Print article Happy New Year!
For those of you that did a lot of entertaining this holiday season and feeling the effects of it, I’m recommending a Dry January Challenge.
What is a Dry January Challenge?
It’s pretty straight forward-you steer clear of alcohol for the entire month of January. It’s a trend that has caught on around the globe and a way to reset after a month or two of holiday festivities. Experts agree, it can help refresh and reinvigorate your body.
Not convinced? Here are more health benefits of taking part in Dry January:
- Gives your liver a break. Abstaining from alcohol lets your liver concentrate on functional detoxifying instead of processing alcohol. Alcohol is a toxin, and the liver abandons other functions to clear alcohol. For women especially, the liver will divert its attention to detoxify alcohol instead of estrogen, which could lead to estrogen dominance and a slew of other hormonal problems.
- Reduces gut inflammation. Alcohol has been shown to disrupt gut balance, causing gut dysbiosis, bacterial overgrowth, and increased intestinal permeability, which may lead to gut troubles like gas, bloating, and more inflammation.
- Helps heal chronic illness. Folks who have chronic illnesses, such as IBS or liver disease may enjoy how they feel after taking a month-long hiatus from drinking booze and want to continue the dry spell. I have a great recipe for a strawberry mock tail on the website, if you’re interested…
- Boosts immune system. Drinking too much alcohol not only increases your risk for liver damage but also weakens your immune system, leaving your body ripe for infections. Even a bout of binge drinking leaves you at higher risk of infection for about 24 hours.
If you’re still not convinced and do decide to drink, try to stick to the daily recommendation of one to two drinks per day, alternate alcohol with water, and try to balance out alcohol intake while focusing on sleep, nutrition, exercise and increasing anti-inflammatory foods.
