I don't think I was hitting the bottle nearly as much as some of you, from the sounds of it! Generally feeling low and slow, but I think that is because of other things going on, and not withdrawal symptoms from the booze!
On a brighter note, this week's New Scientist had an article about giving up for a month. I'm not linking as the full article on their website will be behind a paywall. But the gist was...
14 of their staff members who described themselves as 'normal drinkers' got their liver fat, cholesterol, blood glucose and weight measured, then 10 of them gave up booze for a month. At the end of the month there was no change in these parameters for the four who had carried on drinking normally, but for the others:
Liver fat (high levels being a prelude to liver damage) - down an average of 15%
Cholesterol (risk factor for heart disease) - down 5%
Glucose (high levels a risk factor for type 2 diabetes) - down 23%
Weight down 2% (equates to 1.5 kg)
The abstainers also noticed increases in good sleep, wakefullness (when they were supposed to be awake, I assume!), concentration and work performance. The only negative was that the abstainers also reported less social contact.
All sounds good to me! But a note or two of caution:
- very small sample size, so not really anything more than an indication that a month's abstinence does you some good
- there is no indication of how long these effects will last if you start drinking again
- the good you do by your month's abstinence should not be taken as an excuse to drink to excess for the other 11 months of the year!
