Health

Health&Beauty

START AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON

Lots of us begin the new year with healthy intentions – and cutting out alcohol for Dry January is an increasingly popular option. But is it really doing us any good?

As another new year arrives in a flurry of streamers and the popping of champagne corks , we thought we’d have a look at alcohol – and the popular practice of knocking it on the head for the month of January. Millions of people take part in Dry January every year, but when most immediately start drinking again on 1st February, is there actually any long-term benefit?

The initiative was started by the charity Alcohol Change UK in 2013, when 4,000 people joined in, and support has snowballed every year since. In January 2020, over 100,000 signed up via the website, although an estimated 4 million took part.

Spot the difference

Laying off the booze can bring huge benefits, says the charity – some more obvious than others. “On the outside, you’ll notice your skin getting brighter, your wallet fuller, your days busier. Feel your step get bouncier, your mind calmer, your nights sleepier. Seventy per ! cent of people sleep better, 86 per cent save money and 65 per cent notice generally improved health.” Research published in the British Medical Journal found that a month’s abstinence lowers blood pressure, reduces the diabetes risk, lowers cholesterol and reduces levels of cancer-related proteins in the blood. But can such a short-term commitment have a lasting effect? The charity worked with alcohol behaviour change expert Dr Richard de Visser from the University of Sussex to establish the facts.

Visser volunteered his time to survey participants in 2020’s campaign. Encouragingly, he found that in July, six months after the campaign ended, seven out of 10 had reduced their drinking habits overall. Almost a quarter of those who had been drinking at ‘harmful’ levels before Dry January were now in the low-risk category. “Almost a quarter were now in the low-risk category” sa v e Thinkofthemoneyyou ’l l

Life skills

Being alcohol-free for 31 days shows us we don’t need alcohol to have fun or to relax. It helps us learn the skills we need to manage our drinking and means that for Challenge yourself… the rest of the year, we are better able to make decisions about when we drink and how much.

That’s good news for our health in so many ways, because alcohol is linked with more than 60 health conditions, including liver disease, high blood pressure, depression and seven types of cancer. In fact, alcohol is the biggest risk factor for death, ill-health and disability for people aged 15-49 in the UK. Cutting back long term reduces your risk of developing these conditions. If you want to give it a try, or have started Dry January and need some support, download the free Try Dry app from Alcohol Change UK or visit the website for help. www.alcoholchange.org.uk

Myth buster

This time: facts and falsehoods about shivering

1Your body shivers when you’re

cold to keep you warm

Absolutely true. Shivering is one of the ways your body responds when your core temperature is under threat. (An increase in your breathing rate is another.) It happens involuntarily as your muscles contract and, amazingly, it can triple your body’s heat production.

2People shiver with fear This one is also true – but it’s more like a tremble than an uncontrollable shiver. When we’re anxious, a region of the brain called the amygdala responds to the threat by increasing the production of adrenaline, the ‘fight-or-flight’ hormone. This works directly on receptor cells in muscles to speed up the contraction of the fibres ready for fighting or fleeing, making us shake.

3We shiver when we fall in love Odd but true! As we’ve just seen, we shiver not just as a reaction to temperature but to sudden changes to our adrenaline levels. When we feel emotions like love or sadness, our brain ups the adrenaline in our blood, triggering our muscles to contract. The sudden rush may cause goosebumps, sweaty palms, tearfulness and increased blood pressure, along with some good old-fashioned shivers down the spine.