Last year, an estimated one in five Americans opted for a dry January, and another 21 percent said they thought taking a month off booze was a good idea – but not for them.
Experts told DailyMail.com that while there are some who may benefit from a dry January, more moderate changes might be more effective for others.
And for one Florida woman who’s tried to do a dry January explained how cutting alcohol out altogether was no good for her, but says she dropped 20 pounds just by switching to lower calorie cocktails.
The bottom line: A dry January might help you hit reset if you’re drinking is getting out of control or your heart health is on the line – but beware of yo-yo-ing between overkill and abstinence.
You may not need to go fully cold turkey for January in order to reap the benefits of a break from excess drinking, but giving yourself a chance to recuperate can’t hurt, experts say
People have been consuming alcohol for some 10 million years – even before we knew how to brew it.
Scientists think that we likely got our taste for it by consuming rotting fruit, which contains ethanol. This was less a matter of seeking out the ‘buzz’ of drinking and more an adaptation that made more foods usable to humans in times of scarcity.
But along the way it became a deeply ingrained part of many cultures.
Today, we better understand why alcohol makes us feel the way it does, and its positive and negative effects.
US health officials recommend that moderate drinking is okay for most people.
And some studies suggest that a low dose of alcohol in red wine is even protective for the heart.
But when the holiday season rolls around, it’s easy for the alcohol intake to creep upward.
For many, it’s an expected and manageable pattern. But for some it can be dangerous to heart health.
For example, some may develop what Dr Steven Reisman, a cardiologist at and director of New York Cardiac Diagnostic Center calls ‘holiday heart syndrome.’
‘These are people who go to parties and drink a lot and they feel these heart-fluttering palpitations,’ Dr Reisman explains.
By some estimates, as many as five to 10 percent of all new cases of atrial fibrillation are caused by excessive alcohol drinking. By others, it’s behind as many as 63 percent of cases in people under 65.
Holiday heart syndrome typically comes on when unusually copious alcohol consumption is paired with stress and dehydration – making the holiday season with its frequent festivities, salty food and anxieties of shopping travel and family a perfect storm for AFib.
He advises that anyone with a pattern of holiday heart problems limit themselves to just one or two drinks.
The more likely problem is a good old fashioned hangover, Dr Reisman says.
But he says that you don’t have to give up alcohol altogether to cut back your risks of winding up hungover.
‘Alcohols that have congeners are much worse and cause more problems than those that are clear like vodka or gin,’ he says.
That’s the approach that Megan O’Brien takes, rather than going for full dry January.
‘I did try Dry January, but you fail at it because it’s just not realistic,’ the 43-year-old entrepreneur and marketer told DailyMail.com.
‘I switched from drinking wine and beer and now I only drink vodka sodas with a splash of cranberry.
Megan O’Brien (left and right) says she’s tried a dry January but it didn’t help her lose eight and she couldn’t stick to it. Since July, she’s cut out beer and wine, switched to clear liquors and claims that alone has led her to lose 20lbs (right)
‘Blue Ice has the least amount of sugar, or I’ll drink Ketel One if there’s no Blue Ice at the bar.’
Megan’s health priority was to slim down and she claims that thanks to the switch, she’s lot 20 lbs since July, without altering anything else in her routine.
Like many Americans, she feels that giving up alcohol entirely isn’t a practical option for her.
‘I do a lot of social stuff around drinking’ – including taking clients out and having dinner meetings – ‘ and no one really goes to a bar and orders water,’ Megan says.
‘So if you go out and be social, just stick to vodka soda and the weight will stay off you. You have mostly soda, but at least you feel like you’re having something,’ says Megan, who is not a medical professional.
And she says she doesn’t feel as hungover, tired or tempted to cheat as she did when she was drinking wine, beer, or dark liquors that contain congeners or doing a dry January.
‘It’s like with anything, or going on a diet, if you deprive yourself [completely], the only thing that happens is it’s gonna hit you in February,’ Megan believes.
‘You’re not going to reset your lifestyle in 30 days, so dry January is kind of a miss.’
She has a point. Even for alcoholics – the group that Dr Reisman says is the most likely to benefit from a totally dry January – going cold turkey may be ill advised.
Once someone has become dependent on alcohol and it’s altered the receptors in their brain, quitting cold turkey can trigger intense withdrawal symptoms including seizures, delirium or both.
If you party, be kind to yourself so your body can function
Dr Marina Yuabova, City University of New York assistant professor and family nurse practitioner
People may also wind up severely dehydrated, exacerbating confusion and neurological symptoms and potentially triggering diarrhea and vomiting.
For someone who is dependent, ‘alcohol is a substance that should never be stopped “cold turkey” without professional intervention, care and supervision,’ according to American Addiction Centers.
Whether or not you go for dry January, helping your body recuperate is a good idea, experts say.
‘Too much alcohol suppresses the brain and depletes micronutrients and if you don’t let your body rest, it can cause depression,’ explains Dr Marina Yuabova, a family nurse practitioner at Integrative Wellness, NY and assistant professor at City University of New York.
She says it’s a ‘good idea to not drink in January and recuperate,’ but gave some helpful tips for other ways of offsetting an overload of alcohol.
‘Throughout the year, different cultured do different things’ to cope with the effects of alcohol and the minor withdrawal that is a hangover.
‘Drink lots of fluids with lots of salts and sugars, or a cucumber smoothie,’ she said.
‘It has lets of micronutrients, so you’ll be less hungover.’
She says some can successfully cope with just a little beer the morning after a big night out.
‘It’s high in calories and sugars, and your body is looking for something to replenish those’ Dr Yuabova said.
‘Some people feel better if they top it off with a little something, they’ll say they feel better already.
‘But often when somebody tells you they’re doing this, they’re chronic alcoholics most of the time.’
In lieu of this potentially worrying pattern, Dr Yuabova suggests that eating could help you manage the effects of alcohol.
‘Proper nutritious meals is great, especially if you abstain from junk food that’s high in carbs,’ said Dr Yuabova.
‘You need something to help you recover – you are what you eat, it’s true.
‘If you party, be kind to yourself so your body can function’ in January – or any other month.