Is a "Dry January" beneficial?

[Robin Garr]

Bart Broadbent called attention on Facebook today to a Decanter article that I thought was worth sharing. It digs into - and calls into question - the purported benefits of taking a month off alcohol - a "dry January" - following the holidays.

I thought this paragraph toward the end says it all:

"If you think you need to take a month off, you’re either drinking too much during the rest of the year or you have a guilty conscience."

Here's a link to the full article:
http://www.decanter.com/learn/is-dry-ja ... r-20180101

I've never been tempted to go dry for a month. How about you? Is "dry January" a thing for any of you?

[David M. Bueker]

With a birthday in January I do not go dry!

I do restrict my alcohol when I am traveling, but that is mostly to control calories.

Intreresting piece, Robin thanks -- this doesn't bear on your question, but I was struck by the explanation of the difference that gender makes, and the implication that the difference in BAC resulting from the consumption of 14% and 12% abv wine would be greater for women than for men, since Andrea often reports she can really feel the difference and I often find the difference less perceptible.

But to answer your question: nope, never tried a dry January.

I did a mostly dry January a few years ago, but just as part of a diet we were on (and have subsequently stayed on maintain part of, and kept off weight). I agree that a dry January is not especially healthy if an antidote for 11 months of over consumption. I do think all of us who have a hobby with some obvious health implications should be conscious (12 months of year) of our consumption. I have (for caloric reasons, but also watching dependence issues - you don't want to find out not having wine is an issue too late) started not habitually opening a bottle with dinner on weeknights. I do on weekends, or if we have guests.

It really is important to watch these things, but I agree that doing a dry month (once a year) is meaningless. Think about your alcohol consumption. Watch your weight, your liver panels, your blood pressure. Was there behavior you regret that you attribute to alcohol ? Was there a time you drove where you would have been nervous if you had come to a checkpoint? Was there a time you felt you needed a drink? Being conscious of those things is better than an arbitrary month off.

There was a study (and of course, since it was several years ago, and I'm not in the habit of saving the information for future reference, I can't cite it here, at the moment) I saw in 2015 that suggested that a month off from alcohol had a positive long-term effect on one's liver function. I decided to take January of 2016 off from any alcohol consumption, because it had been a long time since I'd gone more than a week without drinking anything, and I know how easy it is to have another glass beyond the recommended amount. I repeated the break again last year, and am doing so again this year. If it all turns out to be without significant effect, so be it. It's unlikely to be detrimental, I believe.

Having been in the business as long as I have, and coming from a family in which the use and abuse of alcohol was a major source of suffering and grief, the way is not necessarily clearly marked, at least for me.

A few years ago I had 3 months off the booze to see if it helped with a relatively minor medical condition. It was a lot easier to do than I expected - OK I did taste wine (spitting) on a few occasions, and drank maybe 2 small glasses, but still not bad going for a 3 month period that included Christmas, and it was nice to note that I had no alcohol-dependency issues. But it didn't help my medical condition (not sure if I am pleased or not about that), and I did not feel better in any other way.

One additional observation - I suspect that a dry December would be a lot better for most people than a dry January!

No dry months but I did recently decide to have one mostly-dry week each month in addition to a previous decision to restrict overall consumption due to health challenges brought on by overindulgence.