'Dry January could help us all' - Health

Friday 15 January 2016

Have you got a bit more energy this month, concentrating better, and getting a better night’s sleep?

If so Health say you’re probably one of many who’ve gone cold turkey and are seeing some of the short-term benefits of giving up the booze.

But they hope we’ll all take time out during the Dry January challenge to consider the longer-term health benefits of cutting down on the amount we drink.

Head of Health Improvement Martin Knight said: “Everyone needs to take these health opportunities to work for them, take stock of our drinking behaviour and think about how we might want to move forward.

“We’ve been using social media to see what people are saying about Dry January – the appetite of the public for Dry January to help us react locally and how we can help to support people.”

Just last week new safer drinking limits were released by the UK's chief medical officers warning that men shouldn't drink more than 14 units of alcohol per week , the same as women, and that we should all have several days a week off the booze and not save up all the units for a big binge.

The new guidance states that even drinking at low levels increases our risk of getting mouth cancers and there's a greater chance of women developing breast cancer. Drinking too much increases our risk of bowel and liver cancer.

Mr Knight said: “There is very strong evidence that there are increased health risks, cancer risks and even with low level drinking these risks do increase.

“We have a responsibility to make sure that the public understands what these new risks are, how they might impact on our own drinking behaviour.

“The more often we drink and the more we drink the greater the health risk is.

“It’s not to say stop drinking immediately but the health evidence is really quite strong now. If you drink within the moderate levels, you will still be increasing the risk, in the same way if we eat more saturated fat we’ll be increasing the risk of heart disease.”

“Alcohol has become quite a strong part of our culture and community events but the science is saying the only way to be 100% safe is to avoid alcohol altogether.”

If you’re trying to cut down on your drinking you can find support locally here.