Woman shares before and after of going 30 days without drinking alcohol
A YouTuber shared the impact that giving up alcohol for 30 days had on her body, including showing how it changed her appearance.
More people are choosing to drink less or give up alcohol altogether, with many also choosing to abstain for a month during January after the indulgences of Christmas and New Year for Dry January.
Staying off the alcohol can have a large number of benefits for your body, and the medical consensus now is that there is no amount of alcohol that is good for you, or even not harmful even in a relatively small way, and yes, that includes a glass of red wine with dinner.
Even if someone never binge drinks, even having a beer or glass of wine after work on a weekday can quickly start to add up over the weeks.
Advert
YouTuber Yoga with Paige decided to not drink for 30 days, charting how it changed her body over that period.
"My drinking hasn't been super, super bad over the past few years," she said. "I've been kind of increasing my dosage. I definitely had a dependency on it."
Over a series of videos, Paige showed the mental and physical effects that not drinking had on her, including how she had managed to stick with it.
"Most people say the first week is the hardest and I definitely agree," she said, say that 'it took a lot of self discipline to not drink.'
So how did she get on? Let's take a look.
One week of not drinking
In that first update, Paige said she'd actually been feeling more stressed since she'd sworn of the booze since alcohol 'weakens your stress response'.
According to VeryWell Mind, alcohol makes the body release more of the stress hormone cortisol because it disrupts the body's usual hormonal balance.
Paige said: "Your body had to figure out how to come back down to its normal homeostasis level of your cortisol and your anxiety response."
She was also finding not being able to drink made her social anxiety worse, particularly after a long day at work when she would usually reward herself with a drink.
She said: "My heart rate was going a little bit faster. I wanted to fidget. I was picking at my fingernails."
But on the whole, she said: "I'm not as physically withdrawing as I thought I might be. It's more of a mental withdrawing effect."
One month of not drinking
Offering another update after 30 days with no booze, it seemed going sober had triggered something of an existential crisis.
Paige said: "I was definitely running and hiding and escaping. [When] I stopped myself from having those drinks, I was smacked in the face with what I've been running from, and it was the fact that I don't really know who I am in this current phase of my life right now."
She says she was 'reaching for a drink instead of reaching for a journal to deal with these things and what I was feeling'.
A key part of her sobriety journey was taking the bad with the good.
She says she 'learned to lean into the days or moments that felt icky' because you 'need to feel those' to appreciate the highs alongside the lows.
She added: "You don't have to be happy all the time and there are times when you're going to be sad, frustrated, mad, guilty, whatever the feeling is.
"You don't need to hide behind it with food and alcohol to make yourself feel better.
"You will feel better in time, you don't instantly need to relax yourself with a drink."
And quitting booze also had a noticeable effect on Paige's face as well as her mood.
How going sober affected Paige's skin
Paige shared a snap of her face on her first day of being sober and another on day 30 to highlight how being alcohol-free can change your face.
However, she wasn't overly pleased with her results.
"Expected a bigger face change," she admitted in the caption, adding that besides a hair cut and her 'hormonal acne switching sides' she'd struggled to see big differences.
However, her followers were quick to highlight the key changes they'd noticed between the two photographs.
"Wow. I see a big difference. Your skin is clearer and glowing," one person noted, while a second said she looked 'better' now she'd given up alcohol-free.
Someone else said: "Your skin is glowing and you look so much more awake now, I can see the difference."
Several YouTube users said Paige's eyes appeared 'brighter' and others simply applauded her sober stint, telling her they were 'proud' of her efforts.
The impact of 30 days without alcohol on the body
Giving up alcohol can have a hugely positive impact on your body even in the first 30 days.
Aside from the obvious advantages like saving money and being hangover-free, you may also see improvements to your sleep, leading to an increase in productivity and overall wellbeing.
According to Priory Group, your liver, stomach and skin will also hugely benefit from you being sober and you may even lose weight, as your overall calorie intake will have reduced drastically if you're usually a regular drinker.
Long-term benefits of quitting drinking include a reduction in blood pressure, improvement in digestive system, a better memory and less fatigue.
This can vary from person to person, depending on their alcohol intake and lifestyle.
Someone who usually drinks minimal amounts and gives up alcohol for a month may feel a sense of achievement or control of their health, while someone who is usually a heavy drinker may notice bigger changes, including psychological effects and increased mental clarity.
Danni King