The holidays can be a time for celebrations and gatherings with family and friends, and alcohol often factors into the equation. But a new health trend aims to cut down on the boozing this time of year, and beyond.
It’s called “intermittent sobriety.”
“An individual can choose a certain period of time, whether it be a number of days, or weeks, or even a month, to not drink any alcoholic beverage at all,” Kaiser Permanente internal and lifestyle medicine physician Julie Chen said.
“A recently published study actually showed that the number of people doing this has surged by 32% between 2022 and 2023,” she said.
Dr. Chen said the interesting thing about those numbers is that, when you dive deeper, you realize those flirting with the “intermittent sobriety” trend are among our youngest generations.
“It turns out that it’s actually Gen Z-ers and young millennials,” she told WTOP.
She said the numbers support the fact that these generations are choosing healthier diets and exercise over alcohol more often than their older peers.
Evidence also showed taking these intermittent breaks can reduce the risk of many types of health complications, even if you don’t cut alcohol out entirely, avoiding lifelong health concerns such as liver disease, gastrointestinal cancers and high blood pressure.
“This time of year can be tough,” Chen said. “But there are ways to navigate around alcohol consumption. There are so many nonalcoholic beverages out there now, including nonalcoholic wines that are really tasty, nonalcoholic beers, as well as the mocktails.”
Chen said these alternatives can still provide some of the same sensory aspects that come along with alcohol — flavor, taste, fizz — that will satisfy your body, while keeping you sharper and healthier.
These alternatives can also help you feel more comfortable in social situations, allowing you to socialize with a drink in hand. Chen said social interaction is incredibly fundamental to our health, both physically and mentally.
“We need to think, when we drink, about the reasons behind what we’re doing,” she told WTOP. “Often times we can achieve the same aims in a social situation, even we change or modify our internal behaviors, like that of alcohol consumption.”