Reap the benefits of going dry during January (or any time of year)

“Dry January” will soon be a misty memory. As it fades away, is it making a difference?

I can’t speak personally to that since I abstained. Not because I didn’t want to participate, but because the new year was already underway when I discovered that Dry January is a burgeoning trend.

Alcohol Change UK, a British charity, launched the Dry January public health initiative in 2013. The effort urges participants worldwide to give up beer, wine and other alcoholic consumption for the 31 days in January.

I have noticed it popping up in my social media feeds. One bleak message, in white on a black background, scrolled by. “Dry January is tough,” a Facebook friend posted — on Jan. 3. There were others who cheered on participants, with a lot of “You got this!”

The web offers a multitude of suggestions for mocktails as alcohol substitutes. Pucker up for a drivers mix, a concoction of orange, cranberry, raspberry and lime. Get hot with a Sweethaven tonic pineapple, turmeric and jalapeno Paloma mocktail. My favorite wine is chardonnay, so I was intrigued by the bottle of Thomson &Scott Noughty dealcoholized sparkling chardonnay, available on Amazon.

It’s all new to me, but it resonates. The Christmas season is my favorite time of year, but by the end of December, I can’t wait for New Year’s Day. I get exhausted from all the holiday fun. I desperately need rest from the piles of food and rivers of overflowing booze at the parties and celebrations. It’s fun while it lasts, but it lasts way too long. Yet, I had never considered extending the respite for a whole month. After reading up on it, I must admire the impulse.

“Now millions take part in this health challenge every year,” according to a blog by Harvard Health Publishing.

The movement is growing. A survey shows that 24% of U.S. respondents older than 21 said they were “highly likely” to go alcohol-free in Dry January last year, while 58% were not planning to give up alcohol, according to CivicScience, a digital opinion research firm. By 2024, 27% of drinkers said they were “very likely” to give up drinking this month, compared with 51% who said they would not. CivicScience data has shown that interest in living an alcohol-free life is growing, and “nearly 1 in 3 adults who drink might change their habits due to research about the effects of alcohol.”

You might be skeptical that one booze-free month can make much of a dent in your health profile. “Yet, cutting out alcohol for even a month can make a noticeable difference in your health,” Matthew Solan, executive editor of Harvard Men’s Health Watch, recently wrote. “Regular drinkers who abstained from alcohol for 30 days slept better, had more energy, and lost weight, according to a study in BMJ Open (a medical research journal). They also lowered their blood pressure and cholesterol levels and reduced cancer-related proteins in their blood.”

Other benefits, experts say, include higher energy levels and relief from anxiety and depression. My alter ego, “The Fat Nag,” is delighted. For decades, I have been nagging all in earshot to get the fat off. Cutting back on the beers, martinis and vino is a surefire formula to get you there.

The surge in interest in Dry January comes at a propitious time, as we struggle to emerge from a life-changing pandemic. Solan cited research from the National Institutes of Health. In the first year of the pandemic, alcohol sales in the United States jumped by nearly 3%, the biggest increase in more than 50 years.

“Multiple small studies suggest that during the pandemic, about 25% of people drank more than usual, often to cope with stress. Sales of hard liquor, or spirits, accounted for most of the increase,” said George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. During the first two years of the pandemic, the number of death certificates that cited alcohol as a factor jumped from 78,927 to 108,791, or nearly 38%, Koob said. The largest increases in alcohol-related deaths occurred among younger people, ages 25 to 44.

It can really get even scarier. Alcohol Change UK offers this warning:

“People who are clinically alcohol dependent can die if they suddenly, completely stop drinking,” it warns on the Dry January website. “If you experience fits, shaking hands, sweating, seeing things that are not real, depression, anxiety, or difficulty sleeping after a period of drinking and while sobering up, then you may be clinically alcohol dependent and should NOT suddenly, completely stop drinking.”

That’s enough to make anyone think about going cold turkey.

It’s too late to jump on the Dry January train, but how about a dry Lent? Fat Tuesday is just around the bend.

Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Monday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.