7 Surprising Perks of Dry January

Plus, a recipe for the Cuzco Sour, one of my favorite NA drinks

This lemony berry drink is topped with a cheery aguafaba foam layer.

Hello, everyone. Happy New Year’s Eve! This seems like a good time to revisit our ongoing discussion of alcohol and the brain.

The more I learn about brain health, the less alcohol I drink. I enjoy drinking wine sometimes and consider myself a mindful drinker. Even so, it’s hard to ignore data that says alcohol accelerates brain shrinkage. So it warms my heart to see that each year when the holidays roll around, people are drinking less.

Case in point: The other night my husband and I had a few people over for an après ski party. We served wine, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks. And you know what? The most popular drinks were the low- or no-alcohol ones: the Cuzco Sours, NA beer (Athletic Brewing Co), and my favorite sparkling drink by Corpse Reviver. (If you want to try Corpse Reviver for yourself, find a discount code at the end of this post.)

For today’s newsletter, I want to give you a few things to think about if you are considering having a Dry January. Plus, I am sharing my recipe for the Cuzco Sour.

Studies continue to support a low or no-alcohol policy for your brain

The last time we touched on the topic of alcohol and the brain, I summarized the latest science of how drinking impacts dementia risk.

In a nutshell:

• Moderate to heavy drinking is one of the known modifiable risk factors for dementia, according to the Lancet Commission.

• Just one drink a day, over time, can accelerate brain shrinkage.

• Not drinking at all, we now know, is associated with better long term brain health than even light drinking (up to 4 drinks a week.)

• Drinking alcohol has been shown to be a major contributor to dementia in France (despite all the hype about the so-called French paradox).

Is it worth doing a Dry January?

I am excited to try more of the tasty drinks at Imiloa, the site of my Brain Health Retreat in Costa Rica next month. This retreat is plant-based and alcohol-free.

You may be wondering if taking a month off from drinking alcohol is worth it. Are there measurable benefits for your overall health, and especially brain health? Since Dry January has been around since 2013, there is ample data to evaluate the health impact of periodic abstinence from alcohol.

You would certainly expect to sleep better and lose a few pounds after giving up alcohol for a month. But some of the other results may surprise you.