Sorry, but dry January is actually BAD for us
PlEASE, will someone save me from the dry January bores? I’m fed up with their sanctimony whenever having an alcoholic drink is mentioned.
‘Sorry, dry January,’ they say with a pious little shake of the head. ‘I’m on a health-kick.’
Sure, it’s important to realise that we don’t need alcohol to have fun. But at this time of year it goes too far.
The more that some smug dry January evangelist tells me how good they feel and how they don’t miss having their regular drink, the more I suspect they’re secretly gasping for a glass of chardonnay or whatever their normal favourite tipple is.
As a doctor, I know that I ought to support anything that stops people drinking excessively. Certainly, many medical experts and health charities have seized on the dry January idea with gusto.
But I am worried that the approach is wrong.
I disagree with the underlying premise of dry January — the idea that you can make up for drinking too much over Christmas.
It seems that the first month of the year always sends people a bit weird. They tend to forget everything they’ve been told about basic biology and nutrition.
ANd instead, they seem to convince themselves that the antidote to festive over-indulgence is abstinence in one punishing form or another.
I’m sorry, but the brutal truth is that a few weeks of penance won’t make up for a year’s worth of indulgence.
Another bête noire of mine is so-called ‘Veganuary’. Not only is it a horrible, unpronounceable word. But the principle of going vegan for January — giving up all animal products, including dairy and eggs — is not wise.
Incidentally, I once tried it for a while out of curiosity and I can confirm it is very boring.
over the past few weeks, many friends and patients have told me they are going animal-free for a month in order to ‘cleanse’ their body.
I’m afraid this is simply a new version of what is an old idea — namely that our gastronomic sins can be expatiated by some temporary change in our eating habits.
I can understand the attraction, though. It’s so much easier to have a dry January, or try Veganuary for a short period — and then, on February 1, reward yourself by bingeing on burgers and beers — than to eat and drink moderately for longer periods.
don’t get me wrong, I admire people who make resolutions in January and try to change their habits for the better.
I just wish they would do it in a sensible way that will have some meaningful impact on their health.
If you’re worried about your drinking, for example, it’s far better to make a commitment to moderate your intake in the long term. For example, have one or two booze-free days a week, rather than stop all together for one month.
ON THE other hand, if you struggle to cut down, then perhaps there is a problem and you should see your GP, who is able to check your liver for possible damage and refer you to get psychological support.
It’s the same with food. why not aim to eat one extra portion of fruit or veg a day, rather than to eschew all meat and dairy products (which aren’t bad for you anyway) for a month in the misguided belief that this will somehow give your body a rest.
The fact is that a few weeks without beef and pork will not make any long-term improvement to your health if you then eat them for the rest of the year because they will continue to contribute to your arteries furring up if you eat too much anyway.
what’s more, such binge-detox-binge- detox cycles are bad for us psychologically.
It’s much better to make a small change and stick to it, because of the sense of achievement and reward we get.
Ultimately, it helps us to feel more in control of our lives and demonstrates that we have the ability to make positive changes when we put our mind to it.
Now that has got to be worth a lot more than simply feeling smug for one month a year.