Do you go home and have one or two drinks after work to relax? Perhaps you tend to have five or six, or more of a weekend socially, with friends.
Addiction medicine physician at The Alfred, Dr Benny Monheit says that the benefits to your mental and physical well-being of reducing the number of drinks you have should not be underestimated.
When people stop drinking, they often surprise themselves with how good they feel and how much better they perform in many aspects of their life.
There is a common misconception, particularly in Australian culture that you need a drink to boost confidence but in fact, most people behave better without alcohol.
In some people, alcohol can become a pattern of lifestyle and they become used to it for relieving boredom or anxiety, or to just feel better; initially that can work but after a while, it doesn’t.
It will take your body two to three days to recover after a night of drinking. During the recovery period, you will have decreased energy levels, will have trouble making decisions, can be a little more clumsy and often tired.
If you repeat that pattern every weekend, you are spending nearly half your time either under the influence or recovering from alcohol.
Having a break therefore, even if it is just for a few weeks or a month, will stop that repetitive pattern and you might actually find that you do not really need it.
There are many benefits you will find from cutting back on your alcohol consumption, these include:
- Increased alertness
- Increase in energy levels
- Decrease in heart burn
- More balanced moods
- Improved productivity
- Improved skin colour and tone
- Improved sleep
- Weight loss
So what’s stopping you; why not give it a try?
The Alfred is taking part in Dry July, with funds raised going towards improving areas where our patients and their families spend a considerable amount of time, making spaces a little brighter and more comfortable.
The focus of the improvements will be on creating an area especially for adolescence and young adult patients, as well as a redeveloped waiting area in the Radiation Oncology Centre .
You can donate to The Alfred’s Dry July team here.
Alfred Health 