Woman with a drink

Starting a new diet in January to drop extra pounds gained during the holiday season is an annual tradition for many Americans. And now, nearly 20% of U.S. adults participate in Dry January, in part to compensate for overdoing it in December.

Research shows possible short- and long-term health benefits from this practice, although participants may not experience them right away.

"You're irritable, you're a little depressed," said Sara Jo Nixon, a cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Center for Addiction Research and Education at the University of Florida. "That's in part because alcohol decreases levels of stress hormones, making you feel calm as you imbibe — but after you've stopped, the hormones rebound and spike to higher levels than before."

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.