Let's face it: America has a drinking problem. As in many of us consume too much alcohol and pay the price in terms of our health, careers and relationships.
However I am skeptical about Dry January.
By now, I'm sure you know all about this challenge of giving up alcohol during the first month of the year. You could probably try it yourself. In a 2023 study, 41% of Americans surveyed by polling platform CivicScience said they were likely to do a Dry January.
For the record, if you feel like you need to cut back on your drinking, going dry in January probably isn't a bad idea, according to addiction experts I've consulted. That might be a very good idea, actually.
Lest we forget the seriousness of the disease of addiction: Each year, approximately 140,000 Americans die from alcohol-related causes, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 16.1 million of us reported that we drank heavily in the past month. These are truly frightening numbers.
But Dry January has its limits and risks.
Start with the most important item: If you have a significant drinking problem, it can be dangerous and even fatal to give up alcohol on your own, experts advise. This is because you may experience major withdrawal symptoms, from heart palpitations to headaches, and the need for medical supervision during detoxification may be necessary.
Beyond that, there is a mental health component. People often self-medicate with alcohol, using it to help treat depression, anxiety, or any number of other conditions. If you stay away from alcohol, a person may become physically healthier, but those underlying emotional issues remain and need to be addressed. In fact, Dry January cannot be implemented in a vacuum.
Or as Cheryl Brown Meriwether, executive director of the Orlando-based International Center for Addiction and Recovery Education (ICARE), told me: “Alcohol use disorder is a disease, and it should be treated like a disease.”
“If you have a serious drinking problem, it can be dangerous and even fatal to give up alcohol on your own, experts advise. “
What about those of us who drink but don't necessarily have an actual disorder: Will January do us any good?
This depends on what experts advise. It can certainly provide some short-term benefits, such as weight loss and improved sleep. This may create greater awareness of our drinking patterns, so that we emerge from Dry January with a commitment to better manage our alcohol consumption during the rest of the year.
But there is a rub. While there is some evidence that those who give up drinking at the start of the year may end up drinking less alcohol, some experts worry that Dry January could lead to heavy drinking in February. . Or, at the very least, it won't create long-term change.
That's the real challenge drinking can be, explained Lisa Ferguson, a recovering alcoholic who helps run Right Path House, a group of sober homes in Connecticut.
“You might have a rebound effect,” Ferguson told me. “It happens all the time.”
However, my questions about Dry January go deeper than that. I can't help but wonder if what started as a well-intentioned movement has turned into a fad – something people do because it's trendy and fits the bill.
In the process, many of these people seem more than eager to broadcast their month-long sojourn in sobriety, as if they've turned what could have been a health-valuable goal into a form of virtue signaling. Or, for whatever reason, they have a desire to share the details of their drinking — or non-drinking, as the case may be — with the world.
Francine Cohen, a veteran food and beverage industry consultant, put it this way: “Sometimes I go to a bar or restaurant and order an alcoholic drink. Sometimes I choose water or another option. But I never feel any obligation to explain myself.
Cohen raises another point, which is that many of the non-alcoholic beverages that have flooded store shelves in the past few years miss the mark. As someone who writes quite a bit about wine, beer, and spirits, I agree with you: fake booze rarely equals real flavour. I'd rather have a Coca-Cola and call it a day.
“People seem eager to broadcast their month-long sojourn in sobriety, as if they've turned what could have been a worthwhile goal into a form of virtue signaling. “
However, people are still buying the stuff: NielsenIQ reports that the non-alcoholic segment increased by $121 million last year to reach $510 million in sales. Heck, there's now a non-alcoholic version of White Claw, the popular hard seltzer brand.
Last time I checked, non-alcoholic hard seltzer has been something we've been drinking for a long time. It's called – duh! -Seltzer. However, the White Claw team says this new formula hits the spot.
“It looks completely different than anything else out there,” said Kevin Brady, vice president of marketing for Marc Anthony Brands, the Chicago-based company behind White Claw.
No matter how delicious it may seem, let's be honest with ourselves: a big glass of wine, a sip of quality whiskey, a thirst-quenching beer – these are things we cherish in life. Yes, we must beware of alcohol abuse. But if we can fully control our drinking, should we feel pressured to give it up, even for a month?
Donald Hensrud, MD, Mayo Clinic physician and assistant professor of nutrition and preventive medicine in the clinic's School of Medicine, disagrees. While he is quick to note that recent research is beginning to debunk the idea that drinking alcohol can be healthy, he is nevertheless aware of the pleasure that a glass of wine can bring.
“There's fun and relaxation,” he told me, though he reiterated the need to keep things within reasonable medical limits.
Here's another idea: If you really want to give up drinking, why should it be in January? We all know how difficult it is to stick to our New Year's resolutions.
In this case, why does it have to be about a month of sobriety? Peter Wernig, vice president of mental health services at Recovery Centers of America, notes that there are other ways to cut back — not just for a month, but overall — that may be more helpful in terms of rethinking our alcohol consumption.
“You can reduce the amount you drink in one setting. You can reduce the number of days a week you drink alcohol,” Vernig said.
I've been drinking less alcohol in the past year, largely due to my attempt to lose weight and my view of alcohol as the essence of empty calories. However, I see no reason to do Dry January as I continue to enjoy that occasional sip – in moderation. If others feel like there's something to be gained from 31 days of alcohol-free living, good for them, I'd say.
But warnings and warnings still apply.
