7 Key Reasons To Start The New Year With Dry January

If you're like a lot of people this time of year, you've probably been hitting the sauce a little harder than normal. My hand is raised. Some people chalk up their increased alcohol consumption to the stress of the holidays. Others get boozier in November and December simply because of all the opportunities to do so. I mean, it's just one party, dinner, or casual Yuletide get together after another. Whatever the reason for our seasonal uptick in drinking, we all have another opportunity coming soon: Dry January.

With the start of another new year, many people will intentionally abstain from alcohol for the first month. Dry January is a chance to take a break from drinking, reset, and do something truly positive for our health. Don't worry, you won't be missing out on much. The Super Bowl isn't until the second Sunday in February, so you will have had at least a full 31 days of clean living under your belt before tying one on for the big game.

So why do so many folks participate in Dry January each year? There are a number of benefits to taking a break from drinking. Women's Health asked a team of health experts to lay out some of the sensible reasons why more people should give Dry January a try.

You can read more about each of the health benefits in greater detail HERE. I was really taken aback by the definitions of binge drinking and heavy drinking included in the Women's Health article. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, binge drinking is defined as having more than four drinks within two hours. Heavy drinking is when you have more than eight drinks in one week. Unfortunately, both are far too easy to do during the holiday season.

Can you imagine actually adding years to your life? I'm not talking about one or two years. According to CNN, new research shows that it's possible to add a couple of decades to your life. Adopting eight healthy habits at the age of 40 could add up to 24 extra years to your life. If you start by the time you're 50, you could still extend your life by up to 21 years. Even if you don’t do it until 60, you could gain almost 18 years if you add all eight of the lifestyle choices.

A new health study analyzed data on more than 700,000 U.S. military veterans and the findings were presented in Boston on July 24th at Nutrition 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. “There’s a 20-year period in which you can make these changes, whether you do it gradually or all at once,“ says lead study author Xuan-Mai Nguyen. “The earlier the better, but even if you only make a small change in your 40s, 50s or 60s, it still is beneficial.”

Adding just one healthy behavior at age 40 could add 4.5-years to a man’s life and 3.5-years to a woman’s life. Adopting additional habits adds more years and doing all eight gives you an “added boost to extend your life, but any small change makes a difference,” Nguyen explains. So what are these life-extending habits? They're all things we’ve heard before that are actually attainable for most people.

The study's authors find that working out is one of the most important behaviors anyone can do to improve health. It can lead to a 46% decrease in the risk of death from any cause compared to those who don’t exercise.

Opioid addiction became an epidemic in America beginning in the 1990s, largely due to nefarious marketing tactics and over-prescription. Avoiding a dependency on opioid drugs can reduce the risk of early death by 38%.

The study finds that never smoking can lower the risk of death by 29%. However, even if you have used tobacco products, stopping at any point in life comes with major health benefits.

While some amount of stress will always be with us, especially during our working years, it behooves us to find ways of reducing its effect on our health. Managing your stress can reduce the risk of early death by 22%, according to the study.

This is one of the most challenging ones on the list. Shifting to a plant-based diet requires real commitment, but it appears to be worth the effort. The study shows doing so could raise your chance of living longer by 21%.

Not having more than four alcoholic drinks a day reduces the risk of death by 19%, study results show. As with opioids, alcohol addiction can lead to devastating outcomes, both for the user and the people around them.

Along with managing stress, it pays to be mindful of one's sleep. The study's authors say that at least seven hours a night can reduce early death by 18%. I think it's even worth investing in some things, like a humidifier, that can help with your sleep quality.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed what social isolation can do to a person's well-being. Loneliness has actually been called an epidemic of its own, especially among the elderly. We all need supportive people in our lives. Those healthy relationships with family and friends can help boost longevity by 5%.