October is a great time to take a break from alcohol, the weather is nice, the silly season is ahead and the days are longer. We all start to feel like it's a great time to get healthy, reset and get in a great mindset for summer.
Doing Sober October is a fantastic choice for people looking to make a positive impact on your physical and mental health. So, what might the real benefits be of taking a month off alcohol? There's heaps of research out there that shows lots of positive impacts for people who give the booze a break for a month. Here's just some of the benefits you might feel:
#1 Feeling a sense of achievement
For some people, breaking drinking habits and successfully taking some time away from alcohol can give a great sense of achievement. Feeling good about your acomplishment and rewarding yourself for small wins along the way is a fantastic benefit of doing Sober October. There is nothing more rewarding than setting yourself a challenge and succeeding!
#2 Better sleep and mental clarity
This is a big one! Even in just a few weeks of reduced alcohol intake, research shows that you will experience improved sleep and increased focus and mental clarity. Lack of sleep impacts many of us and drinking can reduce both the quality and quantity of sleep, which will impact our functioning throughout the day. Brain fog and fatigue are common outcomes of not getting enough sleep and research shows that even a few weeks off the booze can dramatically increase the amount of sleep and REM sleep we get.
#3 Increased libido and energy
This goes hand in hand with getting more sleep, so it's no real surprise that taking a month off drinking can result in significant increases in energy and have a positive effect on peoples' libido. There is great evidence that even just a month off alcohol can leave you feeling with more energy and an increased sex-drive.
#4 Improved digestion
Alcohol impedes our ability to absorb nutrients, store vitamins and can increase acid reflux and indigestion. Taking time away from alcohol has a positive impact on stomach health and function and can also lead to weight loss, as a result of all the calories you won't be drinking!
#5 Better hydrated
One surprising effect of drinking alcohol is that you can very quickly end up dehydrated. When you drink alcohol, it acts as a diuretic, causing your body to remove fluids at a much quicker rate. If you don't drink enough water with alcohol, you quickly dehydrate causing headaches, fatigue, poor concentration and skin dehydration.
These are really just a few of the benefits you might experience by giving Sober October a go this year, we've barely scratched the surface of all the fantastic ways you can improve your health by cutting back the booze. You might even feel so great that you will be convinced to keep Sober October going all year!