Early year sobriety is a “thing.”
Dry January started in the United Kingdom in 2013, and has spread to the U.S., where 1 in 5 Americans agreed to give up alcohol this month.
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WebMD reported that Joy Manning, 42, of Philadelphia, gave up alcohol in January 2017, not because she had a drinking problem, but because she wanted to make up for some of her holiday excesses. No one was more surprised than Manning after her elective sobriety became a lifestyle.
Manning told WebMD she slept better, had more energy, felt less anxious and it was easier for her to stick to a healthier diet. Because she felt so much better, Manning soon found she didn’t want to drink at all — at any time of the year.
More than 66 million Americans — nearly 25% of the total adolescent and adult population — reported binge drinking. Excessive and/or risky use of drugs, including alcohol, has skyrocketed and is now more prevalent than cancer, costing the U.S. $249 billion a year in health care costs.
Although drinking alcohol is so common that most don’t give it a second thought, research has shown that, in general, even moderate drinking may be detrimental to your health.
It can be very confusing.
Studies have published opposing results, from recommending a glass of wine each night with dinner to total abstinence for good health.
Some of the discrepancies may be related to the amount of alcohol consumed during the studies, but recent research now links alcohol with the development of seven different types of cancer.
Researchers found strong evidence that alcohol was linked to cancers in the rectum, liver, colon, esophagus, oropharynx, larynx and, in women, the breast. The percentage of deaths related to alcohol and cancer increased by 62% in the past 12 years, up from 3.6% in 2003 to 5.8% in 2015 worldwide.
This increase may be the result of other factors in the lives of people who suffer from cancer triggered by alcohol, such as poor lifestyle and dietary choices, lack of exercise and poor sleep quality.
The American Cancer Society warns that even a few drinks each week can increase your risk of breast cancer. The risk is higher in women who have low folate levels. Other research links the recurrence of breast cancer with alcohol intake. Both of these links appear to be from the ability of alcohol to raise your estrogen level.
Alcohol can also have a devastating effect on your liver. Diseases such as cirrhosis and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are becoming more prevalent, both of which raise your risk of liver cancer.
Between 2001 and 2013, diagnosed cirrhosis cases nearly doubled, and deaths from cirrhosis increased by 65% between 1999 and 2016. The greatest increase was among those between the ages of 25 and 34, where alcoholic cirrhosis has become rampant.
Historically, alcohol-related liver cirrhosis has been regarded as a condition that develops after two or three decades of heavy drinking, but newer statistics reveal it doesn't have to take that long at all, as it's now occurring in (and killing) 20- and 30-year-olds.
Alcohol-induced cirrhosis and NAFLD can be reversed (in the early stages) by quitting drinking and cutting out processed fructose, respectively.
Lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, weight, smoking and alcohol consumption also play important roles in exacerbating (as well as reducing) your chances of developing some form of liver disease.
Folate, milk thistle, NAC, coffee and broccoli can also help promote healthy liver function.
The good news is that alcohol-related liver cirrhosis can be reversed if caught early enough — and provided you quit drinking.