Dry January can be quite the shock to the system for many after months of festive cheer.
However, the benefits are very real and quite plentiful. So much so, some even decide to extend their break beyond the near-infamous thirty-one days—a bold move that can reap tremendous rewards.
From taking back financial freedom of your wallet to stepping up your health game, extended breaks from alcohol are a great way to kickstart a more mindful approach to drinking.
If you’re ready to jump on board with taking a break from alcohol past one month, stick around.
In this article we’ll explore five benefits that await you when you extend your break up with booze.
How Soon After Taking a Break From Alcohol Do You Begin To See Positive Changes?
After taking a break from alcohol, the benefits start to kick in right away.
In the first 24 hours you may notice that your body is thanking you for taking a break and will begin to detoxify itself.
As time progresses, and the days pass, it’s no surprise that many of us feel better overall with increased energy and improved mood.
Although everyone is unique and taking a break from alcohol can affect people differently, on average most individuals report positive changes by the end of the first week. So while it’s totally normal to feel some withdrawal symptoms, know that taking a break may lead to some surprisingly pleasant improvements over these early stages.
5 Health Benefits When Extending Your Break From Alcohol:
From increased productivity to improved overall health, extending your break from alcohol is a great way for you to feel more energised and more confident about yourself.
With the new year in full swing, now is the perfect time to push the reset button and take charge of your health with a clean start.
Making a conscious effort to go beyond your comfort zone can yield wonderful results – so why not give it a try?
1. Relief In Mental Health Symptoms:
Anyone that has ever drank alcohol knows the feeling of next day “hang-xiety” (hangover anxiety) all too well.
For many people, alcohol provides temporary relief from symptoms of anxiety and depression only to show up ten-fold in the morning.
Researchers have found that extending your break from alcohol could have more positive benefits for your mental health in the long run.
Alcohol is not only a depressant but also a known “social lubricant” that masks underlying mental health issues and can even exacerbate them over time. So when you take a break from drinking, you may be surprised to find your symptoms of anxiety and depression improve or completely go away.
2. You’ll Sleep Better:
Sleep and its restorative effects are absolutely crucial to our health. However, drinking alcohol can have a detrimental effect on sleep, as it disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythm and interrupts REM sleep.
Extending your break from alcohol can greatly improve your quality of sleep in numerous ways and ultimately benefit many areas of your wellbeing, such as mental clarity and stress resilience.
By extending your break from alcohol you’ll be able to experience longer periods of uninterrupted deep sleep which will result in a domino effect of positive benefits.
The physical, mental and emotional advantages associated with being well-rested are countless!
3. Your Skin Will Improve:
Alcohol can be a major cause of dryness, dullness, and temporary redness in your complexion due to its dehydrating properties. It also robs your body of vital nutrients such as B vitamins, folic acid and zinc that are important for maintaining healthy, beautiful skin.
Extending your break from alcohol will allow your body extra time to continue repairing itself by giving it more and more of what it needs to make the skin look alive and radiant.
Additionally, attempts should be made to increase the amount of water you drink each day to help protect the skin from dehydration caused by too much wine or beer.
4. You’ll Have More Energy:
Running on empty all day, everyday, gets real old, real fast.
Extending your break from drinking just might be the best thing you ever do to improve your energy levels.
Alcohol consumption affects your body’s hormones and its ability to balance them, depleting its natural resources of energy.
For example, it can reduce the levels of testosterone and estrogen in your body, which can result in feeling fatigued and experiencing low energy.
Alcohol increases cortisol levels which is the stress hormone, leading to a fluctuation of energy throughout the day depending on how much was consumed.
In addition, drinking heavily or for prolonged amounts of time can affect leptin production, a hormone that signals you to stop eating when you’re full. Leptin levels drop with alcohol intake making it difficult to differentiate between hunger and thirst, often resulting in drinking well past energy levels would call for one to stop.
Aside from these issues alcohol affects nutrient absorption and glucose control impairing your body’s ability to create energy.
By extending your break from alcohol, you are allowing your body enough time to restore any imbalance in hormones and recover any lost energy. As this balance corrects itself, you will start feeling more energized in all areas of life such as exercising, walking, or preparing healthy meals which all help contribute towards boosting your energy levels.
5. You’ll Be Less Likely To Get Sick:
When extending your break from alcohol, it is important to consider how it can benefit your immune system.
Drinking alcohol has been linked with an increased risk of developing viruses and other illnesses. Alcohol affects the immune system in a multitude of ways, from depleting white blood cells that fight off infection to disrupting hormones that help regulate its functions.
Therefore, extending your break from alcohol can give your immune system the break it needs to protect you from unwanted sickness. Moreover, if you abstain for long periods of time or avoid drinking altogether, you are less likely to get sick and experience any unfortunate health related consequences due to overindulgence.
How Long Is a Healthy Break From Alcohol?
Taking one month off from alcohol is a great way to start your journey towards living healthier and building your resilience against addiction.
It allows you to reset your body and give it some well-deserved rest, free from harmful toxins. During this time, you can take advantage of the positive health benefits that come with sobriety, like improved cognitive functions, better sleep cycles, and reduced anxiety levels.
However, extending the break even longer can bring even more long term rewards as your body continues to repair itself. Extending the abstention period beyond just one month has been associated with tissue repair, healthier relationships, and sharper thinking.
Even choosing to live a sober-curious lifestyle after a break from alcohol has been found to improve functioning in both mental and physical health.
30 Days Alcohol Free:
After 30 days of abstaining from alcohol, it’s likely that you will start to experience benefits for both your physical and mental health. Your mood is likely to be more balanced with lower levels of stress and anxiety, while your sleeping patterns could be improved. Physically, your liver health will have improved from the reduction in toxins entering the body and you may even see some benefits in terms of weight loss due to reduced calorie consumption.
60 Days Alcohol Free:
After 60 days of no alcohol, individuals may experience a number of benefits to their bodies. For instance, after two months of abstaining from alcohol, people will notice improved heart health and increased mental clarity.
In addition, people tend to have better digestion, healthier skin, and more restful sleep. Not only this, but individuals may see an increase in self-discipline as the effects of accustoming oneself to no longer drinking take shape.
Ultimately, after 60 days without alcohol, any individual engaging in this challenge will be feeling better than ever before.
90 Days Alcohol Free (Optimal):
When taking a break from alcohol for 90 days, your body benefits significantly. Through this timeframe of abstaining from drinking, you’re giving yourself time to repair the damage that has been done and open up opportunities for a healthier lifestyle.
The benefits of an extended alcohol-free break reach far beyond resetting your body. Clarity of thinking returns, profound mental health benefits occur, improved sleep patterns form and more energy is often felt.
Moreover, building a mental defense is essential to successfully committing to this journey. Asking yourself why you are taking a break. Sharing your story with others going through the same process and finding inspiration in times of need can prove invaluable during this time period.
Ultimately, it’s important to realize that the longer you spend away from alcohol, the better life will become.
Extending Your Break From Alcohol: In Summary
Taking a break from alcohol consumption offers many health benefits, including less anxiety and depression, improved sleep, healthier skin, increased energy, and a stronger immune system.
For those consuming moderate to heavy amounts of alcohol for an extended period of time, it is important to allow your body more than just one month for recovery since this is often the amount of time needed for your body to reach its optimal health state again.
Over a period of years the noticeable damaging effects have been done and extending your break from drinking may be essential to see the most beneficial changes in regards to overall wellness.
So, extending your break from alcohol may be exactly what you need to restore mental and physical balance in your daily life!
If you or a loved one are struggling with an alcohol addiction, please contact Orchestrate Health today to learn more about how our at-home treatment can help.
Resources:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325686
https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/what-are-the-effects-of-alcohol-on-sleep
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3767933/
https://www.goodrx.com/health-topic/alcohol/how-does-alcohol-weaken-immune-system
https://www.washingtonian.com/2023/02/01/extending-dry-january-5-tips-for-a-sober-curious-lifestyle/
