Most of us face frequent social situations which are inextricably linked to drinking – especially around the holidays. From family gatherings to intimate dinners, after-work happy hours to drinking alone at home during lockdowns – alcohol tends to be woven into the fabric of our lifestyle choices. As the saying goes, it’s wine o’clock somewhere. Is there ever a wrong time to crack open a bottle?
Here’s where Dry January comes in with a prospective gift of self-empowerment – by presenting a positive challenge for adults to abstain from alcoholic beverages throughout the first month of 2022 and reset your relationship with booze.
For readers who find themselves on the fence about whether to join this sober-curious movement –the rewarding chance to detox and stay sober for the first 30 days of the new year will help you better understand how alcohol affects your body and mind. There is also a real science behind the trend. Whatever your personal reasons, you can expect to receive some profound paybacks when off the booze.
Below, we highlight the nine biggest benefits you can look forward to experiencing – from an alcohol-free commitment of 30 days!
1. Learning and awareness about your own relationship with alcohol
Since alcohol is such a big part of socialising, drinking can become mindless – something you never really question. If this sounds true for you, you could benefit greatly from taking a step back and rethinking your patterns during a Dry January. It’s also a great opportunity to tune into your body and gauge on more introspective levels how booze is really affecting you.
2. Drinking less afterwards
Post Dry January, you might realise that you want (or need) to drink less alcohol, and even possibly move towards curbing the desire to drink alcohol beverages altogether. That glass of wine at dinner or happy hour with co-workers will need a substitution – ordering from a range of alcohol-free drinks might very well become your new norm.
3. Improvements for mental health
While enjoying a beer at the end of a tough workday might lift your spirits, long-term alcohol use is actually associated with negative mental health outcomes. Alcohol is a depressant after all, and studies have found a link between excessive drinking and poor mental health across socioeconomic lines, especially with a lack of life satisfaction and psychological distress. These results do not state alcohol as the cause for mental health issues, or that Dry January can fix depression – but removing the option of booze might help one address underlying issues which may have been ignored. Studies further show that adults who give up drinking, particularly women, experience a boost to their mental health.
4. Saving on money and eliminating boozy side-effects
Over 79 percent of participants from Dry January reported satisfaction in saving money. Think about how much you spend on alcohol at bars and restaurants, plus weekly purchases of beer, wines and spirits at the supermarket. Discretionary spending can be a killer to your pay cheque, imagine the savings? Even if you make a switch to alcohol-free beer, wines, and spirits, you are likely to have fewer drinks whilst additionally eliminating those unpleasant hungover side effects.
5. Supports weight loss
Since alcohol contains empty calories and is often a significant source of carbs, cutting it out for a month can support noticeable weight loss. Plus, you also eliminate the risk of making not-so-healthy eating choices after having a few drinks – by avoiding tendencies to indulge in comfort foods like fries or pizza delivery, heading to the fridge for a sneaky chocolate bar, or giving in to a late-night snack. Even just 30 days can make a difference in shedding unhealthy weight and can kick-start weight loss allowing you to set new and achievable goals.
6. Boosts the immune system
Research shows that binge drinking – imbibing in four or more drinks for women and five or more for men in a single event – results in a period of increased immune activity followed by a lull lasting at least five hours. Substantial drinking could cause your immune system to be less effective, which is never a good thing at the height of cold and flu season. Furthermore, excessive alcohol consumption is linked with suppressed immune systems and higher incidences of infectious diseases.
7. Improvements to sounder sleep and increased energy levels
The preconceived idea that alcohol helps you to fall asleep, in truth, often leads to restless sleep throughout the night. Given this knowledge, removing booze can lead to more restorative sleep and increase higher levels of energy in the day. According to studies, processing alcohol suppresses the deepest stage of sleep (called REM), which is largely responsible for feeling well-rested each morning.
8. 30 days designed to reset/break the habit
Getting off alcohol for a month is a sufficient time frame by scientific measures, to reset or break an unhealthy dependency on liquor. Even if you do decide to return to drinking after completing an alcohol-free lifestyle for 30 days, you’re far more likely to moderate your usage and drink less henceforth.
9. Boosts general health
Given alcohol is inflammatory, it triggers your body’s stress response. When downing a boozy drink, your system breaks it down into a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde and free radicals, which damages your cells. As a result, alcohol consumption can contribute to a variety of health concerns. According to a 2018 study, average drinkers who ditched booze for one month generally improved their insulin sensitivity, lowered their blood pressure, reduced their cholesterol, improved their liver function, and decreased their levels of VEGF (a cancer-promoting growth factor).
It’s much easier to make it through Dry Jan and feel all the physical and emotional benefits of a break from alcohol when you switch to alcohol-free beers, wines and spirits to replace your usual favourites. This way you can keep your regular routines and habits and don’t need to white knuckle it through on pure willpower and sugary, calorie-laden sodas alone. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to reduce your booze intake without FOMO when you shop online from Free Spirit’s selection of the world’s best alcohol-free alternatives. Use code expat 2022 to take $22 off your first order over $100 in January.
Get SG$22 off your first order at www.freespirit.com.sg until 31 Jan 2022
