As far as New Year‘s resolutions go, alcohol consumption is often on everyone’s list and the health benefits of reducing or eliminating alcohol are great.
Individuals often participate in Dry January, which means abstaining from alcohol during the first month of the year.
“Dry January is something that really took form in the U.K.,” said UVA Health gastroenterologist Dr. Neeral Shah, who specializes in liver disease.
Approximately 10 years ago, a female athlete preparing and training to run marathons abstained from drinking alcohol. Her organization was inspired and began promoting the idea and it happened to be in January for a February race.
“A lot of people kind of hopped onto it. It was the following year when they sort of publicized it through her organization and, after that, it sort of took hold and it was something that started where people were finding that to train for athletic events, for new habits at the start of the new year,” Shah said.
Now nearly 20 to 30 percent of Americans promise to practice Dry January every year.
Dry January provides health benefits. Shah said that alcohol consumption is not “one size fits all.” Different individuals have different tolerances for consumption.
“But what happens is, the root of it is the same is that alcohol is processed by the liver. It is a direct toxin in the liver because it is processed to acetaldehyde, which is a toxin.”
Prolonged alcohol consumption can lead to swelling in the liver and eventual cirrhosis or liver disease.
“Some people may be able to tolerate a little more, and some people a little less, but, at the same time, acetaldehyde is always produced by this processing of alcohol, and it does create a direct toxin effect on the liver.”
Larger volumes of alcohol are more difficult to process such as higher percentages in certain drinks, but all alcohol must be processed by the liver.
“What we found is that even that month off, it allows your body to recover and the fact of Dry January, the thing that’s interesting is that a lot of people have been overindulging in sweets or even alcohol during the holiday season,” Shah said.
January brings colder temperatures and less activity, which is a good time for a reset for the body and a “time for new habits.” After Dry January, Shah said, data shows that many individuals reduce alcohol intake after practicing Dry January.
Pausing or stopping alcohol consumption can have a good long-term effect on the human body.
“The liver is at the root of a lot of different functions in the body,” Shah said. If the liver does not have to focus on processing alcohol, it can process other substances more efficiently.
Shah said that during Dry January, individuals who abstain from alcohol discover other enjoyments that they might not otherwise have paid attention to, including improvement of sleep, better hair and skin, and increased energy.
Shah warned that anyone with alcohol dependence disorder should not stop drinking alcohol cold turkey for Dry January.
“The reason that I say that is it should be done in a monitored setting because they can experience periods of withdraw or even other side effects that may be harmful to the body,” Shah said.
Tips for success during Dry January include accountability partners.
“Doing it not only on your own but with other people, Dry January can be more successful,” Shah said.
Some individuals find themselves picking up new habits, such as drinking mocktails.
Damp January is another option in which individuals reduced alcohol consumption in January, but Shah said that data reveals it is less effective than Dry January.
“The amount that you reduce your alcohol consumption will probably directly correlate with the benefits you would have from the alcohol use on your body.”
A recent warning from the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy links alcohol consumption to cancer, notably breast, mouth, throat and liver cancers. The Surgeon General suggests warning labels on alcohol beverages of the link to cancer just as cigarettes have warning labels of cancer. Approval of legislation from the U.S. Congress is necessary, according to Shah, for a warning label on alcohol regarding cancer risk.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Shah said he has seen an increase in hospitalization at UVA in connection to alcohol consumption.
“I think that might have come out of COVID and the isolationism in people turning to alcohol. So I think any reduction in consumption could not only reduce the alcohol-related hospitalizations but also the cancer-related effects as well,” Shah said.
Early signs of liver disease include jaundice, cognitive difficulties and GI tract bleeding.
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Rebecca Barnabi
