Health Hub
Having a Dry July has great health benefits. We've brought together a collection of articles that could help you with your Dry July.
What Happens To Your Body When You Give Up Alcohol For One Month
By Chloe Mcleod on
We all love to indulge in alcohol every now and then, but a night out with friends brings social pressures in regards to frequent drinking. It can feel impossible to dodge having a drink when you want to be part of the group vibe - and before you know it, you’re waking up with a dry mouth and a nasty hangover again.
Dry July is a great way to reassess your relationship with alcohol consumption and see the health benefits of taking a month off. If you’re signing up to raise money, you’ll also be helping people with cancer.
Here are a few ways the human body can benefit from abstaining from alcohol for a whole month.
#1 Improvements to mental health
Alcohol may seem like a mood elevator when you’re dancing and having a great time with your friends, but it is actually a depressant that can have serious negative effects on your overall mental health. Low moods can be aggravated, and low energy levels make situations feel worse.
Taking some time off alcohol allows your brain to level out and you’ll be able to think with more clarity, dealing with any mental health issues in a much more positive way.
#2 Improved hydration
Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes your body dismiss fluids more frequently. An easily identifiable hangover symptom that can come up is dehydration. People can suffer from dry skin which has less vibrancy, and your lips can crack easily. Low hydration levels can also affect your concentration and energy, which can have a substantial impact on how efficient you are at work, during your gym sessions or classes.
When you stop heavy drinking your skin begins to regain its plumpness, fine lines may soften and your face will reclaim its natural glow, plus, you’ll feel much more alert.
#3 Healthier liver
Drinking a beer, wine or liquor is bad for the liver. After all, the human body isn’t built to process alcohol. When someone consumes large amounts of booze, even just a few times, their liver must work extra hard to process it all. Over time, the liver gets exhausted.
Your liver is constantly working to regenerate itself. It produces new cells with the intention of fixing any problems that pop up. It’s one of the human body’s most important organs, after all, so it’s crucial that it stays in good shape.
When you give up alcohol, your liver will start to flush out all of the leftover byproducts that were produced over time and within a few months you will feel the benefits after cutting out alcohol.
#4 Improved weight loss
This is no surprise to anyone I’m sure, but all those extra calories in a delicious red wine with dinner tends to add up. Over time, a couple of wines each night can cause your weight to creep up until you’re suddenly struggling to get those jeans on. This is because most alcohols have more calories per gram than protein and carbohydrates; only fat has more calories per gram.
When cutting out alcohol, your overall calorie intake will then decrease (as long as you don’t replace alcohol with another high-calorie substitute.) Once you give up alcohol you will start to see your waistline shrinking and can easily drop a dress size or belt notch by the end of the month.
#5 Bigger bank account
The benefits of alcohol detox aren’t just physical, it can also have a financial benefit as well. As everyone knows when you’re constantly consuming alcohol, the cost of it can add up over time.
When on your own, a few beers or a glass of wine is only a small investment, but, when you drink daily, or even weekly, the cost can add up. When you stop drinking you will have some extra cash in your bank account that could be used for other necessities.
Chloe Mcleod is a professional sports dietitian, nutrition consultant and Dry July ambassador.
Original article published on LifeHacker
You may also like
Why are young people drinking less than their parents’ generation did?
By Sarah J MacLean, Amy Pennay, Gabriel Calluzi, John Holmes and Jukka Törrönen on
As we head towards the end of the year, office get-togethers, Christmas lunches and New Year’s parties are upon us. It seems like a prime opportunity for young people to be drinking the night away.
But something unexpected has happened since the start of this century. Young people in Australia, the UK, Nordic countries and North America have, on average, been drinking significantly less alcohol than their parents’ generation did when they were a similar age.
During COVID lockdowns, some surveys indicate this fell even further.
Our research suggests this is unlikely to be due simply to government efforts to cut youth drinking. Wider social, cultural, technological and economic changes seem to be key to these declines.
Researchers...
We’re getting really good at making alcohol-free beer and wine. Here’s how it’s done!
By David Bean and Andrew Greenhill on
Non-alcoholic drinks have been on the market for decades, but for a long time their range was limited and, in most cases, the flavours were inferior to their alcoholic counterparts.
Now online retailers (some of which specialise in non-alcoholic drinks) are stocking up to 100 different low- or no-alcohol beers and a similar number of non-alcoholic wines – with the majority produced in Australia.
What’s behind the big boom in this side of the industry? And where might it go from here?
It all starts with fermentation
Alcoholic beverages are produced via microbes, most commonly yeasts, which convert sugars to ethanol (alcohol) in the process of fermentation.
In addition to producing ethanol, fermentation also leads to other desirable flavour...
Navigating drinking culture in the workplace when you're sober
By ABC Everyday / By Flip Prior on
This year, I've had plenty of time to reflect on what influenced my past drinking habits since quitting on January 1 — and colleagues have emerged as a strong theme.
Look, I'm not about to try to blame Bob in accounts for my own after-work boozing, but given how much time most of us spend at work (and how stressful that environment can be) it's not surprising workmates loom large in shaping drinking behaviour.
Hanging out with colleagues in social situations often brings a not-so-subtle pressure to drink — it's ubiquitous, especially in the media industry, and opting out can feel uncomfortably weird.
And like lots of situations in which drinking is involved, habits can be ingrained after many years until they eventually feel normalised...