around wine basically every night. And no, it wasn’t just one glass with dinner. Now I will have a glass or two at a social gathering, and not all of them. And because I don’t drink that often, when I do I feel the consequences due to my now shitty tolerance and that makes me avoid it for a while lol.

And not going to lie, I even mostly gave up drinking at a restaurant or bar just because the prices are astronomical.

[aspentosh]

Dec 27, 2022 15:58:57 GMT -5 TR said:

Dec 27, 2022 12:52:34 GMT -5 AJL said:

I don't drink often at all. Maybe a drink every four or five months. But maybe I should go without diet soda for the month?

Yeah, I had always kind of scoffed at Dry January, like, how hard is it to go a month without drinking?? But then I considered going a month without dessert (my personal vice) and I was like ohhhhhhhh.

So much this. I might drink once a month, and often just one beer, so Dry January isn't that big of a sacrifice for me. But no desserts would be rough.

I sometimes give up chocolate or desserts for lent and it's a looooong 40 days. 

[katfco]

Dec 27, 2022 15:55:40 GMT -5 rubytue said:

AJL, lilac05, let’s do it! No Diet Coke for a month! Think of the money we’d save with the current prices!

I need to do this. I don’t drink alcohol ever, but I drink a lot of Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke—it’s those and water. I had really reduced the amount just before the pandemic hit, but,…well, pandemic.