Ok, folks.
Thanksgiving – done. Christmas – done. New Years' Eve – done.
The holiday season is officially done, and with it all those holiday parties and gatherings that can lead to a lot of drinking.
As folks head into January with thoughts of New Year's resolutions in order to improve our lives, cutting out/down alcohol intake tops a lot of lists.
I think the first tweet I saw this morning joked, "I've made it all the way through 2019 without a hangover…"
Many participate in observing ‘Dry January,’ a month-long break from imbibing.
A study from the University of Sussex set out to find just how effective one month without alcohol can be.
The Dry January study involved 850 participants who were interviewed at the end of the 31 days, and then again six months later.
The results?
After one month:
• 82% felt a sense of achievement
• 79% noted they’d saved money
• 62% reported they had more energy
• 62% said they slept better
• 49% shared they had experienced weight loss
At the six month mark, 72% said they had maintained reduced levels of drinking.
In fact, 4% reported they’d continued to abstain from alcohol altogether over the six month period.
Even the folks who didn’t make it all the way through January completely alcohol-free reported positive benefits.
“Even if participants took part but didn’t successfully complete the 31 days, it generally led to a significant decrease across all the measures of alcohol intake,” said Richard de Visser, an expert on health-related behavior, said in a statement.
What do you think, folks? Can you tackle a Dry January?
If alcohol isn’t your issue, what kind of New Year's resolutions do you take on?
