america on friday Foreign Secretary Vivek Murthy has proposed major changes to the way alcoholic beverages are labeled in the United States. Given that alcohol is a major cause of preventable cancer, alcohol should come with tobacco-style warnings, similar to the labels Ireland will roll out later this year. This has put increased attention on alcohol ahead of an update to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans expected later this year, but it’s not clear whether new labels should be expected. Adding the label would require Congressional action.
But drinkers are already taking action of their own. If the bars are looking a little empty this month, it might be because more people are trading happy hour for Dry January. The tradition of abstaining from alcohol for a month is gaining popularity.
One in four U.S. adults will complete Dry January in 2024, up from 16% the year before, according to data from the polling organization Civic Science. Alcohol Change UK, the charity behind the campaign, said an estimated 15.5 million people in the UK, where the campaign started 12 years ago, are expected to take part this year. In 2013, that number was just 4,000. Temporary abstinence is contagious, and studies have shown that a month of abstinence can have immediate health benefits. But it remains unclear whether the health benefits will last or reach those who need it most.
Gautam Mehta, associate professor of hepatology at University College London, says: “I don’t think there’s any evidence that a month of detox or spring cleaning will prepare you for the rest of the year.” He studied the effects of one month of abstinence. “But people seem to have a better understanding of their relationship with alcohol and what they want to do with it for the rest of the year.”
Mehta’s 2018 study tracked a group of moderate drinkers who stopped drinking for a month and compared them to a control group who continued with their old habits. The most notable benefits for non-drinkers were better sleep and weight loss. They also experienced more subtle effects. Their blood pressure decreased and their insulin resistance biomarkers improved. This is an indicator of a reduced risk of developing diabetes.
Some people also find that quitting drinking for a month can help reduce their overall intake. In 2019, researchers at the University of Sussex analyzed surveys completed by thousands of people. 59% of respondents said they drank less alcohol six months after Dry January, and 32% said their physical health improved. However, only about 38 percent of those who started the study followed up after six months.
Still, just taking a short break doesn’t necessarily give your body time to fully recover from the effects of drinking. That’s what two British doctors, also identical twins, demonstrated when they conducted their own experiment in 2015. (Metta provided expertise in the experiment, which was aired as an episode on the BBC.) horizon) They had each been sober for a month, and tests showed their livers were equally healthy. They then drank 21 units of alcohol a week for one month, the recommended amount for men in the UK at the time (later revised downward to 14 units). There were differences in the way they worked. One drank 3 units (about the equivalent of one glass of wine) every day for a month, and the other only drank once a week, but finished all 21 units. At the end of the month, both had increased liver inflammation. In the case of the binge-eating twins, it was clear that even six days of rest between binge-eating episodes was not enough time for the organs to fully heal.
(Tag Translation) Health
