Doing Dry July or wanting to reduce your intake of alcohol?

Dry July might be your kick start to reducing your overall intake of alcohol, to become a
healthier you, as well as raising money for people affected by cancer. So instead of focusing on the negatives of drinking alcohol, we want to talk about the positives of not drinking. Offer yummy mocktail recipes and strategies to reduce your alcohol consumption.

Peaked your interested? Great keep reading.

Before we jump into the fun stuff, let’s have a look at the recommended amount of alcohol Australians should be having. This might help identify if you should be drinking less and how much less.

7 benefits of not drinking alcohol

Not being hungover
Do we really need to say anymore?

Better sleep
When drinking alcohol, you may fall asleep quickly, however you will miss about 5-6 Rapid Eye Movements (REM) cycles. REM sleep is important for the brain because it supports learning and assists with retaining memories. This will allow you to wake up feeling fresh and more switched on.

Improved mood and no hangxitey (anxiety from being hungover)
At the time drinking can be fun and we might believe it’s actually bringing up our mood, but alcohol is a depressant, and it can have negative effects on our overall mental health. The dreaded hangxiety after a night out and now your Sunday is wrecked because you are hungover and don’t want to do anything.

Ability to make healthy choices
If you’re not hungover it is much easier to make healthier choices, you don’t wake up craving fast food or wanting to stay in bed. Instead, you could set up healthy routines, make a delicious breakfast at home, get some sunshine, maybe even fit in a workout.

Save money
We cannot deny that drinking is expensive especially when purchasing cocktails. Maybe set a saving goal for July and see how much easier it will be to save when you’re not drinking.

Raise money for people affected by cancer
One of the main reasons people participant in Dry July.

Lose weight
Alcohol has lots of calories, plus the soft drinks we are adding to it, so if we cut those out naturally our calories go down which could put you in a deficit to support weight loss. Alcohol is also a toxin so the body will be working hard to clear it meaning your stomach can only digest the alcohol and not the food you’re eating. The next day the excessive calories from food will be stored as fat and not digested.

Practical tips for Dry July

• Try to do it with a friend or partner, this way you have a support buddy
• Post your donations on social media, this is a good way to be accountable
• Try our above mocktail recipes
• Purchase non-alcoholic beverages so you can bring them to events without being peer pressured to drink
• Be the designated driver
• Record your savings for Dry July from not drinking

Tips to reduce overall alcohol intake

• Start by having every second weeknight alcohol free, maybe that’s your downtime or time you spend with your partner
• Try changing it to another activity, reading a book, going for a walk together even doing a board game
• Try to have a weekend without alcohol, still, go out and see friends and family but instead bring a non-alcoholic beverage so you don’t feel left out
• Make every second drink a non-alcoholic beverage
• Note the times you can have fun without alcohol

Myth-busting: 1 glass of red wine is good for you because it has antioxidants?

Sadly, this is not true.
The amount of red wine we would need to drink to get the benefits of the antioxidants would make the whole thing pointless. Wine is not a good source of antioxidants, instead get them from our fruit and vegetables like berries, garlic and pumpkin. However, if you are going to drink outside of dry July, red wine or clear spirits such as vodka with soda is our healthier alcohol options.

Takeaway message

There are lots of benefits to not drinking including our mental and physical health as well as saving money, so try some of these tips and we hope we have made dry July a little easier for you.

References

• https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/fat-salt-sugars-and-alcohol/alcohol
• https://www.priorygroup.com/blog/benefits-of-giving-up-alcohol-for-a-month
• https://www.dryjuly.com/blogs/health-hub
• https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/alcohol#download
• https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/heart-health-education/heart-health-mythsbusted