Dry January, the month of January without alcohol, relieves the liver, but according to British researchers, it would also make it possible to feel immediate benefits, even to change your life. Because it also works in the long term.
The diet after the holidays is one of the good resolutions and it’s also a bit like the idea of the Dry January, but for alcohol. Supported by the British health authorities, this concept consists of not drinking a single drop of alcohol for 31 days, that is to say the whole month of January. This allows you to rest your liver after the excesses of the different New Year’s Eve.
But, according to a new study from the University of Sussex in Great Britain, it would also help to lose weight, save money and improve the quality of sleep. Even to change your life, because the effect remains measurable several months later. Moreover, it works even if abstinence is not perfectly maintained.
Are you having a very merry time, but tempted to rein it in after NYE? Dr. Richard de Visser @Sussex_Psych has new research showing that doing ‘Dry January’ leads to better skin, more sleep & saving money… as well as drinking less generally all year: https://t.co/v29C2qx28L
— Sussex United News (@SussexUniPress) December 28, 2018
An overall health benefit
To conduct this study, the scientists followed a sample of 800 people who had participated in Dry January 2018, and questioned them in August 2018 about the benefits felt and their consumption of alcohol. Participants’ responses were collected through online questionnaires. Almost all of them felt the positive effects of this alcohol-free month very quickly.
93% said they felt a sense of accomplishment after 31 days of sobriety and 88% realized they saved money. For most of the participants, this month also has the opportunity to better reflect on their relationship with alcohol and therefore to better control it later. 71% of them report having had better sleep during this period and more than half have lost weight.
A decrease in consumption that lasts
Eight months later, the participants continued to drink less. According to the results, the number of days they drank went from 4.3 to 3.3 per week. The frequency of binge drinking fell from 3.4 to 2.1 per month on average. “The simple fact of going a month without alcohol helps people to drink less in the long term: in August, people declare one more day without alcohol per week”, explains Dr Richard de Visser, director of the study. .
Above all, even people who did not manage to do a month entirely without alcohol nevertheless felt the benefits, even if these were less significant. “It proves that there are benefits even just from trying to pass the Dry January”, adds Dr Richard de Visser.
A change of life
The remarkable thing about Dry January is that it’s not just January. Staying sober and alcohol-free for 31 days shows us that we don’t need alcohol to have fun, to relax, to socialize. This means that for the rest of the year, we are better able to make decisions about our drinking and avoid sinking more than we really want.
According to a survey carried out in Great Britain, 4.2 million Britons plan to start 2019 with a month without alcohol. And one website was made available to volunteers. It provides various tools such as an app that calculates the savings in money and calories achieved, or guides or online support. When is the French site?
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