Sober October is here.
Along with challenges like Dry January, Sober October — when participants try to abstain from drinking alcohol for the entire month — can do wonders for your health.
Although the fall season tends to come with a lot of boozy activities, from Oktoberfest and tailgates to Halloween parties and pumpkin-spice cocktails, experts say steering clear from alcohol for a month can be beneficial for overall health.
Dr. Jamile Wakim-Fleming, director of the Fatty Liver Disease Program at the Cleveland Clinic, previously told PEOPLE that there are “multiple physiologic benefits, from sleeping better to having reduced cholesterol and lower glucose levels, lower blood pressure, weight loss and loss of fat from the liver.”
“Alcohol is associated with inflammationthroughout the body and is shown to cause ill effect on multiple organs,” she said. “Those who drink too much alcohol may show subtle signs as in poor concentration, worsening memory, poor sleep, inability to perform tasks they used to perform well in the past — and blame this on older age.”
And going a month without drinking can help your liver, Dr. Rocco Iannucci, director of the Fernside Residential Treatment Program at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, explains.
“People with significant liver inflammation related to alcohol will oftentimes see their markers of inflammation go back to normal within the course of a month, and that’s people who have a significant level of alcohol intake,” he told us.
“Alcohol is a toxin to the liver,” he explained. “The good news is the liver up to a point has a lot of capacity to heal and so giving it that chance to heal can be really helpful.”
Additionally, participating in Sober October can lead to significant improvements with both sleep and weight loss.
Alcohol tends to disturb an individual’s sleep rhythm and patterns so much that the sleep is no longer as restorative as it would be otherwise. Giving up drinking often reverses these negative effects.
Abstaining from alcohol can also help with reaching weight loss goals. Cutting out drinking not only reduces the number of calories consumed but also improves your metabolism. And, you’re less likely to skip a workout the next day.
Though Sober October spans the month, some participants may rethink their drinking habits even when the 31 days are over. “People don’t find that they’re right back in the same situation” as they were before abstinence, Dr. Iannucci said.
“Sometimes it’s eye-opening and it makes people decide to make some other changes, even if it’s not stopping the alcohol altogether,” he added. “It gives us a perspective on our drinking.”
Studies have even shown that people who refrained from drinking alcohol for a month also began drinking less throughout the rest of the year and maintained some of the health benefits.
A number of celebrities have opened up about their experiences giving up alcohol for a month and how the benefits ultimately pushed them to quit drinking long-term, including Tom Holland, Valerie Bertinelli, Amy Robach, Kendall Toole, T.J. Holmes, Dustin Lynch and more.
