Congrats! You’ve decided to put your drinking on ice for a month. Let’s get started!
Photo illustration by Beck Harlan/NPR
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Photo illustration by Beck Harlan/NPR
So you want to take a break from drinking alcohol. Maybe it’s your New Year’s resolution. Or maybe you just want a clearer mind, a stronger body and, yeah, fewer hangovers!
Whatever your reason may be, Life Kit is here to help. Staying sober (or soberish if you’re doing “damp” January) for a whole month can be a challenge. How do you actually avoid the temptation of drinking in the real world?
That’s why we’ve created Life Kit’s Guide to Dry January. It’s a free, limited-run newsletter series that offers expert strategies and best practices on how to give up alcohol for a whole month.
How to sign up
To sign up for this one-month newsletter series, click here and enter your email address. Over the course of a month, we’ll send you a weekly newsletter with tips on how to stick to your no-alcohol journey. Sign up at any time to start your journey.
Dry January strategies, straight to your inbox
Each email we’ll send is designed to tackle a different challenge of your alcohol-free journey. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll get in your inbox.
- The benefits of taking a break from alcohol: How it affects your body and mind.
- Making your alcohol-free plan: Strategies and techniques to reduce the temptation to drink.
- Dealing with social pressure: How to deal with parties and gatherings — and scripts for what to say when people offer you a drink.
- Mocktails and motivation: Delicious, alcohol-free drink recipes, plus a mindfulness exercise to keep you on track.
- Reflection time: Grab your notebook. Questions to ask yourself as your alcohol-free month comes to a close.
Health benefits of Dry January
You may be wondering: Before I go through all this effort to give up alcohol for a month, will taking a break actually do anything for my health?
According to research, yes. There are a handful of studies that point to some benefits of abstinence for even moderate drinkers. Let’s walk through a few of them and see what kinds of changes you might expect. (You’ll find more benefits in our newsletter!)
🛏️ You’ll get better sleep. According to a 2016 study of 857 people who participated in Dry January, 62% reported better sleep after giving up alcohol for a month.
⚖️ It can help you lose weight. In 2018, researchers in Britain compared health outcomes among a group of people who agreed to stop drinking for a month with the health of a group that continued to consume alcohol. Those in the alcohol-free group lost some weight.
❣️ It’s good for your liver. Researchers in the Netherlands documented the biochemical effects of one month of alcohol abstinence in a small study. After a monthlong break, study participants showed a reduction in a liver enzyme that is typically elevated when the liver is under stress — which suggests a positive effect.
After this newsletter series ends, you’ll receive weekly emails from Life Kit on lifestyle topics such as health, money, relationships and more.
A quick note: If alcohol is causing you stress or harm, seek medical advice. There are a variety of treatments, including counseling, medications and support groups, to help people who want to end that dependency. This includes Alcoholics Anonymous, which has helped countless people. This guide from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism can help you find a program that’s right for you.
The digital story was edited by Arielle Retting and Meghan Keane, with art direction by Beck Harlan. We’d love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.
Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or sign up for our newsletter.
